Most of the time, when I begin a painting, I have some idea where I am headed. Maybe I have seen something that inspired me, or maybe I just wonder, what would ‘that’ look like painted? What I am inspired about, gives energy to what is within me and I feel a need to create. Where does this inspiration come from? My favorite definition of inspiration is imbued with the spirit to do something. Our beingness, our breath, is our spirit. For when we aspire to do something, we are breathing life into it. When we expire, we breathe out, sometimes for the last time. When we conspire, we plot something together, as to literally breathe together. If we perspire, we breathe through. I find it most interesting that two people could look at a painting, listen to a concert, watch a football game, or a dance performance and feel two distinctly different feelings from the object they are viewing. One person enjoys the experience and one person barely tolerates it. I conclude there must be something in the spirit of the artist and the spirit of the viewer that is touched or connected when viewing. Perhaps the source of the inspiration lies in the viewer, or the listener. Great as art, music or the baseball game is, it can only affect you if you are open and receptive to it.