One of my collectors recently sent me an article that I absolutely loved. In it, the newly vision-impaired author reflected on the confusion and fear of moving through life with blurry sight, unable to catch edges or details.

What struck me most was her description of falling in love with a Monet painting. At the time Monet completed it, he too was living with blurry vision from cataracts. She wondered:

In short, employing the bots to recommend poems for me is making my art - and life - more soulful. But what happened this week has given me pause, and a great deal of concern for the future of technology, trust, and truth.

Attending their exhibition in Amsterdam, I was astounded to see how rich Banksy’s creative career has been … graffiti, drawings, paintings, prints using various different print techniques, sculptures, huge public installations, street art in war zones, documentaries … The diversity and skill across so many different mediums is astounding. The clarity of their voice - regardless of the medium of expression - is a wonder to witness, and I found their commitment to using art for social activism inspiring.

A friend asked me recently what I love most about making art. Without thinking, I said: “Making things that never existed before - things that surprise and delight me - feels like magic. Like happy mysteries.”

And that’s it. That’s what keeps calling me back to the creative process, even when it’s hard. The happy mysteries. The reminder that not all surprises are bad. And some are breathtakingly good.