In Search of the Ideal

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

The Effects of Good Government in the Countryside
1338 Fresco City Hall of Siena Ambrogio Lorenzetti

As I am writing this, our 350th! blog entry, I am struck by the three things which have been at the heart of our musings in these Perspectives articles over the years. The first is our interest in sharing with you our experiences and any knowledge we have gained over the forty-five-plus years of each of our professional artist lives. Second, is our desire to become better writers and therefore master another art form, if possible. Third is a desire to share our ongoing search for the ideal—in life, in art, and everything else. But what does the ideal mean in our time? If it were an easy thing to define, it wouldn’t be fun to explore.

The concept of the ideal is a recurring theme throughout art history. We can see the manifestation of it in painting, literature, architecture, fashion and music. Each new artistic movement seeks to redefine …