From the time I started elementary school, my teachers recognized that I was creative. I have those early report cards. They wanted me to focus on other areas of study, but I only wanted to do art. This tells me that I wasn’t making art to please anyone else. I did it because I loved it, and I’ve never stopped. I think this is a key to expanding ones creative mind and abilities.

I really wanted my drawings and paintings to look like objects in the physical world. That is not my goal anymore, though there is a place for it. It took me a long time to discover my artistic voice. I realized that paint colors don’t have to match the world around me, and objects in my paintings don’t have to obey the rules that govern tangible objects or beings. Having said that, I want my symbolism to be in there. Not necessarily easy, but present, and satisfying to me.

The opinions of other people are important because I am a communicator. Not all critiques are helpful.  Not everyone will understand my intent. I am often intentionally cryptic, and not all of my attempts are successful.

I was criticized by the faculty in art school for spelling everything out, and leaving nothing for the viewer to discover or interpret. I think the pendulum has swung to the other side now. They were right. I couldn’t see it then. I couldn’t understand that my approach was like those “other areas of study” and abstract art was like me as an unencumbered and passionate first grade artist.

I try to keep other people’s opinions out of my creative practice and make art that is authentically mine. When someone later connects with it or comments on it, the personal satisfaction is that much greater.

No one is grading me. There is no assignment. I didn’t decide to take this path. I just did what I loved to do. Inspiration didn’t come in a flash. No lightbulb appeared over my head. I just lived each day. I used my senses to navigate and understand the world around me. I found things I enjoyed, and things to avoid. Each one of these things made me the person that I am, with my own strengths and challenges. One of the things I enjoyed very much was creating art.

I didn’t discover my talent. It came naturally, and then I worked at it. I still practice it. I’m still surprised, and still learning to let go.

What creative individuals do I admire? All of them.