Just casually looking around on any given day I find there are countless scenarios that present themselves as paintings. A burgeoning feast for hungry, winter fed eyes. I never have a hard time finding subjects to paint. They're everywhere. Literally. Everything from lichens growing a little village on a rotting tree stump to grand vistas of sweeping valleys to the way the telephone wires tangle together in the alley. They all jump at you. Begging for their turn at the easel.
The interest and curiosity found in everyday things can come as a revelation if we take the time to look. The more you look, the more you find. If you keep looking everyday for the nuances that present themselves, over time your brain becomes hardwired to see a painting in almost everything you look at. It's like handing out treats to your maniacally excited pet. All that jumping and fussing. You simply don't have time or enough energy to dedicate to all the beautiful, interesting things seen throughout the day.
When I'm going to paint outside, I must have a predetermined subject or place in mind so that I know where I'm going. Otherwise I end up mentally tagging all the great subjects and trying to rank them in order of potential. Invariably, I'll spend so much time looking at all the great stuff to paint that I end up spending more time looking than painting. Maybe that's the idea, I don't know. But if something shouts for attention that isn't the intended vessel of my affection than I'll firmly commit myself to the new subject instead. Always keeping options open. Because there are so many variables as to why something might look a particular way, it will never look the same again...ever. The light will be different. There is more dust in the air. There is less moisture in the air. All of the queues your brain takes from what you see and feel are infinitely tangled together in an endless orchestra of emotional awe. Mixed metaphors aside, you can never step in the same river twice. So you cast your net into the water and hope to capture one fish from the swirling mass of them in front of you. Happy to take something home. Satisfied with accepting what was offered the whole time.
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