Has a piece of art ever made you say to yourself "I wonder what this artist was thinking?" or "How did they come up with this idea?" You could ask the same of writers or anyone in a creative field, but I believe the truth is, artists in most cases are artists, because of how they think and how they look at things around them in general. In other words, it's not about being able to paint, it's about being able to imagine, to visualize, to be influenced, to be inspired and then wanting to create something from all of that. The painting part, or the writing, acting, dancing or whatever creative outlet they might choose, is really just a tool to express that which they see or feel in their mind.

To most, an artist's canvas is just something an artist paints on. To the creative mind, in the artist mind, there is an endless supply of canvas being painted on everyday, with ideas constantly being supplied by things around them and what you see on canvas is just the part that makes it out. Sometimes what makes it out is dark, sometimes it's peaceful. This is a highly imaginative mind and often even an emotional one.

Sometimes there is a direction of thoughts an artist feels best with or comfortable with, but it may not be the only thing they would like to create in their lifetime and the direction changes. Often artists find a style and this can be good because they can become well known for this style. But it can be bad also if they become publicly locked to this style, making it hard for them to ever do anything else. This can happen to any of the creative fields mentioned above.

Artist's minds, like all minds, vary greatly, but in the case of artists, these variations can generate a creative body of work wildly different from each other. From bold colors to soft colors, big work or small things, realism or fantasy, landscape or abstract and if the artist or creative mind is lucky, it will find the right tool to express itself. Then hopefully, it will feel comfortable enough and become good enough technically with that chosen tool to truly express the ideas it has. It's more of a challenge than one might think.

So, when you see someone dance or act, think of their mind first and the dance or roll as their form of their creative expression. If you stand before an artist's work, think of the artist's mind first and then realize they chose oil on canvas or photography, or sculpting a piece of marble, or forming clay into pottery, or dying silk, or carving a piece of wood, as their form of creative expression...just a tool, just a funnel from their mind to pour themselves into.