From the Start Your Week with Steve newsletter of Steve Henderson Fine Art:

Steve Says:

Light, joy, color, happiness, beauty — these surround us, and they are worth painting. Evening Waltz by Steve Henderson

“In art school, we were repeatedly told to find our own style and paint it, which sounds like great advice if only the people giving it had adhered to their words.

“One professor frequently said, ‘Don’t listen to anything I say,’ and before the breath was out, added, ‘Just do everything I tell you and you’ll become a successful artist.’

“So much for finding our own style and painting it.

“But art school is a long time ago, and life has intervened much in between — family, friends, jobs, gardens, holidays, laughter, tears — and the composite of these experiences has done more for establishing what I paint and how than any words, wise or not, from any professor.

“I seek, look for, and paint the beauty of the world around us. I use and celebrate color because it’s there, frequently hidden, but there, just like beauty.

“I choose to extol and celebrate the good things in life because it’s too easy to wallow in the bad, sad, dark elements, to the point that they swallow up our energy and joy.

“No one can deny that ugliness exists. But in acknowledging this truth, it is too easy to ignore another, more important truth:

“Beauty exists. Given attention and care, it can thrive. I choose to use my gifts to focus on goodness, light, hope, and truth.”

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