"Wilderness"

I've been having this weird and surprising compulsion to create art for a few months and it has been too strong to resist recently.  I've wondered if my brain chemistry is changing or something. I talked with my uncle Stan, a professional artist and art teacher, at the Miller Christmas party about this, and he helped me understand this longing. These were not his exact words, but my understanding after filtering all that he said is that we have two competing sides to our brains, one that wants to follow all the rules and be "productive." The other side of our brain wants to be free and creative and loose, and let go of societal expectations. It is much like the mind of the child. We need both sides, and the battle is to mesh the two together. We can get stuck in only thinking and living with one side of the brain. Business is all about solving problems, and it is very results oriented. I have been way overbalanced on that side. I used to use the other side of my brain by writing sermons and such, but I have not done that for years now. The longing to make art turned from a peculiar nagging into a realization that I needed to do it to be more healthy.  I told mom about how I wanted to do some painting and she helped me pick out some supplies. I started it last night and finished it tonight. I know that I have little sketching talent, but I figure I can go with the basics of making lines and colors and making them fit together in an abstract way. I know it is nothing to brag about, but I had fun. I've wanted to do a sunset like the one in Munch's "The Scream" and I just typed in abstract painting in google and got the idea for the tree. Thanks to Mom and Jill who gave me some pointers too. I can't wait to start the next one.