The first stop on my Grand Marais book tour! MY HAND PAINTS: Reading and book signing Tuesday, January 15, 2019… 7 pm at Wunderbar!

My definition of creativity is doing things in a new or unexpected way, to achieve the result you wanted. This could end up in a cure for HIV or cancer, to address an affordable housing crisis, or to tell your story through the written word or a visual medium.

We are all creative, whether we realize it or not. Every life is unique, so navigating that life takes some ingenuity, or creativity. Within this sea of creative beings, some consciously practice, or work at novelty with a purpose.

That purpose can be telling their story through art.

When I was young, I enjoyed drawing. It was one of the very few things I was told I was good at. Back then, I never could have imagined where my creative impulses would take me. Even when I was in my 20’s in art school, I hadn’t found my artistic voice. I had no confidence in myself. I was bogged down with expectation. There was no freedom to my expression. I lived in fear of doing it wrong. And so it was all wrong.

As far as my ambition, I suppose you could say that what I’m doing now is what I wished for in terms of expression back then.

I couldn’t know the specifics beforehand. That’s what I was developing.

There is an element of preplanning that goes into a work of art. You have to have something to say. You have to select your medium and tools. But art, like life, is improv.

It’s the inspiration that allows my brain and hand to transform the colors on the shelf into the finished canvas.

The paint holds surprises.

I’ve never worried about conforming to mainstream society. That might be a nice excursion for me. But I don’t see it happening. What is mainstream society? If I tried that, I would do it as a joke. I think that’s a good enough reason to try it.

I want to communicate through my visual art. And I want to inspire others to communicate their stories, as well.

If you have an urge to create something, my advice is to do it!