I am not a visual person. I’m a word guy. But I’ve lived essentially my entire life with visual artists. My dad’s a painter. My wife, Lissa, has worked in an enormous range of media in the nearly three decades I’ve known her.

This has given me a life spent watching art happen. Art as process, rather than object. Art as a verb, if that makes any sense.

Lissa has always been interested in textures. It was an absolute delight to go out wandering with her Saturday afternoon while she experimented with her new macro lens, seeing things up close. Here’s her favorite from the outing:

Cactus, February 2012, L. Heineman

Check out the full slideshow to get a feel for what my “art as a verb” afternoon was like.