that's so sad! I almost did that once! :( Hopefully you'll get all the promotes & comments back... since it's awesome! :)

I love this!

Thanks to both of you :) Deepti, I miss the conversation underneath this post... I enjoyed it immensely and most people spent quite some time to write down these words. Once more, sorry all! :(

Efi, this piece actually affected the way I think about art(this week). And I had it in mind when I gave "looking forward" the title. This is how the art community helps us to grow as artists and humans becAuse everything we do/see has an effect on our art. Personally, if I am not painting or drWing, I am thinking about it. So, you gave us all something to think about! (it's not my original comment, but I hope it helps:-))

Catherine, you are a sweetheart! I am glad of the way you saw this piece at the first place!

Oh what a bummer an accidental delete is! I can't remember exactly what I said last time but my general opinion on this idea is that pulling out the tortured images from the tortured part of yourself is the artistic easy road to doing something that will have an effect on other people - trying to find what is sublime or profound in pure beauty or joy is far more difficult, but when it finally does come through the end result is infinitely more touching. Of course both are valid expressions and if someone really feels pain they should paint it and get it out, but it would be such a terrible thing to chase after the pain just to be able to paint! Ouch!

I know Efi... feel your pain! :( I hope people will come back to this post to leave their comments again, like Catherine & Heather did! :)

Everything happens for a reason ~ I believe. Was there a level of pain in deleting and did you feel compelled to paint? Lol jk. I don't think you need pain although it is a great motivator towards healing. No healing no paint? I think as a viewer I'd rather see the wisdom that has comes from healing from pain rather than the angst. Good question~ and full circle to it with my thoughts!

I have ADD (you know, if it exists) and I’ve always preferred to be outside, playing sports, catching frogs, pretending to be a fictional character in a fictional world, that kind of thing—I never thought, five years ago, that I would spend hours sitting inside, staring at a piece of paper two inches away from my face. For me, finishing a piece is an absolute battle. In many ways, I prefer writing fiction. Drawing takes so much glacial time—the hours can be disheartening, depressing, soul-devouring. Besides the tedium, drawing is literally painful. My pinky on my right hand aches after a good day of drawing. It definitely can’t be good for my back, either. I think Art—broadly here, music and dance included—is sublime communication, the communion of two consciousnesses over time and space; and it’s basically what I believe in. If I can make one kid experience what I experienced the first time a book ignited my imagination and opened the door to another world, then the pain is worth it. The hours weren’t wasted. This piece is a key to complicated lock, Efi, and I thank you for that.

A very interesting and achingly honest comment, Will, as are they all. The common thread that emerges from every heartfelt take on Efi's post is that art is fundamentally different from other human activities. Each of you is compelled to create, and compulsion is complex, mysterious, and fraught with pleasure and pain. Then again, I could be wrong.

Wow Will, thank you for sharing those thoughts. I feel compelled to add that I have carpel tunnel and drawing/painting and working on the computer is often painful. Worse, is waking up in pain in the night after working a detailed drawing. However, painting and drawing, especially when a work is finished is what keeps my sanity. So I work and trade one pain for another. :-)

I've been gone for a day and just came back to this! I read and loved your comments Heather, Angela, Deepti, Will and Geoffrey. It's nice to share intimate thoughts and stories. For me, things can be very clear and very complex at the same time. When I was a kid, I enjoyed running in the streets, playing until the sun went down. I was good at school, but never the best I could be... Nothing ever interested me more, than the real, actual world and being part of it. I wasn't interested in books, I wanted to be out there! After a while, I realized that, this fed my mind, still does. Everything I see, a tree, a gesture, a man on the street, is pulling a trigger in my mind. A chain reaction begins... I have come up with great philosophical answers/questions, just by these simple things. This piece is not a statement. Or, maybe it is. I believe it, I say it out loud and when I am over it, I can say it's total bull****! It doesn't matter really!
No Pain, no gain,
welcome to my brain!

It's a great brain!! Thanks for the thought provoking question/post! It's good to sometimes look in on your own actions and look at what is driving us! I get that way too where I see simple every day things and I see them as shapes and colors small studies almost that trigger ideas and urges to create.

I don't think I have enough words, to thank you all, for this great conversation... I guess, sometimes things happen twice! I think, I might get misunderstood by my latest comment, but it's very hard to explain the way I think, only in a few words!
Angela, I am glad you can relate to that!

Don't worry, it's all good. It is a great conversation, worthy of exploring.

i love this for all the reasons Will mentioned. so very clever.

Thanks, Laura! I'm glad you can relate! :)

Ain't that the truth!

I believe it partially is, Anthony!

Bloody good.

Cheers! :)

YESSS. The best things come with a struggle.

Too true, too true. Without struggle, no one could have an interesting story or experience to apply to the things they make to give them substance.

Thanks, for the comments ladies! And yes, that's the way things are... :)

Wonderful piece. And I enjoyed the commentary. Thank you for sharing your story. It makes it all the more lovely.

Thank you, Cynthia! :)

very interesting statement!

Superb...