One thing I’ve learned about myself over the years is that I have different creative moods. Sometimes I’m in the mood to draw, sometimes I’m in the mood to write, sometimes I’m in the mood to play the piano, paint, read, garden, whatever. The interesting thing is that if I allow myself to do the thing that I’m in the mood to do I do really well. If I force myself to work on something that I’m not really in the mood to work on the end result is mediocre. This tells me that my mind is a lot more open and alert when my heart is involved. In fact my whole body responds better when my heart is in it. This is obvious, I know, but it’s just kind of interesting to think about the unity of the heart, the mind, and the body and how this unity influences creative endeavor. I’ve found also that this applies to accademic persuits. When I’m in the mood to study history I can read half a textbook in a few days and really absorb the information. If I’m not in mood, I can try but I usually just end up reading with my eyes while my thoughts wander. I can discipline myself and with a bit of effort get the information but it’s just not as stimulating or satisfying. I wonder if other people experience this. It applies to sports as well. Jobs, hobbies, relationships, anything we do really. Unity of heart, mind, and body. Okay, enouth rambling for today.

Sometimes it’s really hard for me to be an artist. So many people have so many different things to say about what I should paint and I have so many ideas of my own that it can get kind of confusing. I personally love to do portraits, landscapes, animals, figurative, urban scenes, pretty much whatever strikes me as beautiful or interesting. Sometimes I like to paint something because I feel like a story needs to be told. I like to tell people’s stories through their facial expressions or their body language or a moment in their lives. I like to paint things that are stimulating and challenging and really just a lot of fun. However gallery owners generally don’t like portraits or figurative work. They say people won’t buy a picture of someone that they don’t know.  Okay, so much for telling people’s stories… (more…)