The chicken or the egg? Happy Easter btw.

Here's something I struggle with every time I paint.... am I really painting for myself or for others? Who can be singular?
When I plan a thought, set up a still life, pick the right the colors, composition, etc,... I guess its my own personal tastes and what I have acquired from my education but in the end product, I want others to relate to my painting. I want them to take something from them. If I painted a canvas just red, what can they take away but the color red or maybe anger? If I painted a city, perhaps they can take with them a window, a building, the green grass, a memory? Is less more? Or more more? Do we limit what we paint so that viewers can only take what we give them?
Ive noticed nowadays the little voice inside my head that says, "If you put this down, or add this here, viewers will love it!", Get this ego out my head please!
I constantly ask myself whether I choose to paint with my head or my heart. Can't I paint with both? You cant have one without the other...

Its about time.

I'm currently studying at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, IL. I have 3 more weeks of school until I graduate and I'm feeling really nervous. I should have started a blog a long time ago but its hard to find the time to write when you're painting all the time, which I love to do by the way. Nevertheless, I will try to keep up with it, I will post sketches, ideas, finished paintings, and questions on what life could and does mean. Feel free to send me comments, advice, and complaints...I'm always up for a debate.