The spirit of art

This is a painting I did several weeks ago in wet chalk and acrylics, this morning while cleaning my bedroom I came across it and it brought back the memories of a conversation I'd had with my son when he was just four years old, the conversation went some thing like this... he ask me what i wanted to be when i grew up, and how did i know thats what i wanted, i explained to him my heart felt reasons for following the path of creating art, i said if you wake up in the morning and all you can think about is cooking then most likely you are a chef, if when you wake up your first thoughts are of singing then most likely you are a singer, and so on and so on, i then explained to him how when i wake up i think of my family and then art, some times i even jump out of bed at two in the morning with an entense need to paint, sculpt and create, that is how i know i am an artist, and even though my art to date has not been able to be my only means of income i still press forward and know that even if i never sold another piece of work i would still be excited and willing to devote my time and energy to my art. Now that my children are grown and soon to be looking for their own way to sustain an income i hope they to, follow their hearts passion and not the power and lure of money alone, may they too find that inner voice and may they listen, for true happiness will most surely be the result, this is true as well to any one else out there that has unspoken passions, so fellow artists and friends continue to create, even when you think no one is watching or see's your heart on paper,cloth or clay, remember, if when you wake up in the morning... and you can think of nothing else....geuss what... thats who and what you are