And so it begins. Plato is rumored to have said (who knows who really said what back in the day?) that “The beginning is the most important part of the work.” Whether he said this or not, I have long believed it. It’s the first stroke on the canvas, the first words in a piece of writing, the first notes of a new composition, the … Continue reading Plato Had It Right
How can we trace, really, the beginnings of our creative life? We write our biographies, our artists’ statements, we tell the stories, but how do we know for certain that this moment or that was the beginning? Biographies of musicians sometimes include “She picked up the guitar at age 3 and…” But really? Is that the beginning a creative life? Or, “He began writing short … Continue reading It’s Not Just About Feeling and No, a Four-Year-Old Couldn’t Do It
As a pre-Internet child growing up in small towns in the American west, I was not exposed to much “great” art. There were no art galleries that I recall or art museums in these little places displaying the work of the masters. We didn’t have art classes in school beyond the occasional time spent with construction paper and crayons. I’m guessing there must have been … Continue reading Beginnings – What the Heart Wants
Art and Tulips 