The art of seeing deeply
President’s House, Brown University, Providence, RI / Photographer:Joshua McHugh / Painting by Ross Bleckner, from the permanent collection of the Bell Gallery at Brown University / Chair design by Katie Eastridge/ Bookcase by Roman Thomas, with a selection of books by Brown University authors
James Baldwin and Beaufort Delaney in Paris, ca. 1950
In an interview published in The Paris Review in 1984, the writer and civil rights activist
James Baldwin described a moment that changed his way of seeing. He was standing on a street corner in Greenwich Village with painter Beaufort Delaney, waiting for the light to change:
“He pointed down and said, ‘Look.’ I looked and all I saw was water. And he said, ‘Look again,’ which I did, and I saw oil on the water and the city reflected in the puddle. It was a great revelation to me. I can’t explain it. He taught me how to see, and how to trust what I saw. Painters have often taught writers how to see. And once you’ve had that experience, you see differently.”
Seeing deeply involves removing all distractions and thinking only of what is in front of you—and what it means. As a furniture designer and art advisor, seeing deeply is a lifelong practice. I love helping clients think differently about their homes and guiding them to fine art and furniture they will cherish for years to come.
If you’d like to learn more about my art advisory practice, let’s talk.
Katie
