Enhancing the Landscape

I thoroughly agree with American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who wrote, "A good building is not something that hurts the landscape, but something that makes it more beautiful than it was before it was built."

Anyone who reads my posts on Facebook will know that I am a huge fan of natural landscapes - I walk in Salcey Forest most mornings, and am never tired of appreciating the glories of nature. But when my husband and I go on holiday, we love to explore a new city on foot, and a big part of the pleasure is admiring the wonderful buildings, as they enhance the urban landscape we are walking through. And I can think of several examples of buildings that have that wow factor. The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, any cathedral you like to name, gorgeous castles... they all enhance the landscape they are in.

Last year, we visited our favourite part of mid-Wales. The sight of Harlech Castle, brooding high over the sea, was something to behold. And the wonderful Italianate village of Portmeirion, built by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis in the heart of the Welsh landscape. Both take the breath away, both enhance the landscape they are in.

Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, is another example... Whoever the ancient folk were, who built it all those millennia ago, they certainly knew how to pick their spot. And they knew a thing or two about the path of the sun through the sky too.

I think it is a natural human instinct, to make beautiful objects. Crafters and artists of all kinds, including architects and builders, pour their souls into their work, and this shows in the finished products. All human beings have the potential to be creators, whether they use pens, paints, needles and yarn/thread, or any other material. The glory of being creative is to make something new that has never existed before, and is somehow more than the sum of its parts. For our own pleasure, and that of those who see it / read it / use it.

I have a wonderful quote about the creative life by Shauna Niequist, taped above my desk. It reads,

"To all the secret writers, late-night painters, would-be singers, lapsed and scared artists of every stripe, dig out your paintbrush, or your flute, or your dancing shoes. Pull out your camera or your computer or your pottery wheel. Today, tonight, after the kids are in bed or when your homework is done, or instead of one more video game or magazine, create something, anything. Pick up a needle and thread, and stitch together something particular and honest and beautiful, because we need it. I need it."

     from Cold tangerines: celebrating the extraordinary nature of everyday life.

What will you create today?