Your “Aha Moment”

I am writing this entry to encourage you to find that “aha moment” that will let you know that you too, are an artist. That moment that the light comes on and you know, that you know, you can do it. That moment that you just know what direction you are to go in art, both in style and medium.

It was this kind of moment that caused me to get back into painting, even after being out of it for twenty five years.

In an earlier blog, I mentioned my “aha moment”. I want to expound on it here, and let you know what series of events led up to my “aha moment,” so that you can begin the process of finding yours,  if you haven’t already. It is the moment that belief and direction are realized.

Well, for years, I had been wanting to get back into art. I had been wanting to build an art business that would fill in the slow times in the winter months when my construction business was slow and keep the income steady. My desire was to do both businesses until the art business would then take over and I would do construction only for my favorite clients. I had been dabbling in detailed pencil drawings, but that was just for relaxation and did not involve the real desire that I had down deep. The desire to create works of art that would live on well past my years on this earth.

You see, part of my personality is to create work that would last a long time, weather it was painting the walls of a house in my construction trade or planting trees in my yard. I wanted to do the best job, with the best prep work possible and use the best paints, so that the painting job that I did for a client would last as long as possible. I wanted to plant the right tree so that the next generation would be able to picnic under it and enjoy the shade that it would bring. I did not care if the next generation knew who planted the tree, or who painted the room, but that the work would last.

Because of that personality trait, I did not value the pencil drawings as much as I would an acrylic painting, even though I spent countless hours on them, because they did not have the permanence of acrylic. With us living in the Northwestern corner of Pennsylvania we have very little need for air conditioning, combine that with the moisture from the Great Lakes and  you have a perfect set of conditions for mold. Case in point- one of my favorite drawings of a trip that my wife and I took, after having the drawing professionally framed, developed mold. That to me is not permanent.

With thoughts of creating a more permanent form of art, along with the time of year, Christmas – which is the time of year that I always did my relaxing pencil drawings in the past years,  and the fact that starting to get back into art was on my mind I looked up on the wall of a local art gallery and frame shop and saw a Fred Swan print of a detailed painting. It was the type of detail that I did in high school and thereafter, that I was most comfortable with. I had my “aha moment”, the moment that I said to myself, “I can do that”. I purchased a book from a bookstore for a quick refresher course and jumped right back in.

That first painting I did, after being out of it for twenty five years, I have sold prints off of. The original is too priceless to me to sell, just because of the sentimental value. The painting of our barn in the winter at the top of this blog is the first painting I did after my “aha moment”.

This painting was inspired by a fleeting moment here in Northwestern, Pennsylvania when the Sun came out just for a few minutes. We, in this part of the country, because of the Great Lakes, can have three weeks without the Sun even coming out for a few moments. It’s times like these, that the Sun comes out only for a moment, that it brightens your day and you just want to smile. That moment is captured in this painting for me.

Your “aha moment” may come after you have had the time to try a few different mediums and styles. Depending on how much experience you have had in art before can have an effect on when your “aha moment” will come, but if you are willing to explore your thoughts about what art is to you and what effect it has had on your life, your moment will come. Think about what type of art makes you happy. At some point the light will come on, the thought will enter your mind and you will say like I did, “this is it, I can do this, this is the direction I will go in for the rest of my art career” and your “aha moment”,  like mine, will change your life.