Janis said "Dream the dream; actualize the dream; show the dream." Simple! No, not simple. I was a daydreamer whose dreams never came true simply by wishing them to be true. Dreaming the dreams has always been easy. Actualizing the dreams took a lot of work.
Above is my first "dream" painting. The image appeared in my head in a kind of dream state so I painted it. That doesn't happen very often.
As a beginner I wanted what was in my head (my dream) to magically appear on the paper or canvas. That magic took about 20 years to actualize as I learned how to draw, paint, and mix colors. In the meantime, I made a lot of mud.
Recently, I showed the dream at a gallery, at least four of my tree bark paintings. One visitor commented that the color spaces were so precise that he thought they must have been computer generated. I was shocked because I knew how much my hand shook while painting that painting. I also realized that although I may show you my dream, you may never see what I see, hear what I hear, or dream what I dream.
No worries. I'm already dreaming something else. Let's just enjoy the ride.