The Sky over Fort Worth (NJ10)


The Sky over Fort Worth (NJ10)
A few weeks ago, the class took a small jaunt to the Amon Carter Museum of American Art. At the museum, we marveled at a wide variety of oil on canvas style paintings. Although the paintings were impressive, to say the least, something far more vast drew my attention that day. Just as I stepped foot outside of the museum, the immense sky draped behind the downtown Fort Worth skyline astonished me. Thousands of times I have stood outside and admired the beauty of the sky or sunset but for some reason, this particular picture caught me off guard. 

The sky resembled a flawless blue canvas with clouds that had a rippling effect, along with a hint of orange hue creeping its way above the buildings. This effect, combined with an American flag standing tall in the foreground helped create a pronounced balance in the picture. The colossal image made me feel minuscule at that moment as if I was only a small piece in a large puzzle. I gazed upon the clouds, wondering how far each one stretched from end to end. I placed my thumb over the monochromatic looking cloud in the middle, and it suddenly disappeared. How could this object be so substantial up in the sky, but from the ground it only compares to the size of my thumb? 

From this depiction, I realized that perception is everything. How we perceive our surroundings is only true to the eyes of the beholder, and without differing appreciations of the natural world, there would be no uniqueness in humankind. What may seem exquisite to me could be overlooked by someone else, which creates important distinctions in each person. The variability of human nature contributes to the personal reflections that each individual has, creating an unending recognition of the many different characteristics this world possesses. 





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