Janis said "Dream the dream; actualize the dream; show the dream." Simple! No, not simple. I was a daydreamer whose dreams never came true simply by wishing them to be true. Dreaming the dreams has always been easy. Actualizing the dreams took a lot of work.
Above is my first "dream" painting. The image appeared in my head in a kind of dream state so I painted it. That doesn't happen very often.
As a beginner I wanted what was in my head (my dream) to magically appear on the paper or canvas. That magic took about 20 years to actualize as I learned how to draw, paint, and mix colors. In the meantime, I made a lot of mud.
Recently, I showed the dream at a gallery, at least four of my tree bark paintings. One visitor commented that the color spaces were so precise that he thought they must have been computer generated. I was shocked because I knew how much my hand shook while painting that painting. I also realized that although I may show you my dream, you may never see what I see, hear what I hear, or dream what I dream.
No worries. I'm already dreaming something else. Let's just enjoy the ride.
Betsy, Thanks for sharing your dreams and interpretations. Very nice, as each person, when viewing, establishes ones/his/her/their own scale to your dream. Dream on!
Once our art is released into the wild, we have no control over how others see it. But we have the satisfaction of making our dreams tangible--to ourselves.