This painting was 16 years in the making, but it all came together in one amazing instant this past August. Simply put, this is one of my best creations.
Five years ago when I started painting these, the idea came to mind that I would paint something some day for my dear friend David. Painting comes far more naturally to me than writing does (I wish I could write as easily as I paint), and I have always wanted to paint David something that not only represented him, but also represented my appreciation for his continued encouragement, compassion, and friendship. I could go on and on about what an inspiration he has been in my life, but words simply can’t do it justice, and you can’t just thank someone as wonderful as David for being in your life and expect that to be good enough. Besides, sometimes a picture can lock into place what we cannot encapsulate with words alone.
However, I was at a complete loss as to what to paint. How do you paint a single picture for someone who has had the greatest and most positive influence in your life? How do you capture Connection, Spirit, Inspiration, Wisdom, Encouragement, Enthusiasm, Validation, Non-duality, Inner-luminosity, Unconditional Love and Support, not to mention the all important 3-day corduroy trains-of-thought, into one single painting? So I put the idea on a shelf in the back of my head, dusted it off from time to time, and waited some more… and painted some more. I think I needed to find my own form and balance first, and then I’d be ready. I knew that the image would come to me eventually, and that would be the right time for the painting to be born.
I tend to not paint very much between January and April. I don’t know why. It just sort of happens that way each year. Maybe to give my hand (and head) a rest, maybe just the winter blues tampering with my chi and dampening my motivation. Then as the snow melts so does my hibernating mind, and the ideas start to flow. Then more and more ideas come, and my head explodes into torrent of inspiration and I can’t get to a canvas quick enough.