Morning Light and the Challenge of a Blank Canvas

I've been trying to keep a steady sleep schedule and have been waking up at 7am every day. I haven't done this since I was in high school! Ironically, I sleep in the same bedroom as I did when I was in high school. Maybe I'm regressing while I'm living with my folks, I don't know. I'm still a brat to my mom, which is terrible. I am trying to be better about that. I am also trying to keep good habits, like exercising, eating and sleeping right, and making time to paint. Which is kinda like exercise, when you think about it. I feel like I'm working different muscles. The third eye, in particular. The act of painting is for me is almost like meditation, or an enhanced concentration. I find I can only think about how that color looks like next to another color, or how a line interacts with a shape... and nothing else. How lovely to clear the mind and also create?

Starting a painting is a challenge for me, like beginning a workout. It is intimidating, but once I get going, I can't stop til I hit my time goal. This is why I set a timer when I set up to paint. Today I painted for an hour. The goal for me wasn't to complete a painting, but just to PAINT. I tried not to let all the voices of professors past interrupt my intuition, but when they did, I stopped to see what I could do to correct or enhance what I had down on the paper. And if I really liked what was happening, I just let it be. Because, why not? It is my damn painting, I can do what I want! Ha. Such a brat.