Creativity

I am motivated by blank canvases -- this is what inspires me. Possibilities. Potentiality. Creativity.

I was excited: explaining a concept I had for an upcoming painting to my wife [who was probably busy with something more important and wasn't listening anyway]. I was expounding on the color combination or the possibility of using a certain style to achieve the look I wanted or maybe just the unusual nature of the subject matter -- a brick on top of an egg; I don't know -- I don't remember what I was explaining, or why . . . but trust me, I was excited about it. That's what I love. Creativity. The thought that starts the process and pushes it to completion. Most of my best paintings are finished very quickly for this reason. Call it motivation, if you want -- same thing.

Painting is an important aspect of being a painter -- don't get me wrong -- but more important is the idea, the thought. The inspiration. The motivation. Even the determination to fulfill the initial idea. Because that's the spark common to us all. I'm not talking painting here, I'm talking creativity. That's part of being human: being creative . . . or at least having the potential of creativity within us.

"To do the work carefully and well, with love and respect for the nature of my task and with due attention to its purpose, is to unite myself to God's will in my work. I become His instrument. He works through me."
-- Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

Perhaps that is what creativity is: Aligning our abilities and desires with God's will in our lives.