Where to begin

"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy." Einstein

I’m starting a new series of 16 dream studies (nature studies) and..where to begin.. I've prepared the wood panels, gessoed and sanded, and now: Blank Space. Flat White Light. So Bright. "Imagery" to a painter is, shit, whatever forms from that white ground. A black line is an image. So where to begin becomes the primal question. The Pulling something from Nothing. (Is also pulling no-thing from some-thing.)
SO I pick up my brush and begin

to paint a some-thing, and a no-thing...

I can hear my teachers…in a Maude voice,
Start wild. Start by smudging. But get in there. Scribble in color fields, start big. Your object is in there, you felt it, it's just out of focus. Start from unfocused light, and “pull” the object into the clear space. begin with circles and free flowing rivers.
And something else.

The thumb sketches, tiny, fast, those are framework building. The planning process can also be a mantra, holy holy holy, and you can trust it as not only an honest form of preparation, but the true beginning of germination. I know this sounds cheesy, but thumb sketches are the scratches on the cave walls. They are also the smoke.
It’s Preparing the ground for an Art process to take place. We have to do it. Order the wood. Paint it white. Sand it. Check it twice. Use both hands. Feel everything directly. This is your baby, for Christ's sake.
Use light, shadow, clean water, and deep, dark earth and the plant will grow. And then, whatever emerges from the ground, Use it, because it is an honest creation. You can judge it, and talk to it, put it in its place. But don't disrespect it. "A negative self-image" feeds on negative, stupid imagery. It hurts you, and us, wastes a lot of our time. If you find yourself judging imagery as stupid vs. cool, it's like finding yourself in bad posture: you have given in to destructive neurosis, and are wasting everything holy.