I experience a period of frightening clarity in those moments when nature is so beautiful. I am no longer sure of myself, and the paintings appear as in a dream.
—Vincent Van Gogh
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This painting, Resplendent, which is now at the West End Gallery, reminds me very much of one of my favorite quotes from Vincent Van Gogh, shown above. Sometimes the beauty of nature sets everything right and wipes away the obscuring webs brought on by things we cannot control, creating a path for an expression of the effect from witnessing that beauty.
In my experience, these moments of clarity are accompanied by that uncertainty to which Van Gogh refers. It is not doubt, however. It is more like the recognition of losing conscious control to an outer (or inner) entity, one where all decisions have been made beyond your waking mind.
As in a dream.
The work at that point just comes seemingly on its own, as though it was meant to be or had a need to exist.
I know this a strained explanation. It’s such a nebulous thing, this act of creating something from what often appears to be nothing, that explanations and definitions often confuse more than clarify.
And maybe that’s the way it should be. Maybe the very purpose of art is to make us aware of the mystery and uncertainty of this life. Maybe it shouldn’t be easily explained.
That being said, I will stop now. Have a good day– enjoy the mystery and beauty around you.
Redtree Times 
“Enjoy the mystery and beauty around you” — like the snow that came overnight! Sleet woke me at 4 a.m., and shortly after that it turned to snow. I’ve been up since. I measured on a tabletop, and we got about an inch and a half, although it melted pretty quickly on the grass and vegetation. In Houston proper, and places farther south, it was much heavier.
Amazing, you having snow and we having none. What a mysterious world, indeed!