Preview 04: The Art in the Muddy Middle
I explore how a centuries-old landscape painting helped me articulate both the vision I’m aiming for and the ambiguity of the moment I’m in now. It’s a reminder that even when the foreground is unclear, the destination—and the art—can still guide you.
Further Reading:
Transcript
This is a preview of The Refined Life, your guide to mastering the art of minimalist luxury.
I want to take a moment and talk about art. Now, if you follow me at all, you'll notice fine paintings are throughout my content, whether on the Sukio website or on Instagram, or even on Substack. I love art, and I love searching through the archives in US museums and European ones as well. When it came to finding the cover art for this podcast, I did a search and landed upon A Panoramic Landscape with a Country Estate by Philips Koninck, a Dutch painter. I was immediately drawn to the drama of this landscape painting. And then when I read about it, the description sealed the deal.
This work is known for having a quote unquote muddied foreground, meaning Philips didn't really know what he was doing when he was painting that foreground. But off in the distance, you see the country estate and the clouds above, and it's all so beautiful. And I thought, doesn't that represent what I'm doing here on The Refined Life? I know where I'm trying to go, but the part now, the muddy middle, it's a little unclear. I just know I have to navigate my way through it. And I thought it was just so representative of how many of us feel in our lives right now. We have a goal, even if it's just a general vision. We know where we want to get to. We know what we're striving for. But right here, right now, the muddy foreground, it's a mystery.
So, that's one of the reasons I picked this particular painting. I also love it just for the aesthetics. And I'm all about contrast. I love juxtaposition. I love color contrast. So, this seemed highly appropriate. It's just a way to remind me of what I'm doing here, what I'm doing in life, and bring in a bit of art in everything I do. I'll speak more to the art of Sukio in future episodes, but for now, I wanted to share that little tidbit as to why I found this particular painting so appropriate.
And I encourage you to go out, search the archives, visit your local museum. Get some art in your life, whether contemporary or the old classics like Philips. And I'm probably saying his name wrong, but that's okay. I still enjoy his work.
I am Desiré Greene, and you've been listening to a preview of The Refined Life Podcast, coming in 2026. Let's keep the conversation going. You can leave a comment here or follow me on my socials @hellosukio.
