It’s been a while… a pandemic will do that. I could go on and on about where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing and why I haven’t been here. But this sums it up: quarantine with kids + renovating a house + selling our house + moving into halfway renovated house + more renovation + no electricity in my new studio + insane political times that leaves me with existential dread and little energy to say or do anything. Still feeling that last part but at least I can breathe a bit more easily as I await the change in January.
When I finally got adequate electricity in my studio (which used to be an old dingy garage that an old toad lived in) I started thinking- what do I work on, where do I start, what do I even want to say??? These questions kept me from starting anything even after I got light in there. The creative practice is just that- from the work, comes the work…..and I hadn’t done anything in so long.
When we moved into our new home I hung up a large landscape painting I did of Mount Jefferson, NH in our tv room and every time that I see it, it makes me happy. It reminds me of the day spent on the trail on that mountain with my family and also the joy in painting the clouds.
I thought, why don’t I start with that- the landscapes I’ve been to that bring me happiness. This has been such an insane year, we’ve got to grab our joy where we can.
Which brings me to the painting I posted above. I had painted that landscape without the tree a few years ago. I liked it, even hung it in my dining room…but to be honest it never felt finished. Because the original landscape had a big huge tree peeking over the hill. Which I didn’t include because, well, I didn’t feel like painting the tree! So this week, in my newly lit studio, I took my time and painted the tree. And now, I am so happy with this painting. It is now done.
Still working on projected in our new house, but hoping to get more time in the studio grabbing some joy.
This is a highly textured oil painting as I had first collaged the surface before I started painting. I posted some closeups over on my Instagram.