I am a subscriber to simplicity when it comes to design. Walking up the stairs today, I noticed the bold and strong lines the rail made on the steps. Very graphic, monochromatic, and basic. It stopped me long enough for me to take this photo. Design is all around us. I appreciate the design in nature, everyday products and architecture. I see beauty in everyday materials.

Perhaps that's why the Dutch Masters appeal to me. They heroicized the mundane, the everyday. Through their genre paintings they celebrate our commonality. In that commonality, of course, is death. Invariably, that was a central theme in their work - the memento mori. Our economic and social status in life might vary, but death binds us all.