A painter in Italy with whom I share membership in International Plein Air Painters posted an essay about why painting is a miracle & why we put a brush to canvas. Link to his complete essay on www.about.com. I understand & agree with him, but when he linked to my close-to-favorite-painter-&-artist-writer-philosopher Robert Henri I knew we were on the same page.

Robert Henri

American 1865-1929

SNOW IN NEW YORK, 1902, oil on canvas

National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

The Real Reason We Paint ....."when we make a mark on a canvas, it becomes possible not just to create a thing, but to become a human being. It becomes possible, then, not simply to make a picture of something, but to create ourselves. That is the miracle. That is the reason we paint......to make a mark on a canvas is to open the door of possibility of being moved profoundly and to move others. That is what painting is all about. That is the heart and soul of painting." Jerry Fresia