My life is pretty simple. I think about things I would like to make, and then I make them. And there is something most satisfying about making something that has never been made before. When I used to put dots on my paintings, one of my students asked me if I was the only person in the world who did that. The question stunned me! I had never really thought about the fact that I might very well be the only artist who employed that exact technique. My feeling of pride was immediately followed by a more humble feeling as I mentally placed myself in a world timeline of artists--I felt simultaneously elevated and yet very small.
Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions." As one who lives very much inside her own head, this idea appeals to me greatly, and it reminds me that our human existence may be no more than a product of our imagination. I have recently been pondering the concept of the multi-verse, or meta-universe, and ironically I have come to realize that it is the contemplation of the unseen that compels me to create visual art.
Creating a visual image requires the artist to make a series of decisions, starting with the first touch of brush to canvas, for example, and ending with the decision that the work is finished. The result is then something tangible, something with a built-in history, something impacted by both space and time. Whether the work has artistic merit depends on the imagination of the artist and the decisions he or she makes.