A reader thanks Matt for his post about “The Painting for ‘08/’09” and says it got her own creative juices flowing.

Matt responds:

Thank you for your comment.

It’s strange:  Little did I think, as I entered into the ’09 time warp, that my most important tool would be a cane and a long, long shoe horn so I can get my shoes and socks on.I’m still having problems with bending, so my wife of 54 years now comes to the studio, and I do everything standing, and anything that falls on the floor or has to do with bending, she has taken up that position.  So I’m not encumbered by the disability of not being able to manipulate the materials and canvases that I use in my work.

The arthritis is getting better.  Last year it seemed like the rain followed us around the world.  No matter where we went, it was damp and cold.  But now it’s 80 degrees and sunny, and with the help of my beloved wife, Rose, I’m able to work out new and ingenious ways of manipulating the materials.

Again, I look on this not as a negative but as a positive.  It forces me to rethink everything I’m doing and eliminate things that may be redundant.  Whereas in the past I may have just done things a certain way because I’d always done them that way, now I’m thinking, “If I can’t do it physically this way for a period of time, why shouldn’t I examine everything and see if I can do it in a different manner?”  It’s a very exciting time, a change time.

It also gives me a better insight into the physical problems people encounter as they get older or have downturns.  Although I don’t have any trouble with my sight, we are opening museums for the blind.   Also, I now have better insight into why stores have special parking places for people who need them.

And although I would long to be spring out of a car and run around like a banshee, I still take great pleasure in leaning on my cane and hobbling into my studio, listening to my hard rock music, moving a little bit slower but maybe a little bit smarter.  You never know what’s going to happen from year to year, and I always say, Thank God we don’t know—the mystery and surprise is always the greatest part of life.

Matt