"In your eyes I see the light and the heat. Oh, I want to be that complete. I want to touch the light and the heat I see in your eyes" - Peter Gabriel
"Stay Amazed" Oil on Linen, 24" x 20", Private Collection
Children have a way of reminding us instantly of what is truly important in life. We all have lived and as the years advance we acquire innumerable experiences. There is the first time we realize the vastness of a sky, the sensation of pain a skinned knee brings, the comfort of the human touch, falling in love. There are the times we figure things out on our own and begin to forge our identities. We put the pieces together and start to decode this thing called life.
There is an art here; one that is so simple in its design we often overlook it. It is so easy a child can do it. The fact is children do it all the time. The fact is we were all once children.
Life experiences bring wonder and amazement. You can see it in a child's eyes as they start to understand what is happening, it is something we all should never let go of. When we share in their experiences we relive what it was like to feel those things so powerfully for the first time. It puts life in such a sharp focus that we realize the other noise around us is merely a distraction.
Picasso himself said, "I took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child."