Everywhere you look

I know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder – but it’s to be found anytime and anywhere. I’m inspired by everyday reality – at home and outdoors, of course, but also by photographs, hundreds and thousands of them, many of which I’ve made myself, countless more the work of others. And more often than not it’s images of the most ordinary things I delight in most. Images that evoke sound and sight and scent and touch and taste, or just catch the light in a certain way, or bring back a memory – maybe of last week, or of decades ago.

The world is full of little icons to art, creativity and design. Study the coffee machine next time you’re out and about. Or you may be lucky enough to catch sight of an old locomotive crossing a viaduct in full steam. All around us, every hour of every day, there are causes for wonderment and surprise. A book, a photo magazine, the crackling fire in the hearth, knitting needles, kingfishers and woodpeckers, human language and love, the animal world, flora and fauna. Pete Seeger, long ago, bewailed Little Boxes. But we can choose to live more fully among little icons. Everywhere and anywhere.