I'm not alone

This painting was made with a broom as a brush.

Anyone who knows me knows I'm a frustrated son of a bitch. No, not sexually. Creatively. I love to paint but I hate the struggle a lot of the time. I am not prolific. I sometimes wonder if I am more prolific than I think because I paint over so many things or destroy them; I'm eliminating evidence—my tracks. I don't think this is inherently bad because I never regret it. Even still, the process, especially for the past year, feels like I'm being skinned alive.

The ultimate elixir is to hear other wise ones talk about this struggle. It's like a big hand patting my head oh-so-gently. Then I forget this all happened and work myself into a tizzy again. Again time passes, more wise words pass through and the cycle of renewal restarts. The new sage is Chris Martin. No, not the same guy from Coldplay. I only recently became familiar with his paintings via random net-cruising. I tend not to respond to 'abstract' work too strongly but Martin's tickles me because it is so unabashedly goofy and inventive. Read an interview with Mr. Martin here. My favorite quote from the interview:

"The act of painting on the bread was weird. It felt like I was a stranger working my own painting."

This is how I feel 98% of the time when I work. Maybe it isn't such a bad thing?

P.S. He makes some of his paintings with Wonderbread. I unfortch could not find any pics of them online but you can see them in James Kalm's video on YouTube.