An artist seeking Inspiration is the equivalent of a writer experiencing writers block. You look high and low.  You read books.  You look at the works of the great artists down through history.  Often it is in something seemingly mundane that this inspiration emerges from it’s hiding place and makes it’s way to the canvas.  Then the unthinkable starts to happen…

You question the inspiration.  Maybe you saw it somewhere and this is only a half-hearted attempt at creating something far inferior to the image that burned it’s way into your subconscious.  Maybe it’s too over the top.  Does it even fit the greater context of the style that I’ve come to be known for?

I’ve had questions like these at times when I’ve sat down to work on a new art project.  Granted, it’s not usually if it fits the style I’ve come to be known for.  I’m a realist, turned abstract expressionist who cartoons occasionally when I decide to do more than just write.  But I still doubt the Inspiration of any piece halfway through.  Usually right at the beginning.  I’ve laid down a brush more times than I can remember because I suddenly felt very cautious of the work.  I’ve shied away from showing most of my work on my website because I feel it doesn’t live up to what I saw in my head.

I’ve come to a startling conclusion.  I’m not sure you can win at creating your own work if you are not able to have the courage to share it regardless of the outcome, the ridicule or the praise that a work brings when it is indeed created from within yourself.  In this artists are called to a different vulnerable position that many others fail to grasp.  Of stepping out on stage and not being afraid to sing loud and clear to the best of our abilities.  To make big bold brushstrokes that capture the heart of what you feel the work should convey.  That’s the courage we need as Artists.