I saw two exhibitions a while ago which both had a profound effect on me and I want to mention them here.

One was Leonardo Da Vinci and the other was Rembrandt: The Late Works, both at the National Gallery, London.

Firstly these are two artists with immense talent. They are so good at what they do that no one else could do what they do any better.

Secondly, these are two very different artists. Rembrandt would never have painted or probably would never have wanted to paint like Leonardo and vice versa.

So, after some initial jealousy, I decided to think like the artist in each case. I started to imagine painting the paintings myself. I started saying things to myself like ‘that’s it’ ‘you got it right there’ ‘ahh you did it like that’ ‘oh, good idea’ ‘wow, that’s excellent’ etc etc.
Then a funny thing happened in both instances, I began to shift gears into deeper and deeper levels of myself and I began to feel elated, as if parts of me that are normally in darkness were allowed to breathe, process and gain light.

On both occasions I left the gallery feeling high and alive. Now that is the power of truly great art!