When we look at a painting, listen to a piece of music, read a novel, or watch a movie we are taking in the artist's composition. The composition is the totality of the work.

The theme, or harmony, of a painting can be created by any one of its visual elements. A single colour... repetition of shapes... Light can be a theme.

The way we see is critical to understanding how others will read our compositions.

Think of the centre of interest in a painting as you would read it in a novel or see it in a movie. The crisis or climax is that point when you simply can't put the book down or wouldn't dare leave the movie, for whatever reason.

The person viewing your work has no idea what the scene really looked like, nor do they care.

Artists need not meet any standards to practice their craft... Virtually every other occupation requires some sort of license, union membership or something that says you are qualified.

The difficult part of the process is the long exploration and discovery of your own soul and living with the results.