"There are trees in the desert since you moved out."

Wow! Thanks Floodtide, still digesting this last entry. Talent as a painter. Thanks. Your vote of confidence is important to me, actually.

How do I define talent as a painter? That question has been making me scratch my chin all day long. Back in Houston, the people that would be in classes with me, some of them could draw as if they had been possessed by Rafael himself, but were there paintings interesting? Some yes, but others, surprisingly, no. They were just flawlessly reproduced images, the sum total of their depth. Then there were those of us that couldn't render things AS accurately and some from the , could draw like Rafael group, who's expressivism or the way they conveyed the 3dworld onto their support wasn't matched by the others in the class. Talent abounded,but the truly talented, were perhaps 1 in 20. Maybe. Then there were those who were just there, not cause of talent, but because they found value, personal value in the act of painting itself. Therapeutic. Little talent per say, but they DID improve and during the course of the semester they would produce at least one painting that we all agreed was demonstrating somethingreally special. And the therapeutic results were undeniable. Those that I would term as talented, there is a certain something, something about them. I hesitate to say it, but they tended to be the nerds of the group. They are the ones who know the nuances of their medium and get excited about the possibilities these subtleties can produce. They tended to be the ones with painting on their brains, and viewed the world around them with a critical eye, hoping to eek out inspiration from this or that. The truly common thread though? There was a core group of us that believed in ourselves. We knew we had loads to learn. Loads to absorb from our instructors and each other, but there in a deeply buried kernel within ourselves, there was faith in ourselves, carefully nurtured, sprouting. This response isn't as carefully crafted as I would have liked. I've written it in two different sittings but it's the best I can eek out right now. I've got freshly primed panels on my table and they need paint on them.

The lovely Zuzu has graciously collaborated with me and has allowed the use of some of her breathtaking mushroom photos for painting inspiration.

The other night, the incomparable Flying-kiwi and I waxed about the breathtaking scenery or our homelands New Zealand, and New Mexico when we finally bumped into each other on yahoo messenger. She's VERY cool to talk to.

My boss' hands off attitude with me has come to a screeching halt. I'm carrying the tension in my neck. Bleh.