For most people, there are a few definitive pieces of art that have had a profound effect on their lives. They come in all shapes and sizes but these images hold a special place because of the emotions they evoke and the memories they contain.

The image could be illustrations from a specific children’s book early on in life, a photograph in a newspaper that captured a pivotal moment in time, or a work you saw in a museum.

It could also be a piece of art that you owned and loved, or perhaps a painting that was in your childhood home.

For some maybe it was a scene they wished they could enter, a means of escapism:

A beautiful landscape:

A faraway land:

Or a piece that reminded you of home:

Art is about stirring emotion. When buying a piece of art, think of the role it will play in the lives of those that see it, live with it, and pass it by. It can be like starting a tradition. Some works of art are influential because they are famous, but many that we hold dear aren’t well known at all except to a select few. Part of what makes a piece memorable is the context we give it. Who knows which works of art will stay strong in the minds of those that view them:

For me, there are many images I remember vividly today. Below is an image similar to one that is still in the home in which I grew up. The scene is simple yet powerful – a few boats on the lake where we’d go every summer. It’s an image I saw over and over and it still brings back great memories:

And with that I finish this post with a question: Which pieces of art and which images influenced you the most? If you feel so inclined, please share as a comment on this post.

 

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