It is the time of the astrological sign of Cancer. I did this image for my website but what is the point if it never gets seen? So here is an image for all of my Cancer friends - enjoy and happy birthday!

Inspiration...

I had this image in my mind for many months. Obviously I was inspired by the famous mural in the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, but there were other contemporary influences as well. ET and "phone home." I saw all the movies where lovers were torn apart and their fingers cannot touch.

I applied this image in a new context for my contact page. I was an interesting experiment. But it caused me to examine how an artist builds upon the cultural references of one generation after another. But the pieces that become iconic and inspirational are often determined by a difficult to define process. It is the perfect mix of right timing, cultural and personal appeal and serendipity. Once these pieces become part of the lexicon of images that define and populate our lives they then serve as inspiration.







The Mona Lisa, van Gogh's Starry Night, The Last Supper, and Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol, just to name a few.

But what about the images that we see for an instant and they stay embedded in our minds? Inspiration,like lightening, can strike at any time. I have tried to repeat the circumstances of where I was and what I was doing when I had a great idea in the past and sometimes it works. I have the lucky sweatshirt, the particular way I set up my desk, the list of "must dos" before I start working. All of this superstition and preparation are in an effort to grab ahold of that quicksilver thought as it flies through my mind.

The appeal of a stroke of inspiration is how lucky you feel once it happens. Not to mention the great conviction that arises around an inspired thought that it absolutely must be the greatest idea ever because it was "given" to you by the universe. The process of creating is a little about giving up full credit and letting a higher power work through your subconscious mind.

Once inspiration has been experienced and realized into a work of art it becomes the nectar that we seek from one flowering idea to the next.

Here is to the inspired journey...