I watched the PBS documentary about the artist Emile Norman tonight… and I was so impressed I’m hard-pressed for words at the moment.
I was so pleased to see how this artist and his partner Brooks Clement made a life together in Big Sur during a time in American history when minorities were often treated deplorably. And clearly, being gay was one of the worst minorities one could be. They defied the prevailing winds and somehow between the two of them they managed to create an artistic dream there in those marvelous hills overlooking the ocean.
Before seeing this documentary I had heard of Emile Norman— somewhere, but I wasn’t sure from where. Maybe it’s just that I had tread some of the same ground, anywhere from the Masonic Temple in San Francisco to the Big Sur beaches and mountains. Or maybe it was Carmel, or who knows? I know I had heard of him, but as usual after learning more I came to know how tremendously much I did NOT know.
As an artist-in-training, as I generally consider myself, I so connected with one particular aspect of the story of Emile Norman that seemed worth pondering on my own to a greater extent. This was the seemingly endless inspiration Emile derived from his natural surroundings, whether in Big Sur or in Africa or in Italy or wherever. But specifically, I found myself thinking about my own regular sorties out into the natural world here in northern California. I, too, have seen so many inspiring moments. I’ve seen so many materials in nature that draw me in with their magical properties and structural complexities… with their magnificent simplicity too. And yet it’s only been stones that I’ve picked up (and maybe a few shells) from some particular moments on these outlying adventures. It crossed my mind just tonight how in the field of visual art I’ve kept far too limited of a palate. These materials are all around me and, just as Emile saw them this way, their properties carry their powers of beauty and inspiration in a broad spectrum of applications whether kept in their original state or not. Their properties remain whether they are in the sawdust, or in the crushed glass, or in the brilliant varieties of wood and other materials that surround us every day.
I found it exciting and inspiring to think about that. The powers of these ingredients are such a significant component, and I cannot deny that I feel as though they are illuminated to me at this very moment in a renewed way.
And as one who persistently ignores the television since it so often sucks so freakin’ massively, I found once again something spectacular on PBS. Once again it really was enriching. And obviously, I felt it was worth tapping out a few lines about that. 
Hope you get a chance to check out the artwork of Emile Norman, and I hope you have the luxury of taking time to dig into this artist’s life a little deeper than usual.
Hopefully Brooks found Emile “a spot in the art department” in heaven.