Redtree Times

Edge of Doubt– Coming to Principle Gallery, June 2026

There is always
that edge of doubt.
Trust it.
That’s where
the new things come from. If
you can’t live with it,
get out because,
when it’s gone
you’re on automatic,
repeating something
you’ve learned.
Let your prayer be:
save me from that tempting
certainty that
leads me back
from the edge,
that dark edge where
the first light breaks.

— Albert Huffstickler, Edge of Doubt, published in Journal for Anthroposophy (Fall, 1994)

I came across the poems of Albert Huffstickler (1927-2002) recently. I had never heard the name before but the first two poems I encountered felt like they were directed at me. Just felt right which is, I guess, the best judgement you can give any creative work. The poem above, Edge of Doubt, served as an answer to a problem I was having in naming the new painting at the top.

Once I read this poem, I knew that its title would work perfectly for this painting as well.

For me, I see this painting as being about the uncertainty of our existence and the uncertainty each new day brings. The contrast of the certainty of the sun rising each day set against the uncertainties and doubts that come with each new day is a tantalizing thought.

We seek the same certainty as that of the sunrise, thinking it will erase all our doubts and make life much easier to endure. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

But the taste of that sort of certainty soon becomes bland and boring in our mouths. We want a bit of variety from which to choose. We don’t want to eat the same thing day after day at the same time at the same table. That is like prison inmate’s existence whose every day is filled with the certainty of where they will be at any given time, how they will behave, and what they will wear, eat, see, and, to a degree, think.

That’s not a certainty I think anyone craves though I will add that I have known several ex-cons who said that the certainty of each day in prison became an attractive thing for them. Every day’s decisions were planned for them and getting the necessities of life required no thought or effort on their part. Freedom out in the real world, on the other hand, required much more effort and thought. More chances to make bad decisions or fail.

And that goes to the heart of the quandary faced by any artist. They need that doubt and uncertainty that provides an opportunity to probe, perhaps to grow and perhaps to fail. It can sometimes be difficult. Stressful and gut wrenching. But without it, life is little more than a prison.

As odd as it sounds to say, doubt and uncertainty amount to freedom for the artist.

The mind is forced to work in survival mode, at a higher level necessary for real creation to occur.

Give me the freedom to always work toward that dark edge just beyond the fields of my doubts and uncertainties. That is my place in this world.

As always, I’m not sure if this makes any sense to anyone. As always, it is off the cuff so it may cut the corners here and there on its logic, which may be spotty in places and subject to argument. I never really know how anything I write– or paint, for that matter– will appear to others.

And that’s okay with me. It reflects the uncertainty I’m talking about.

Here’s a song from the Avett Brothers called Head Full of Doubt/Road Full of Promise. I had heard it several times before without really paying attention its lyrics. I was surprised at how well it fits in with this post. Maybe not perfectly but what is perfect anyway?

That is reserved for those who live in absolute certainties and without doubts– not this guy.

Edge of Doubt is 12″ by 36″ on canvas and is included in my upcoming solo show, Flow, at the Principle Gallery, which opens Friday, June 12.