GETTING RESTARTED

A student asked what advice she could pass on to a friend who has taken a break from painting and wants to get back to it. Here's what I told her:

1. Make a place to paint. Find someplace where you can leave yourstuff out, so all you have to do is clean your brushes and cover yourpaints when you quit.

2. Set aside 5 minutes every day and paint for five minutes. If youdo more, great. If you paint 5 minutes a day, your brain decides thatit is an important activity and rewires for it while you sleep. Don'tskip 2 days. Do it every day. The same time every day is good, too.

3. Paint for fun. If you've set it aside for a while, paint onlywhat you want to paint, what you're driven to paint. Play a bit.Give yourself premission to paint awful stuff. Give yourselfpermission to paint wild stuff. Look at what happens and solidify theparts that you like.