One of my favorite paintings happened in about 10 minutes. It sold in five. I painted it on a night very much like tonight. It was a bit stormier, But the main pieces — the intensity of the light and the parts of nature we haven’t yet tamed — were the same.
An incredibly busy work week had ended with a 16 hour drive to Lake Michigan and a meeting with the lake. Standing on the landing, looking towards Chicago and the storms that would and will come across the lake overnight, everything else disappeared. There was only sky and sea (Lake Michigan is almost as big as a sea) and a meeting with the heavens.
Last time I went back to my paints to try to put that feeling of all and insignificance and, somehow, preciousness, onto paper. Tonight I am probably going to do the same because this meeting with the heavens reminds me of why I paint. It reminds me of the gift of these kinds of moments and how much I want to pass them on.
Picking My Battles 