Beauty, mystery, intrigue -- because we are creative, thinking human beings, we look for these elements in life.

Sadly, too many people are derailed by movies, TV, and the entertainment industry, accepting a flashy substitute for the real things. And so we absorb  ourselves in make-believe fantasies carefully crafted by people whose primary goal is to advance the interests of advertisers.

It's easy to mistake many of the entertainment industry's messages for reality, even as we assure ourselves that "we know it's just a movie." And while we may sidestep the more obvious points -- people don't fly, cats can't talk, zombies (honestly!) aren't real -- we find ourselves, without really realizing it, becoming disillusioned with real, everyday, ordinary life, because there's no way it can reach the impossible shining glamorous glitter of TV and movies. Especially reality TV and movies.

Surrounded by surround sound, mentally going slow mo as we recall the fighting or dancing moves of our favorite star, we no longer see -- or even bother to look for -- the beauty, mystery and intrigue in the world around us.

Beauty Really Does Surround Us

Obviously, this beauty, mystery, and intrigue isn't in the office cubicle or grocery store aisle (both of which, incidentally, look much more exciting on the screen). But this beauty, mystery, and intrigue is in the leaves that we swish through as we walk a hidden path through the forest; it is in the still, mirrored image of a lake as we stare out over its surface and breathe as silently as we can, so that we don't disturb the geese swimming at the other end; it is in the desert as the sun works its way to setting, and the moon -- on the other side of the sky -- rises to light the night.

Such is the scene we find in Moon Rising, and the painting invites us to join the woman in the desert, holding close the blanket around her because the warmth of the desert day rapidly changes to the cool of the desert night. It is quiet here, and quite peaceful -- a place of beauty, mystery, and intrigue.

Fine Art Brings Beauty, Mystery, and Intrigue into the Home

We can't always get outside when the sun is setting just right, and the shadows are fleeting. But when we make fine art a part of our homes and lives, the beauty captured in representational paintings like Moon Rising is there before our eyes, every time we step into the room. The artwork invites us to enter the landscape and feel the peace within.

Moon Rising, in addition to being available as an original painting, is also available as a print in various formats, as well as an image on products (what better way to incorporate art in one's life?) at Steve Henderson Collections. The images below are a few samples of products featuring Moon Rising at Steve Henderson Collections.

Years ago, when I was a hopelessly romantic teenager who watched way too much TV, I dreamed of meeting the perfect man (which I did: you're on his art website now) and that we would wear matching, knitted, aqua sweaters. In public.

You know -- Matchie Matchie.

Well, that was an immediate no-go as my Norwegian Artist, like many reasonable men, was horrified at the thought of being Tweedledum to my Tweedledee. Matchie matchie repelled him, not only in clothing choices but in home decor as well, and what he wanted regarding the latter was a reasonably clean environment (we wound up having four kids) that was comfortable and filled with items of meaning to us -- my Polish teapot, which doesn't match anything; an old oak buffet table that, unlike box store furniture, improves with time; and, because he's an artist, paintings of beautiful places and scenes, the kind of art you enter into and make a story about, one that features you as a central character.

It's Normal to Be Different

Fortunately, because I was raised by normal, unpretentious people and my television addiction ended long before HGTV, I saw the sense in this. Over the course of 35 years, the Norwegian and I have not worried about establishing a strict neutral palette with an approved Pop! of color here and there. (By the way, this Fashie-fashie Colorless Crush was not in vogue 35 years ago, the mandated hues then being blue, I believe, which will eventually come back "into fashion" when the Home Interior Design Industry decrees that it is so. Of course, if people spent less time absorbing TV dictates on what their homes should look like, and more time actually living in their homes, then they would not feel obligated to constantly renovate their personal environment to mimic staged studio shots in a magazine.)

Nothing really matches in our home, but neither is the decor oddly out of sync -- a Victorian fainting couch next to a director's chair, say. (Although if that's what makes someone happy, then for God's sake, let them be happy.) Most importantly, our home is not the reflection of somebody else's tastes -- featuring the full line of their home decor products -- with seasonal variations -- as seen on TV.

Our house is our home, unapologetically reflecting who and what we are.

Surround Yourself with Meaningful Items

The image to the left is Steve's painting, Polish Pottery, which features that teapot I mentioned.  Now if our home "colors" were cobalt blue and white, it would fit in perfectly according to Home Decor Industry standards (except for the fact that it's colorful, which does NOT fit into the present day rules), but whatever home colors we have circulate around sage green and warm terra cottas, which we just sort of fell into because we liked them.

And so it should be with any home -- surround yourself with the things you like, recognizing that they are far less important than the people you love -- and everything falls into place. (Polish Pottery, the artwork, is available as an original painting on this website, as well as a print, and image on products, at Steve Henderson Collections.)

We live in a world of beauty.

Sometimes, this is difficult to grasp because so much of what we see every day -- office cubicles, freeway toll booths, strip malls, parking lots, digital billboards -- are not beautiful. They are, instead, a reminder that there is much we are demanded to do, rarely enough time to do it in, and no matter whether we complete our many tasks on time or not, someone, somewhere who will be dissatisfied.

Indeed, it is difficult to find beauty in this, but this is not the place to find beauty.

The place to find beauty is in items of permanence -- mountains, lakes, seashores, valleys -- and the regular, secure signs of the seasons -- the flowers of spring, the blazing leaves of autumn, the chirp of insects on a summer evening, the stars clear and bright overhead on a cold winter night. These elements -- which transcend human life and our ability to create them -- remind us that there is more to life than schedules, seminar speak, peer pressure (which exists long, long after elementary school), social media witticisms, project deadlines, last week's bills, and this week's flurry of legislation from the city, state, Congress, White House, and numerous agencies no ordinary person had a part in creating.

Seek beauty. Stop in the hurried moments of the day and look at the clouds. Focus on the small flower, valiantly growing through the cracks in the sidewalk. Feel the breeze on your face. Marvel at the light of midday, the way it bathes everything in warmth. Wonder at the many colors of green -- a chorus of color in any place where there are bushes, trees, and grass. The next time you're tempted to look at your phone, look at your hand instead -- isn't it amazing how the thumb and fingers work seamlessly together to grab, grasp, touch, handle, and feel?

In Light of Zion, Steve's painting of a woman immersed in the beauty of one of the world's awe inspiring places, there is a sense of freedom, joy, adventure, and peace. This is a way to walk through life, focusing on that which is noble, majestic, timeless, pure, and truly beautiful.

Fine Art in one's home is a way to be surrounded by beauty, regardless of the weather outside or the emotional climate of the day. Find Steve's work as original paintings and commissioned work on his website, and home decor prints at the following online and retail establishments: