reflections on creativity and the art of living

Ok, I give in. I am going to try to start a blog. We'll see how it goes and if anybody is interested. This is just one more thing that I never thought I would be doing. Me, a blogger? Who in the world would want to read that? Well, if nothing else, maybe it will help me clarify my thoughts. Just thinking out loud. (Wait, is writing a blog the same as going around talking to yourself?) Humm...

I wish I could say that I operate on the basis of a great master plan for my life. Truth is that for the most part I have found that life unfolds before you. Doors open, others close. No one has 20/20 foresight so you operate on the best information that you have at the time. But still you have to make the decision. 

I never thought I would have moved from the near paradise of costal North Carolina, but a door opened and I walked through it. 35 years later I am living in Toledo, Spain; Castilla la Mancha; the land of Don Quijote (quite appropriate I might add.) I never visualized myself as a spiritual person, but an unplanned visit to a local church to watch a children's Christmas play changed my life. 

I never thought I would become a professional fine artist. I have a great respect for creative people. That you might actually get paid to learn how to paint seemed to me so far beyond my grasp as to not waste time thinking about it. A door opened and then another, people began to purchase my art and now...

I never thought about opening a gallery. I went to Toledo looking for a place to have a studio. But people began to visit me there and I prepared a wall for them to see the paintings. That led to another and eventually a gallery evolved. I cannot say that I know much about operating a successful art gallery, but I am learning. Somehow we've made a go of it for nearly 10 years and while more than a dozen galleries around us have closed, we keep chugging along. 

The list of things I never imagined that eventually became an integral part of my life is so long that I won't even try to mention them here. Then again maybe my problem is a lack of imagination. 

All I can say is that, many of the finest and most satisfying moments and elements of my life were not highly planned (including my 2 children). They just happen and you love them. My best paintings seem to paint themselves. You know, you can over think a thing (like a painting). So here goes, I am starting the blog. I never thought I'd be computer competent, much less a blogger. Ain't technology grand?