Professor Jennifer Roberts, who teaches History of Art and Architecture at Harvard, has an exercise: spend three hours with a piece of artwork.

Yesterday, I spent 1.5 hours with this one entitled, In the Air, on the Ground, under the Sea by Drawing Architecture Studio. 

It was incredibly rewarding. If you really like something or someone, spend time with it. Presence and attention is an incredible gift.

It was a gift to myself too: I remembered how much I liked architecture, I let my eyes and mind grow accustomed to the warped perspectives of these three pieces that felt like they collapsed into each other (which were next to one another and set up as one big piece!), and came to appreciate the many powerful architectural concepts that remain unbuilt in the physical world.

If people choose to spend their time with your work, they’re giving you their gift. Don’t take it lightly.

Update: I tried this again, a year later, with a different painting.