I feel like most creative people have more than a desire to create; they have a deep NEED. I know I do. When I haven’t created in a while, I feel an ache, a deep-seated hunger pain that keeps gnawing in my mind. I have to write or paint or make something before I get too cranky. When I’m stressed, I paint. When I am exhausted, I dream. When I’m struggling and overwhelmed, I paint. I paint when I’m happy too of course, but don’t necessarily crave it. The need to paint often gets stronger when there is some sort of conflict whether internally or in the external world. I think a lot of artists can relate and I know famous ones can. We’re all at least a little strange or as I like to say “quirky”. I love that word. QUIRKY.

I adore every one of Henri Matisse’s red paintings and recently came across this description of him from AllPosters.

French painter Henri Matisse (1869 – 1954) expressed joy through patterns, ornamentation and vivid colors. Given a paint set while recovering from an illness, Matisse described his discovery of art as “a kind of paradise.” Originally labeled a Fauvist, he produced early works that were remarkably mature. After seeing Impressionist and Japanese art, Matisse made color instrumental to his work, and experimented with expressive abstraction. He also decorated the Dominican nuns’ chapel at Vence, France when he was almost 80. Matisse, who was often nervous, relieved his tension through painting.

ahh, I know what you mean,

jengadi jean