1:57 PM: i have 4 more of the 28x28” pieces of extra fine portrait linen that i cut from the 84” x 5 yard roll last week. i strated work on one of them a little while ago, using photos i printed out this morning of views of people from above as inspiration. i’ll continue tomorrow morning, and possibly start another on so that i don’t get stuck on this one.
11/16/25 oil 28×28” oil on portrait linen, as she looked at the end of day one
six recent 28x28” recent paintings in oil on portrait linen
2:28 PM: today i stretched the final two of my six 28x28” recent oils\, which now hang together, as you can see in the photo, on my east studio wall.
they all contain images of goldfish, and all but the one on the lower right contain images of mikela, either watering our plants or simply sitting and working on her educational product in the recliner chair in my studio.
study of an 18,000 year old cave painting, 21×24” oil on portrait linen i made a few days ago
1:03 PM: a few days ago i made a quick study in oil on portrait linen of an 18,000 year old cave painting, which shows once again that time is irrelevant when it comes to art; great marks are great marks.
11/9/25 mt in the studio 28x28”, following some tweaks to the blacks on the right
11:40 AM: i scratched into the blacks on the right because they were too dominant when i glanced at the painting, so now i think it looks resolved.
detail of the scratches in the black
11/9/25 mt in the studio, 28x28” oil on portrait linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day
3:29 PM: following the changes i made earlier in the day, i launched back in, simplified what i had done and made what i feel are some very good compositional moves.
the black on the right pops just enough; the figure works way better with the striped shirt and the goldfish gain with the bottom of their bowl at right angles. like, how could a fish bowl have right angles?? well, it’s not a fish bowl, it’s a painting!
lets see how i feel about it in the morning…
4:16 PM: I wiped out everything I did yesterday & today, so she’s back to the original
11/9/25 mt in studio as she looked at 3pm
11/9/25 mt in studio 28x28” oil on portrait linen, as she looked at 1pm today
1:06 PM: this afternoon I continues work on yesterday’s 11/9/2025 mt in studio, 28x28”, oil on portrait linen.
11/9/25 mt in studio, 28x28” oil on portrait linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day today
2:53 PM: this afternoon I started work on 11/9/25 mt in studio, a new 28x28” oil. it’s still at an early stage, as you can see, and thus far appears to be becoming a sister of yesterday’s 11/8/25 mt seated.
mt seated, 28x28” oil on xtra fine portrait linen as she looked at 2pm this afternoon.
2pm I used one of my 2 remaining pieces of 28x28” xtra fine portrait linen to start a new painting titled mt seated. I sketched her in oil as I looked at her from my work table, then began adding colors to the composition. the goldfish, which appear in all of my most recent oils, are still showing up. here’s how she looked at the end of my painting day today.
11/6/2025 watercolor/collage, 29x37 cm. on Bristol paper
3:28 PM: today I began work on 11/6/25 watercolor/collage, which is 29x37cm. on Bristol paper. the 4 figures are walking about in the museum and their shadows dominate the composition.
karagiozis with fish, 6x16” gouache, colored pencil & collage on bristol
I also made adjustments to karagiozis with fish
karagiozis with fish, 6x16” gouache, colored pencil & collage on bristol
11:38 AM: this morning I was inspired to make a gouache/colored pencil/collage on a piece of 6x16” Bristol I had mounted on a piece of foam core. it began with some colored pencil drawings followed by collaging some cutout pieces of drawings & a printout of a karagiozis poster while glancing at a reproduction of a matisse painting with goldfish. it felt fresh to depart from the rectangular format I've been using recently and move to a horizontal long narrow. karagiozis with fish is 6x16” on Bristol paper.
Steve Martin plays, couples dance, fish swim, gouache & collage on Bristol paper
3:13 PM: I made a new gouache with bits of collage today, titled Steve Martin plays, couples dance, fish swim. it’s 29x36 cm. on bristol paper and I worked on it on and off all day until about an hour ago. the title explains what’s going on. the 3 couples dancing are viewed from above. there’s also an element of creek-scape on the far left, with two tree trunks and creek water flowing below.
