There are five basic principles of design: balance; proportion; rhythm; emphasis; and harmony. Understanding these principles and how they interact is the foundation of artistic expression. They apply to all human art forms—visual arts, architecture, graphic arts, interior design, music and writing. Every artist will use these principles differently and this determines the individuality, creativity and content of each work of art.
Houses are like people. I have never met a perfect one. There are some that are truly grand and others are simply grandiose. Mostly, I have been charmed by the sheer variety. Large, small, quirky, original, I almost always find something to enjoy and appreciate. Some have made me so uncomfortable I’ve had to walk away. And there have been a few I fell in love with. But not one of them has been perfect.
It is quiet on the beach. And bright. The ocean is nearly flat, moving away from the shore in gradated rows of deepening blue. A gentle rustle, like liquid wind, rises from the water as it unfolds against the shore. It leaves a white ruffled edge and recedes. The crisp air smells starched. My breaths are hard-edged and metallic and make me stand up straighter.
It is a cold overcast Monday morning. The usual start-of-the-weekday-bustle is eerily absent. Outside, the light is flat and monotone. The still air feels emptied, only the shrill gull-cry and bird-twitter pierce the blankness.
