Paintings With Soul

I wish I had some of my early teenaged drawings, the ones I voraciously did while copying book illustrations. When I was a teenager (cue the sad violin music), there was no internet. Or easily accessible quality photo imagery, for that matter - film cameras were expensive, and photos were sealed under plastic in albums. There were no museums or art galleries in my town. Art was only available in books, and those came from the library. When I was deemed old enough, I could stay after school and walk to our local library, where I would hang out in the stacks for hours. Books were read, yes, but I would also study the artwork and draw from them. Jim Kjergaard's books were some of my favorites - heartwarming stories with beautiful covers (I wish I knew who this artist is, but I don't have this particular copy anymore). I can't tell you how many times I drew Red, in pencil, pen and ink, watercolor, acrylic...

A photograph by moi of The Princess, one which I intend to paint shortly. Inquires may come directly to me .  The Evolution of Inspiration This is the path I've followed: 1.  Paint what I love. Madly, obsessively, with a focus purely on subject matter. 2.  Embrace a particular process, everything about it, until the approach is wrung dry. 3.  Fall in love with an element, like line, and relentlessly think about nothing else. 4.  Dissolve myself in the process of creating, running others' content through my own filter. 5.  Actively seek out new experiences and media, bringing freshness into my routine. 6.  Look inwards and to my own life for sublime moments, and linger in those via my process. It's this last stage where I'm standing now, with great intent. And this weekend I will be deeply immersed there, in the backstage happenings at a dance convention, channeling all of the above. 1.  ...