Nature's Cycle

Nature's Cycle - 11 x 14 Oil on Canvas - This painting is available at Stephan Fine Art Gallery

Walking my dog this evening it is blowing out tonight and I was watching the yellow leaves starting to fall from the trees. We had the 3rd coldest summer on record this year. Seems like somehow summer slipped by us unseen and unheard somehow.
I have all these paintings in my head that I want to paint, and somehow time slips by and some of them never are brought to life. No matter how often I paint and how many paintings come to life, there will always be paintings that never get the chance to come alive and have their beauty grace the world. I am always thrilled with each new painting I do, but also I know that there are so many that I want to do that I don't get time to do, it is a mixed bag of emotions.
People always comment to me "It must be so relaxing to paint." I smile and tell them I love it, and I do. But "relaxing" no, some paintings are a battle, some create so much inner turmoil and anguish when painting them. And a very few that just flow out and are "relaxing". To be honest the old saying "good things don't come easy" is very true. Some of my best paintings, have come from moments of trial and stress. In 1995 I shattered my wrist, I had to have it rebuilt and still have a metal T-plate in my wrist to this day. It was a really bad injury, I thought being totally right handed, that I might have lost ability to draw and paint forever. It took me 18 months to fully get my wrist back. The first painting I did afterwards, when I decided it was time to see what I could do, was a Nude pastel painting. I can not tell you the emotions and fear that was inside me as I created this painting. As it turned out, it is one of the best I have ever done, and it hangs in my home. I will never sell this painting, it means to much to me. It also serves as a reminder, of what I came close to loosing, my ability to paint. I love to paint, I love the feel of the paintbrush in my fingers, the smell of the paint. I don't just paint because I want to -- I paint because I have to. There is a inner drive that I will always have that forces me to paint. I get "edgy" if I have not painted for a few days, ask my wife. Which reminds me, "Donna, you are a incredible wife! I know how difficult it is being a artist's spouse, the sacrifices you make for me to spend the hours alone in my studio. And I really am fortunate to have a wife who will live the Artist's Life with me."