I've always envied artists who love the process of painting and 'whistle while they work' so to speak. For me, it's always been an entirely different story. As strange as it may sound, I often find the act of painting filled with feelings of uncertainty and anxiety. It wasn't until I discovered that the great French painter, Henri Matisse, displayed all the symptoms of an anxiety attack when he painted that I became more willing to set my negative emotions aside as I worked. I grew up in the tough Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant where any kind of artistic talent...more
