There Is No Excuse For Ugliness
“There is no excuse for ugliness because beauty properly understood is cheap”.
Edward Bateman Circa 1870 (Herenswood, Dromana, written in a letter to Georgiana McCrae)
Truer words have not been spoken. Nature understands and some people understand, not a real lot though.
For me it’s about how things sit together. How forms react with each other. How some colours work together when others don’t. It’s about the distance between objects, their relative heights, whether they are square, round or rectangle.
Nature always seems to get this right.
Maybe this is why I love Bali so much. Nature always seems to fight back and win. And nature understands beauty more than anyone or anything. Even in the anarchy of growth, the way the breeze moves large leaves which cast shadows as they move.
The beauty of a simple offering that is nothing more than some leaves, petals and other little bits that the gods might find pleasing.
Purnami and her daughter Amy have just done the offerings in our villa this morning and the contrast to the green grass and leaves is gorgeous.
Our villa is simple. It’s a tiny space, no more than 200 square metres but it feels like a kingdom. Surrounded by plants and blue skies full of sumptuous clouds floating around the planet.
We were lucky to inherit some furniture from “Villa Tusk” that the previous owner left for us and we moved it across the rice paddies to “Villa Rumah Kecil”.
Purnami and her daughter Amy have just done the offerings in our villa this morning. These offerings are prepared and placed very day so when you walk around Bali especially in the morning there is always the apparency of an abundant sense of beauty.
Our villa is simple. It’s a tiny space, no more than 200 square metres but it feels like a kingdom. Surrounded by plants and blue skies full of sumptuous clouds floating around the planet.
We were lucky to inherit some furniture from “Villa Tusk” that the previous owner left for us and we moved it across the rice paddies to “Villa Rumah Kecil”.
