Is anyone else out there dreaming of a tropical vacation like me?  One of the reasons I love being an artist is that I can visualize an alternative reality that inspires me. The Bible says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish,” (Proverbs 29:18). Our ability to imagine beauty in the middle of a dark storm is actually a survival skill.

I love hearing about how Vera Fryling.M.D. escaped the Nazis and battled with cancer by imagining she was a doctor in a free land.  She actually became a doctor in San Fransisco and says, “Imagination can help one transcend the insults life has dealt us”

Living in Michigan’s harsh winters with constant gray skies can discourage me, particularly when the storms start in November.  However, snow days are great days to hole up and create a great imaginative work.  I surround myself with vibrant colors in the same way I try to eat every color of fruit and vegetable possible to stay healthy.