“Just as the figures are observing their own natural surroundings, I recall my own experiences in a natural setting, walking along a path or sitting on a sturdy rock and observing nature.”
For the deep thinkers among us (here’s looking at you), deliberate contemplation is something of an art form. Just ask Jeanna Lopez, a Case Western Reserve University art history major who also works at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the nation’s #2 art museum, located right on our campus.
“Close looking means slowing down when you are interacting not only with art but with anything that you encounter. This can take the form of activities as simple as going on a walk or sitting at home trying to figure out what you are doing that day — just slowing down before acting or making initial movements,” she says.
Jeanna recently offered her close-looking experience with one of her favorite pieces in the art museum, “Watching a Waterfall,” and a step-by-step guide for how you, too, can make your own personal connection to your favorite works.
Get comfortable. Take a deep breath. Observe. Think. Write. Repeat.