6/13/26 collage, 11x17” on bristol as she looked at the end of my painting day today.
3:21 PM: this new one, 11x17” has gone through numerous stages today and i don’t know right now whether it’s there yet. we’ll see in the morning, on what is predicted to be a stormy day.
6/10/26 oil, 10 3/4x20” as she looked following my rubbing out of what i did this morning.
2:22 PM: when we saw what i had done to this painting, we both felt it had been way better, way more interesting as a painting in the previous version. the oil paint was still fresh enough that i was able to rub out what i did today and now we’ll see where she wants to go tomorrow morning.
i have my mens group meeting at 8, back around 9:30, so i’ll pick up then. she did however lose some of the elements that hadn’t yet dried, so i’ll address that tomorrow.
BELOW: in yesterdays version, on the LEFT, you can see what got rubbed out that i’ll be restoring
6/10/26 oil, 10 3/4x20” as she looked following this mornings burst of energy
9:17 AM: we were going to go for our morning walk and i hadn’t yet meditated. it’s very buggy, so we would have had to stop at the house and get our netting to put over our heads. mikela was deep into a project she has to complete and get out today, so i figured, what the f…k, i may as well do a bit more to yesterdays 10 3/4x20” oil. and of course it transformed radically. goldfish have once again entered the picture, borrowed unashamedly from matisse, and now this is looking like my recent series of 25x25” paintings, but with a light blue instead of the darker blue i had been using. in addition, yesterday’s version contained 3 figures. one has remained visible; his head is just above and to the right of the fish bowl.
so now maybe i’ll take my meditation break and see how i feel about what i did once i emerge.
2:12 PM: the right portion of the composition i made at noon wasn’t working, so i took it out painted over it with white oils, made a light sketch in colored penciland am waiting till tomorrow morning for it to dry so i can work into it. my early morning energy is always best, so lets see what happens tomorrow.
6/10/26 oil, 10 3/4x20” mixed media on portrait linen as she looked after taking out the right portion of the composition
12:03 PM: i got into my groove about an hour ago and made a new painting on a stretched 10 3/4x20 portrait linen i worked rapidly and with certainty, using oil, colored pencils, crayons and oil pastels. continuing my journey into abstracted realism.
6/10/26 oil, 10 3/4x20” mixed media on portrait linen
6/6/26 jacob’s pillow-crop a, watercolor/gouache, on day 3
once i reached a point in the process where i had no choice but to cut the composition in half, i did just that. so 6/6/26 jacob’s pillow-crop a was the left half, and crop b is the very small bit of the right half that i was able to crop. the figure you see in crop b was part of a poster for a karagiozis performance in athens, greece. this crop is only 3x2” but when you see it in person, it really pops!
9:17 AM: over time, i’ve learned to take full advantage of my early morning energy & inspiration. so this morning, after making mikela’s coffe and our smoothie, i launched right back in to 6/6/26 jacob’s pillow, which i worked on yesterday.
using collage, glue stick and colored pencils/crayons, i went where i was called, staying away as far as possible from planning thoughts. the result may qualify as the “best” of my recent works on paper, and definitely holds up when viewed from a distance, adjacent to the other recent works on bristol paper.
the green shoes on the dancing figure, which i introduced yesterday, take on a whole new meaning now, amplifying the joy of this jacob’s pillow dancer. so i’m glad i decided to wait before sending my exhibition proposal to the director of the Dance Festival at jacob’s pillow. and now, for the first time, i can envision these small paintings mounted at the Festival, enhansing the attendees experience.
6/6/26 jacob’s pillow-crop b, watercolor/gouache, on day 3
2:31 PM: i6/6/26 jacob’s pillow has gone to the second stage; taking it slow with this one.
6/6/26 jacob’s pillow 11x14” watercolor/gouache, on day 2
2:43 PM: this afternoon i started the next in my jacob’s pillow series: 6/6/26 jacob’s pillow. she’s a size up from the previous one: 11x17” and has 2 joyous dancing figures with matching red & black plaid shirts. between the two is a pattern you will see on the photo below, which is inspired by a beautiful, tiny plant i got on our morning trail walk & brought back to the studio. the pattern on this flower seems to have been created by an artist, which it was: nature! i stopped because i felt too tired to continue today, so i’ll pick up where i left off tomorrow.
6/6/26 jacob’s pillow, 11x14” watercolor/gouache on bristol
10:58 am: about an hour ago we took our usual walk up the spanish creek trail. on the way down, i found this gorgeous plant, which i now have on my desk.
5:15 PM: this afternoon i started my next jacob’s pillow painting: jacob’s pillow 3. it’s an 11x14” watercolor & gouache on bristol paper and is pretty far along. when i get a good start, day 2 is always scary.
mikela just saw it for the first time and said, emphatically, “leave it alone!” and you know she’s always right!
6/5/26 jacob’s pillow, 11x14” watercolor & gouache on bristol as she looked at the end of day 1
jacobs pillow 1, 16x18” oil on portrait linen returned to it’s original state this afternoon
5:33 PM:after adding blues and greens a few hours ago, i went back to the studio before eating dinner and wiped out whatever i did earlier. it has a greenish hue, which i’ll fix tomorrow.
3:46 PM: i took a break a few hours ago and went to the house with mikela. i didn’t expect to come back, especially since a thunderstorm was brewing. but i did, and when i came in, my eye went to jacobs pillow 1, 16x18” oil on linen, which i last worked on may 31st. she was begging for more, so i gave it to her.
jacobs pillow 1, 16x18” oil on portrait linen following todays modifications
12:26 PM: i took 6/3/26 jacobs pillow 2 to the next level today. i’m taking it a little at a time to maintain the delicacy of this 11x14” watercolor/gouache.
6/3/26 jacobs pillow 2, 11x14” watercolor/gouache on bristol
6:54 PM: we were in salida this afternoon and had dinner at moonlight pizza, where i made this colored pencil drawing of a guy at the next table.
the pizza by the way was delicious!
6/2/26 drawing made at moonlight pizza restaurant today
