New Stuff

This is what I've been working on lately. Some more monkey drawings, and some designs for textiles. This is a busy season so making art is not always the top priority. Soon it will be quiet, and I'll have much more studio time.

Working

I've been working today after a long while of taking care of other things. It feels so good to just do whatever comes to my hand. The process that is the most true to me in this way of making art. Someone just recently said to me that people resonate with truth, and I think that is why intuitive painting and drawing fills me with joy.

Thanksgiving Week

We have been having a really nice week doing Thanksgiving things. We went to Portland for pies and lunch at Blue Spoon. We had a bountiful Thanksgiving dinner with family, and then had a great dinner in honor of Timmy who is visiting from Japan. And then a quiet morning appreciating sun for the first time in days! Photo Ops have been spare due to no sun and busy schedules. We are thankful for the fullness and beauty of our life here in gorgeous Maine, and all the people who add joy to our lives.

Catching Up

Here is a big "catch up" post. I've been doing some of the blue pen drawings. I've been working on top of both found pages and in a couple of sketchbooks. I went to Marlene's open studio. Her studio is spare and beautifully lit by the sun that comes in from her big windows. I went to a meditation retreat and a cool shop in Peterborough, New Hampshire...The Red Chair.

The Leighton Gallery

We visited my favorite gallery in Maine, or maybe anywhere. It is the Leighton Gallery in Blue Hill. I love the freshness of the white walls and floors, the mix of paintings and sculpture, and the sculpture garden. I wish I could capture the way the sun falls in through the windows and the way Judith Leighton has edited what she hangs to express what I imagine is a philosophy about color and surface quality in paintings. It is always an exciting experience for me.

More from the blue pen...

Somebody asked me the other day what I like about these blue pen drawings. I like how each drawing is complete unto itself, and does not have to be worked on a number of levels like my paintings. I like being finished with each one and then having a new, fresh, unknown possibility in front of me. I like how portable they are. They are like intuitive paintings...a practice in the process of letting come whatever comes. I find when I am finished they do have meaning to me.

Sophie's Opening

Sophie Truong had an opening of her current work on Saturday night at The Gallery at Spencer Lofts in Chelsea, MA. This body of work is made with used teabags and hand stitching. It is very subtle and you can feel the quiet and peace that are imbued in the pieces because of the time spent stitching them. Most of the pieces are left natural as the teabags are found, but the blue is an indigo dye Sophie is also working with. You can see more of Sophie's work here.