No Time Like the Present

Perspectives from The Artist's Road

A Moment Before Now Mixed Watermedia © Mark Mehaffey

“When I die and go to heaven, I want to spend the first million years painting - so I can get to the bottom of the subject.”
- Winston Churchill

In our interview with Mark Mehaffey, he shared with us his philosophy toward making art and his work ethic. “I firmly believe that inspiration is a direct result of perspiration. Work, work hard, work hard everyday and inspiration will find you.” He reports that he is usually at work in his studio by 7:30 or 8 am every morning. He is a living example of the 10,000 hour rule that Malcolm Gladwell described in his book, Outliers: The Story of Success. The basic idea behind the rule is that if one puts in a sincere and focused effort, one can not only master but excel at about anything in 10,000 hours.

This is not always such an easy proposition. Finding time to be in the studio, to focus on painting, to allow ourse…