My studio...

My studio has been active this past month as I returned to work that I started around this time last year. Some paintings take longer to come around than others. I remember when I started these, it was with the idea of creating a scroll or a long, ongoing work that would somehow manifest time into its existence. I worked and worked on two large rolls of canvas, each 20 feet by 6 or 7 feet. I started at one end and worked my way across. As I painted, I once again attempted to keep my thinking brain from interfering with the work. This is harder in painting than it is in drawing for me. In drawing, the energy and expression are fast—the medium is dynamic, marks are made, and you move on. With painting, in the way I have been working, the speed changes as I use layers of paint to achieve my work. This layering in this body of painting stems from days I sat in the woods during the COVID pandemic, watching the leaves fall. Often, when I am in the woods, I find inspiration in the randomness of nature and the beauty of things just happening. I also found this sense of layering on the streets of New Orleans, a city I love to visit. There, celebration and revelry are all around, and often the aftermath of such events leaves the streets covered with the results. I am always fascinated by what has happened in a place, and by how certain places seem to pull on or hold an energy—a street, a city, a spot in the woods, places where people gather, play, celebrate, meet, and so on. History and the layers of time are a driving factor behind my work.

This reflection offers a glimpse into the ongoing evolution of my work and the ideas that continue to shape my artistic practice. For anyone interested in owning one of my pieces, I have also reinstated the shop section on my website where my artwork is available for purchase.

Work in progress

20 feet by 4 feet

Acrylic on canvas