# 20: Back in the Groove

My Fellow Art Lovers:

What you're looking just above this text is a work in progress that is taking time to come to life.

I'm sure I've talked about this before: Like many other artists, and people in other fields also, I am not at the top of my game when I haven't painted for quite some time. The holidays were fine and wonderful for me, from a family point of view. But they were a setback from a professional point of view.

It really took time to get back in the groove.

The scene you see in this painting is right around the corner from my studio. In fact, it's the diner where I lunch pretty often. And at this diner, like at a million other locations around the world, when men see beauty, they turn to appreciate it.

For the light, for the setting, for the colors, and for the idea, I believe this is a valid painting.

I tried to get the idea across in the most interesting, artistic and pleasurable way. And, as always, there were some lessons in doing this painting, which I believe is perhaps 85 percent completed.

One of the lessons is persistence; I really had to fight to get back on track. (That, after in the groove, is cliche No. 2.)

Another one is patience; as I worked and thought and came up with new ideas and incorporated them into the composition and adjusted this and that, the painting got better. I think I have one more stage to go, because I just thought of more ways to make the painting even better.

And the last one I'll talk about is the creative act. When we listen to music, we can marvel at the fact that there are always new sounds possible - new melodies, new beats, new combinations - while the number of notes is limited. Of course, the same with books, even though the number of letters hasn't changed in a long time, and our language has only two million words.

It's the same with painting. I marvel at the fact that there are always new ideas and new ways to paint. Basically, an artist faces a blank canvas, and the only thing he can do is apply spots of colored oil to the canvas. But human beings can have such genius, such creativity, that even today, after hundreds of years, news things are happening, new forms and combinations are being used, new colors and textures are being developed.

In view of the great geniuses of our art, every artist has to be humble, and - believe me - I'm very, very humble. But even on my level, it's great to feel the surge of creativity once in a while.

My gosh, how did I get here?

Thanks for listening. Thanks for your support and interest. And, as always, your reactions are very, very welcome.

William Kosman