Inspiration strikes like lightening without warning or reason: a sudden flash, often accompanied by a delayed booming of mental thunder. It often overtakes me. When it strikes I can't stop imagining this thing that has inspired me. I become obsessed with the curves of the image, the color, the relevance and context of what I see. I often can think of little else until I turn the inspiration into some kind of reality, some solid object, some interpretable expression to share. Even if the execution of the art fails, the mere act of creating soothes the obsession, and reassures my mind and my heart. This time I was inspired by the green sea turtle. These creatures filled with wisdom; the wrinkles of their skin are graceful lines depicting a life, and a perception we cannot understand. The shapes of their bodies reflect their exquisite adaptation to their environment. They are perfection in underwater flight. I want to depict this inspiring creature in batik, my favorite medium, to see how the wax would flow around those curves, dip into the wrinkles, highlight the intelligence I see in their eyes. This is always how it begins, how it always begins; out of the blue, a lightning strike, a voice almost...some calling to create, to interpret, to engage in a multi-layered art process because somehow the results reveal something way beyond what my eyes and fingers create, way beyond what my imagination can see.