I spotted this gorgeous carved wood clog at Café Benelux in Milwaukee’s artsy Third Ward. It’s a nice restaurant and where my husband and I hosted the Faculty Dinner during our illustration workshop. <–If you don’t know about Fantasy Art Workshop’s Illustration Intensive, please do click on the link to learn more about it–or search my website for past posts about it. It’s our big event, our heartfelt endeavor, that we’re thrilled to present every year.–>

Back to the clog, isn’t it a beaut?

I think when I was younger, I may not have appreciated it as much as I do now. I had a couple of pairs of (regular, not wooden) clogs in my youth and wore them to the point of disintegration, haha. But, in my youth, I might have thought too literally about the utility and comfort of wooden clogs to see any artistry to them. I could be remembering myself wrong, as adults are sometimes apt to do  years removed from childhood, but I suspect not.

But now I see its beauty. Now I appreciate it. Now I marvel at it. Today, as I’ve just finished seeing scores of artists work on incredible pieces for a whole week, I’m pleased to see beautiful, artistic things displayed just for the sake of it. Truthfully, I don’t know if this piece was mass produced–but even if it was, it’s still nice to see pretty things around us. We need that.

There’s no grande message behind this post other than LOOK. Look at this gorgeous thing. It’s truly lovely.