The human race has gone through many changes over the millennia, and with time, I think our basic needs have changed. We still need to eat healthy food and get exercise, but we no longer need to crouch behind rocks or snowbanks to kill a mammoth or musk ox in order to eat. I bet a lot of people don’t really know where their food comes from, other than the grocery store. 

The creativity it took to slay a buffalo has shifted to purchasing a vehicle and navigating crowded highways to and from a job that sustains us. 

I wish I could tell you what our ancient ancestors thought about while chipping tools from stone or drawing images on rock faces, in or out of a cave. 

I think they were planning not only menus, but also the hunt. 

Nowadays, we can lay on our couch and order ready-to-eat food. 

Similarly, our artistic needs seem to have changed. 

It’s born into us, handed down from those who beseeched the animal spirits or the great overseer for guidance and a successful hunt. 

Now, we can depict whatever we want to. We can share spiritual lessons, or we can make random marks in an arrangement that appeals to us. 

You have to learn it, or open yourself to it, but I do believe creativity is part of human nature. It’s like a seed that needs time to germinate and grow. Our modern world doesn’t always allow for that dedication. 

Art was where I felt comfortable from an early age. It never felt risky. I was supported and encouraged along the way. I looked at things and tried to replicate what I saw. Then one day I realized that I don’t have to copy objects in their natural environments. I could mix and match the forms to say something different. Something from my perspective. Something that no longer depicted the world around me verbatim. 

I draw and paint based on my experience. If I do research in order to complete an artwork, I’m simply bringing new information into my experience. From that gleaned information, I decide what is important to me, and to the piece I am creating. I edit the details in order to say what I want to say.  I leave things out. I might add something to the composition. You would do it differently. Every artist would bring something different to the image. How silly to think one artist did it wrong because someone else’s view matched more closely with what you had envisioned. 

If I come up with a response that you wouldn’t have considered, then I can be your teacher, and you can be mine. 

I love finding the paintings within the painting. My brother is really good at pointing these out.