by Drew Martin
My family and friends know that I am a streaker, which means
that I run every day, rain or shine, while traveling or sick in bed. The early
morning runs in my northern clime are starting to become less inviting as it
gets colder and darker, day by day. Soon there will be freezing rains, icy sleet,
and blinding snow. The fair-weather folk will turn to treadmills or hibernate but the beauty of
braving the elements is that you have a wonderful introverted experience and
you take comfort in the warmth of your own body, the energy that moves you
through the void, and the rhythm of your thoughts. It is very similar with
artists, when favorable market conditions retreat, the distracting buzz of the
artworld dies down, and there is a pause in the extroverted expectations that
you turn yourself inside out with your work and promote yourself on the
Internet like you are a circus coming to town; you are then left alone with
your warm, creative mind, your busy hands, and the friendship of consistency. I liked looking at Andrew Wyeth’s
calm pictures when I was a kid, probably because of what he liked about winter;
that it shows the backbone of nature and an unhurried world. Pictured here is a detail of
Wyeth’s Snowflakes from 1966.