A simple flower

This morning, I intended to spend time drawing a simple flower.  I checked my email and began reading the news (my first mistake.)  I read a few comments at the bottom of the story I had just read and got caught up in the ISSUES.  (For me, that's the proverbial "kiss of death" for creative expression.  The part of me that creates just can't get through when my rational mind is rising to intellectual provocation.) 

Later, I set up my drawing area, and just looked at the blank page.  How could I spend my time drawing a flower when so many important things were happening in the world?  How could I (or anyone else) take me seriously if all I did was draw flowers?  Doesn't the choice of what he or she draws say something about the artist?

So now, what to draw?  Ok, a portrait.   I picked up Harpo Speaks, the autobiography of Harpo Marx, which includes tons of pictures of Harpo over the years

During my search for inspiration, I was surprised to see a picture of Harpo being drawn by Salvador Dali.  Just then, my son came downstairs (much earlier than usual because of his summer cold). I showed him the picture of Harpo being drawn by Dali, then the picture that Dali drew of Harpo.  After than we looked up Dali online so I could show him what kind of an artist Dali was.  In so doing, I came across a website that attributed this quote to him:

"A true painter is one who can paint extraordinary scenes in the middle of an empty desert.  A true painter is one who can patiently paint a pear in the middle of the tumults of history."

What about drawing a flower in the midst of political turmoil? 

I don't know, but my mind went immediately to the paintings of Jacqueline Gnott from South Bend. On her promotional blog, Contemporary Realism, she featured a painting of two perfect pears.  By Salvador Dali's definitions, she is certainly a "true artist." 

So who am I to denigrate a flower?  After all, God thought it was worth the time to make them, didn't He?