Still life with tomato (The Hidden Art of Homemaking)

The Hidden Art of Homemaking, by Edith Schaeffer: weekly discussion at Ordo Amoris (link fixed!)
Chapter 1: The First Artist

"Not all of the physical beauty of the world is equally spoiled, or equally unspoiled.  But there are fragments of beauty to show the glory of the Creator, the Artist God." ~~Edith Schaeffer

"'Poet' literally means 'maker,' and the profoundly challenging thing about all this is that God is a Poet who writes poems about the inner truth of existence, and literally brings them to life, 'acts them out' in terms of everyday realities."  ~~Ruth Etchells, Unafraid to Be (IVP, 1969) 

God as artist, God as poet.  If we are God's workmanship...then we ourselves are His works of art, His poems, along with the rest of His creation.  And if we are created in His image, then we are also called to celebrate His art, His poetry, in our "everyday realities."  Ann Voskamp says that she began her list of a thousand gifts with some jelly and toast...and if that's where beauty begins, so be it.  We need to look for the fragments...or to create some of our own. 

"The zinnias stayed in the bucket on the counter for several days, the focus of small vignettes she built around them.  A crystal candlestick and a blue-and-white porcelain platter pushed into place beside the bucket demanded that even I give it a glance as I ran past to dart outside.  The next day a row of red tomatoes dotted the sill behind the bucket, crisply graphic trim interrupted by a small pottery bird that had been in the living room the day before.  Like flash cards, these small still-life arrangements were my early lessons about scale, composition, and balance."  ~~ Mothers and Daughters at Home, by Charlotte Lyons

What do we have in our homes that is really beautiful?--I don't mean possessions of great value, but something--as Charlotte Lyons says--that inspires with colour, line, balance?  Is there a still-life arrangement waiting to happen?  Do we need to clear off the books and sewing mess from the table first, or put some of the counter clutter in the cupboard to make room for beauty?  Let's do it.

Linked from Ordo Amoris: Hidden Art Bookclub Begins. (link fixed!)