The Need to Paint

I awoke this morning, very early, due to a rabbit in the yard.  How could a quiet rabbit wake someone?  Anyone with a young, active dog and a glass door in their bedroom can tell you it's possible. Fenway, our springer spaniel, began a low growl which woke me just in time to see the object of his attention and before the barks erupted that sent ole Peter Rabbit scurrying to and fro.  It was 4:45AM. So, instead of my last hour of sleep, I was able to watch the sun come up, the sky change colors, the light  stream through the trees changing the leaves to a bright sap green and the play of shadows and light across my yard and flower beds.  What artist would really like to get up and go to work when they know they have a big blank canvas sitting in the corner waiting to be painted? Artists get a bad wrap sometimes.  They have been characterized as a generally flaky, off the wall, lazy, self absorbed and crazy bunch of people.  Well, some can be - but that is true of anyone, not just artists.  What people don't always see or understand, is the inner drive to create.  The power of that first flicker of inspiration as it takes hold and becomes a flame.  The need to make something - whether a painting, drawing, writing, sculpture, photograph, or whatever your craft - with your own two hands and mind and be able to sit back and smile, thinking "I made that". I'm going to finish my coffee and go to work.  It's going to be tough, but we artists can be responsible, too.  And, there is always later tonight.