Beauty in the Ugly

When I was little, my aunt had this hideous doll that I loved. I think I loved her because she was so ugly. She just needed someone to care about her, and it wasn't her fault she was so pathetic. And once you got to know that face, there was just something beautiful in it despite the ugliness.

 

I would like to say I am doing that with people now, and I do believe in looking for inner beauty, although I'm not always perfect at finding hidden treasure past a rough exterior. We need so much grace to love the human heart.

But I do believe that beauty is always present, whether it's the value of a human heart, or the landscape barren after winter, before spring's green rebirth, or the grace of a withered sunflower head nodding in the fall, and I seek it in the small things. That motivates my paintings in so many ways.

"Golden Tangle" watercolour on paper (available for purchase, email to inquire)