The artist, the painter

“Perhaps a person who has had the occasion to paint has a greater practical sense, a sensibility for what that means, what a difficult, seductive thing, even for a child, it is to deal with being confronted by a large, white sheet of paper, making the first brushstroke, the first sign, entering a relationship with this empty, unknown space of the white paper. At the same time being aware how many ways a person can explore, caress and attack the paper, the large paintbrush steeped in paint, the greediness that takes the child in layering the colors that transform into the impasto as they merge.”

From Vea Vecchi Art and Creativity in Reggio Emilia

This quote reminds me so much of Adelina and other children who love to paint. 
When Vea Vecchi refers to the greediness which takes the child, I think of that moment when a picture that was just under control is suddenly saturated and dripping and the child's hands covered and colored with paint. I know that moment myself, when I 'come to' from the process of painting and telling myself the story of the painting, and notice the marks I've just made.