Finally started

It has been a week of frustrations and false starts but I finally made a small

painting today. This is a new experience for me since I tend to make endless

sketches, rethink my ideas, etc., and then spend a long time producing the

finished art. I feel like a new student again and it is kind of refreshing -

"beginner's mind".

I started one earlier in the week but was not thrilled with the result so wiped the little canvas clean and began again. I do not want these works to be too "precious" so I do not feel pressure to force the result. I recall Milton Glaser, the graphic designer/illustrator who started the famous PushPin studio, saying in a documentary I saw about him, that he found working on a piece of paper that cost four dollars a bit intimidating so he did many of his illustrations on less costly materials and felt free to be really creative and even ruin them if need be. I am feeling the same way about these little canvases. There is much less invested in a 5x7 canvas compared to say a 20x30 size. Of course, what if that illusive masterpiece shows up on the cheaper paper or canvas? Well, thank goodness for archival preservation methods available these days!