A New Year

Okay, a new year and a new goal for my blog....to be more faithful to my blog commitment. So, here goes..... I have posted a new painting of Zinnias, finished about a month ago. Seems funny now to be painting zinnias in the middle of winter, but they do brighten the grey days of winter cold and snow. Actually, I had the photo of the zinnias for a couple of years and had always planned to use the photo as inspiration for a painting and then my friend Claudia Finn inspired me with her beautiful paintings of zinnias. Inspiration often comes from other artists. I remember hearing that when Picasso went to visit other artists, they hid their paintings because if he saw them, they know he would copy what they had done. I like to think that was true inspiration from one artist to another.
A couple of posts back, I was writing about feelings of doubt and fear. So, I got out one of my favorite books, Art and Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland......always good in times of doubt, and we all have them. To summarize some points that hit home.....making art is chancy and it's revealing and personal and a lot of hard work. There is always uncertainty. Challenging your fears about artmaking is part of the process. Good art is not made without lots of work ....follow the path of your heart....make "your" art.