Thirty years ago today I decided to become a professional painter. The photograph below shows me at age 26, during the very early days, just getting started. I had no training, no understanding of what I was doing or where I was going with this. All I knew was this was the most fun thing I’d discovered to do. The night before I had had a crisis: I wanted to do something with my life, but I wasn’t doing anything. I wanted to do so many things. So I decided to focus on one thing, to make one thing my primary goal. I could still do other things, but painting would come before everything else. And the great miracle of my life happened: Everything fell into place. I now had a purpose and a meaning. Every time over the past 30 years that I have drifted away from my life’s paramount mission, every time I have lost my way— I have re-dedicated myself to painting, and everything has then resumed its proper proportions, all doubts have been swept aside, and I carry on.
