Thinking about the art of creating

 
 A play set me thinking about the art of creating.
  Four of us went to the Alley Theater's new production "Old Friends", a play by Horton Foote.
It was thought provoking, and well preformed, though not really a happy situation.  But it got me thinking about the process of putting thoughts on paper or canvas.  I love to go to the theater.  It always gets me thinking, or I should say gets my mind racing like the roulette wheel.
      Creating a painting must be much like creating a book or play, perhaps even music.  The ideas bounce around the brain attempting to find a place to rest.  Emotion!  That's what it's all about.  How do I put what I feel into a way it can communicate with a viewer or reader.
      A thought must first become a reality that then creates the emotion in the eye of the beholder..  In a play,  it's translated by the words and actions of the performers.  In a painting it must be translated into a visual reality of color, content and composition. 
      A while back, I began searching for a way to visually explain how I feel when I encounter another for only an instant.  In a flash I see a woman in a car next to me.  I see the group waiting for  a bus or a mother with her children rushing them to school.  Maybe a man is walking his dog or simply sitting on a park bench.  Or maybe just mowing his lawn. Their image leaves a fleeting image that quickly passes off my screen.  Yet I know they have a real existence that I can only imagine.
 So, how do I express this on a blank canvas?
     I have been thinking about this for some time.  I have even tried some sketches.  But I have not been satisfied with the result.
     In the meantime I  paint other things that interest me.  Trees, skies, weather, flowers......these are solid, three dimensional things that can easily be translated to the paper. I can use color, draftsmanship...all the artist's tools. But all the while I have been searching my mind to come up with a solution to my quandary.
    The time has come, I decided, to try again.  So I will begin exploring this here on my blog for a while.  I hope some of you who read this will watch my progress and pass your thoughts on to me.