Layering Toward Simplicity

On nostalgia, overwhelm, and choosing a life that is enough

Mixed media multiple exposure on book page

The other day, my 19-year-old son said to me, “You guys had it pretty good growing up in the eighties and nineties. I wish I could experience what the world felt like then.”

Not wanting to be the kind of parent who says, “Back in my day…,” I agreed. But then again, wars have always happened. Greedy people have always been destructive. It’s possible that the one important difference is that I simply didn’t pay as much attention back then. I didn’t know as much.

Maybe that’s why life felt less overwhelming. Or perhaps it was just the grace of being young, a bit naïve, hopeful, and full of possibility.

Whatever it was, I sometimes find myself craving a time before the internet, and especially the smart phone — a day lived without even knowing it exists.

The older I get, the simpler I want life to be. More time in nature. Fewer things to manage. More presence, less accumulation.

It is not my life’s purpose to organize closets just to make room for more.

And yet, I feel the pull of the cycle of needs, wants, and a culture that seems to have erased the word “enough.” I love beautiful things, too, but I’m trying to choose less, want less, and cultivate a sense of “enough,” however imperfectly. I’m also trying to choose the well-made over the well-marketed. Less, but better. Simple, but beautiful.

Lately, though, my art has looked anything but simple.

Mixed media multiple exposure on book page

I’ve been experimenting with multiple exposures, mixed media, and layered textures - fragments of old film strips, vintage photographs, my own photographs, charcoal drawings, textures. At first, it felt like a contradiction. Why am I adding more layers to the page when I want fewer layers in my life?

But I’m beginning to see it differently. The layering is a kind of sifting, a way of covering the noise so something quieter can surface underneath. These images aren’t really about adding -they’re about seeing through clutter, through time, through the present, toward something that is still true.

This experimentation also has a practical reason. I have been preparing to teach a new workshop, starting tomorrow: Words and Images: The Art of Creative Fusion. In the spirit of it, I’ve stopped overthinking the outcome and started simply making again.

The process of writing, layering, and preparing has been grounding. Not always smooth, but meaningful in a way I’ve been missing. Maybe that’s part of the answer.

Simplicity isn’t an empty space; it’s making room for what makes us come alive.

Mixed media multiple exposure on book page

I don’t have a clear conclusion yet. Only a growing sense that I have been wanting something different from what I’ve been told to want: less desire, more presence and meaning.

And I wonder how much of that life is out of reach, or how much is simply a series of small, but brave, choices I haven’t made yet.

Maybe the real question isn’t whether life was better then. The question is how I can create the life that I am yearning for now, and what I am willing to let go of to get there.

---

Thank you, as alway for being here! In order to support my work, feel free to share it. I also invite you to share your thoughts in the comment section.

---

Next Creative Hour

The next Zoom gathering for my paid subscribers, is scheduled for Saturday, April 18, 2026, 11 am CST. If you would like to join, you can simply upgrade your subscription. A Zoom link will be sent out the day before.