A Reason for Art

Today I saw a box of bright markers lying on the hutch in our dining room. Immediately I felt a compulsion to draw something with them. I found some white paper and started drawing. It was simple. A large purple flower with a green stem, a river running past it towards the horizon with a field of red poppies on the other side, and the sun setting beneath a yellow, orange, pink, purple and blue sky. That’s the basic description. Nothing great, but I finished it, and left it on the table as I went off to do something else. Later I came back to that table and saw my sister drawing a picture with the same box of markers.

“You inspired me,” she said. She created two pictures.

Even later, I entered the same room and saw my two brothers painting pictures at the table, an old plastic plate being used as a paint palette and everything set on top of newspapers.

I guess I started a chain of creativity….

I didn’t have a purpose for creating art. I just felt like drawing something colorful and somehow inspired everyone else to do the same. My sister put all our pictures up on the refrigerator to brighten up our kitchen. It is quite effective in splashing the room with colors that we won’t see on this white, snowy day or for many months to come.

How about you? Have you done anything lately that has inspired someone else?