A dream last night which reflects my agony of longing to paint. I was at a street intersection in some town, making a sketch of some tall poplars blown by a strong June wind, with a cloudy sky behind. In my dream, the quality of the picture I was [conceiving] seemed truly marvelous, and enthusiasm & happiness, such as I only knew in 1916, filled me. A truck coming down one of the streets, I quickly sketched it in. Then came a street-car, and all at once I seemed to be in my car, and in the street-car’s path. I drove rapidly backwards to get out of the way, then awoke.
Charles E. Burchfield, Journals, March 31, 1939