Don’t you assume everyone sees things as you do? I did (and sometimes still do!) 

I remember walking with a friend. We had just done our A levels. I was the only one in the two years of 6th form doing Art. I need to explain here that I grew up in Southall which at that time was a predominately Asian community. Most of the pupils in the school were Sikh, Hindu or Gujrati. Many were destined to persue careers in fields such as Dentistry, Medicine, Law, Social Care, Pharamceuaticals etc… and I was more than once questioned about what I was going to do with ‘Art’. Luckily my parents allowed us to choose our vocations so I let these gentle jibes float away. 

As I was saying. I was walking with a friend. It was a beautiful cloudless summers day. We found ourselves on a bridge overlooking a field that was ripe with wheat. The sky was an intense blue the wheat field a deep cadmium yellow. there was nothing to distract the horizon line so it was literally 2 panels of complementary colour that almost hurt the eyes. I pointed out to the scene and said ‘Wow! look at that!’ She looked and after a moment or two said ‘What?’ 

‘THAT!” I said, stretching my arms out to the landscape. But she didnt see it. She was looking for something in the field or up in the sky. Even after I explained, she shrugged and said ‘Yeah, nice’. I was astounded. Could she not see how amazingly wonderful the colours were? Could she not see what I could see? It was just there! 

There have been many moments like that since then and I’ve come to realise as artists it’s up to us to show what we see and feel so others can tap into our world and and nudge them a little so they too can appreciate the same things. 

We are not unique. Musicians do the same with their music, Scientists dicover and explain wonders we do not understand and so on. We all have these mini super powers which we can explore, investigate, share and enrich one another with. 

Isn’t it wonderful!