I love history... everything is inspired by history, so that's

“I love history… everything is inspired by history, so that’s why I love vintage and antiques.” — Thus spoke Kelly Wearstler, the modern artist of space and form, whose vision breathes life into the past and weaves it into the beauty of the present. Her words are a hymn to continuity, a reminder that creation does not spring from nothing, but rises like a flame from embers long tended by the hands of generations. For in truth, every color mixed, every stone carved, every idea born — all are echoes of those who came before.

When Wearstler says she loves history, she is not merely speaking of kings and wars, of dust-covered archives or gilded relics. She speaks of the living history — the pulse of humanity that beats through the fabric of art, design, and invention. To love history is to see the fingerprints of countless souls on every object we touch. The curve of a vase remembers the sculptor’s breath; the gleam of a brass handle recalls the craftsman’s steady hand. Antiques are not dead matter — they are the whispers of the eternal conversation between the past and the present.

To say that “everything is inspired by history” is to confess the great truth of creation: nothing is truly new, and yet nothing is ever the same. Each age draws from the river of memory, shaping its waters into new forms. The ancients of Greece built columns that still stand in our modern architecture; the artisans of the Renaissance revived the harmony of Rome and gave it new life; and even today, designers, thinkers, and dreamers — like Wearstler herself — draw from these deep wells. Innovation, then, is not the denial of history, but its renewal. The seed of progress grows in the soil of remembrance.

Consider the story of the Florentine artisans who revived the lost techniques of ancient mosaic and gilding during the Italian Renaissance. Their masters had long perished, their methods forgotten in dark centuries, yet through fragments of old manuscripts and the patient study of ruins, these craftsmen rediscovered beauty — and in doing so, transformed Europe’s soul. What they built was not imitation, but resurrection. Their works — cathedrals, sculptures, frescoes — still speak to us because they are born from the marriage of history and imagination. Wearstler’s love of vintage and antiques carries this same reverence: she does not copy the past, she converses with it.

There is a deep wisdom in honoring the old. The modern spirit often seeks to sever itself from what came before, mistaking novelty for greatness. But the ancients knew better. They built upon tradition as one builds upon the foundations of a mountain — not to bury the past, but to climb higher by its strength. In vintage and antique objects, one finds not obsolescence, but endurance; not decay, but dialogue. Every object that survives the centuries becomes a teacher, whispering of patience, of craft, of time’s slow perfection.

To love history, then, is not to live in nostalgia, but to live with gratitude — to recognize that we are heirs to an unbroken chain of creation. Every generation receives a lamp, burning with the fire of those before it, and must pass it onward, brighter still. In this, Wearstler’s affection for the old becomes a philosophy: the more we honor what has been, the richer our vision for what may yet be.

Let this be your lesson: seek the old not to idolize it, but to learn from it. Fill your home, your mind, and your heart with relics that remind you of humanity’s endurance. When you touch an antique, remember that someone, long ago, shaped it with care, with intention, with love. When you create — be it art, a life, or a legacy — let your work carry the scent of time.

For those who forget history build only in sand. But those who love it, as Kelly Wearstler does, build upon the bedrock of eternity. So look back, and you will see forward. Embrace the vintage, honor the antique, and you too will join the long procession of creators who keep the fire alive — linking past, present, and the ever-unfolding future.