Here is a work in progress of an artist I know who lives near Allentown, PA ..her website is
http://flickr.com/jillo I know for a fact that there were moments of intense frustration when her pen slipped and she thought all was lost, but ultimately she persevered so that the result became the culmination of two weeks of intense, sometimes tedious effort. As a privilege of winning a contest last fall for a painting of her daughter, she has been invited to exhibit several compositions at Lafayette College in Easton, PA, one of which will be the completed version of this drawing.
Art-or any creative endeavor-is often a very solitary occupation, with long hours in isolation that the public never sees, and that is both a source of profound joy and misery for many creative people. There is a quote by John Lennon where he said "If I could be a fucking fisherman, I would, you know. If I had the capabilities of being something other than I am, I would. It's no fun being an artist. You know, like writing, it isn't fun, it's torture. I read about Van Gogh, Beethoven, any of them--I just read an article the other day--well, if they'd had psychiatrists we wouldn't have had Gauguin's great pictures. And these fucking bastards just sucking us to death, that's about all that we can do, is do it like circus animals. I resent being an artist, in that respect, I resent performing for fucking idiots that don't know anything. They can't feel, I'm the one that's feeling, because I'm the one expressing. They live vicariously through me and other artists, and we are the ones...even with the boxers, when Oscar (Bonnaventura) comes in the ring, they are booing the shit out of him. He hit Clay once and they are cheering him. That's what I resent, you know. I'd sooner be in the audience, really, but I'm not capable of it. One of my big things is that I wish I had been a fisherman. I know it sounds silly, and I'd sooner be rich than poor and all that shit, but the pain...I wish I was...ignorance is bliss or something. If you don't know, man, there's no pain, probably there is, but that's how I express it. "
--John Lennon
...and there are Many artists who struggle and never obtain the fame and fortune of Lennon, so obviously there is something deep within them, a creative compulsion that cannot be resisted, and it is all they can do to live as they must. I suppose that carpenters and mechanics and other trades people-if they are any good- also enter a transcendent zone in which they commune with something larger than themselves to figure out a problem, where time slips away and they have the same eureka! moments as happens with artists. In that sense I do not think artists are different from other people although perhaps more sensitive and self absorbed or analytical about what they do. Probably the creative drive is what makes humanity such an adaptable, innovative species, and gives us our sense of personal accomplishment-whether painting by numbers or knitting quilts or building a shed. I have sometimes wondered if artists whom we reward with fame have truly earned the recognition, for genetically they had nothing to do with their inborn talent and often worked no harder than many obscure artists. Generally, the most valuable members of a society work in the shadows-as farmers and truck drivers and nurses and plumbers-so in a just world I suspect that they would occupy the pedestals, although no doubt artists touch an emotional place that is more irresistible to our passions...
I hate to sound alarmist, and sometimes I truly wish I could return to blissful ignorance, but if scientific projections are accurate, there is a real possibility that the oceans will be virtually empty by 2030, and if honeybees continue to die from CCD( colony collapse disorder) the major source of pollination for All flowering plants ( fruits,vegetables,nuts, cotton etc) will vanish by 2035...These-and other enviromental issues- are Extremely Serious problems facing this planet and the future of humanity, nevermind the political and economic consequences of oil and other resource scarcity or global warming...Fossil records show that 90% of all species that have ever existed have vanished, and that we are in the midst of what seems to be another mass extinction, apparently accelerated by humanity through loss of habitat and pollution and everything else we do...I guess I simply have to throw up my hands and say the planet would be better off without us.... even if we survive, our quality of life will be greatly reduced if we lose all our flowers and are forced to eat a gruel made of rice and corn and wheat-which are pollinated by the wind. Yet I still see people whining about trivial complaints and talking heads on the television arguing about inane minutiae... 
