The Reasons I Paint and Don't Paint

I don't paint to sell my art.  I paint for the love of creating by putting paint to paper and to express myself.  When I come up with a successful painting in my eyes, it really helps my self esteem.  I don't paint to please other people.  I am very selfish when I paint because I paint to please myself.  Sometimes if I am having a painter's block, I will just put paint on paper randomly to see what emerges.  Just feeling the paint through my brush and making swirls, lines, shapes, etc. with many colors I come up with an idea for a painting.  Since I love to paint aspen trees year round, I watch them change through the seasons by studying structure and shapes, marks on the bark, leaves, changing colors, and bare trees in the winter for inspiration for a painting.  When spring arrives finally in June in the high country, I love to study the wildflowers for colors, shapes and sizes.  Then as flowers come on the market and bloom on their own in my garden throughout the summer, I love to paint geraniums, tulips, iris, poppies, and sunflowers.  As Georgia O'Keefe once said:  "I decided that the only thing I could do that was nobody else's business was to paint.  I could do as I chose because no one would care".  Please visit my website at http://cathyjonesart.com.  You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.