Wet

This painting, "Hive,"  sold today! 

"First Freeze of Autumn" will be for sale at Art East's garage the first week of February

There hasn't been a lot of wet paint in my studio this month.  I realize I've been gone 2 weeks out of the last 4.  When I'm here, I paint.... and prep for workshops.  There is a rhythm to my life. 

I wake up, meditate, stretch, eat, do Pilates, yoga, or bike.  I start work at 10 and work until 4. 
It's not all paint and brushes.  I often sit and look at a painting with my eyes in soft focus, turn it different directions, take a picture and play with color saturation and value on the computer, or block out a part of the piece and see what it feels like to me. I design workshops as wild as I want them to be.

If I didn't do these little side trips, I'd be stuck.  My thinking would stop me from using the brush as it wants to be used.  Sure, thinking plays a part in all of this "creativity".   The thinking I want to use is "mindfulness".  I'm working from a place of intuition and energy rather than forcing a concept onto the canvas. Sustaining that flow is the crux of the process.

Honestly, I catch myself in the "I CAN'T DO THIS" attitude quite often.. Then I know I need to turn on FLASHDANCE or GET READY by Rare Earth (YouTube) and drop the rigidity. Dance!

 Does that mean I have no intention when I begin the piece?  No.  Does it mean I give up and start over when I feel lost?  No.  Essentially, it means I want to walk into a piece connected to my breath, my body, and a sense of "honest expression". .


 In March I'll be going to Homer, Alaska for two weeks to do an artist in the schools residency. I'll bring this painting back with me. It's odd how a piece can seem mundane when I do it, then 6 years later it has value. I bring this up because it's proof of  how important it is for me to paint exactly what's impressing me at a particular moment in time. "Honest expression" is painting what moves me. Now.

Mt. Augustine from the Bayview Bluff on Kachemak Bay

Namaste, Gail