passing through, 12x14 1/2” oil on portrait linen
in flight, 12x14 1/2” oil on linen on day one
this morning i continued work on passing through, which i started yesterday. it‘s now resolved and will be stretched as soon as i order the stretcher bars.
i started work on in flight, which has the same dimensions as passing through: 12x14 1/2” i’ll continue tomorrow morning.
passing through, 12×14 1/2” oil on xtra fine portrait linen
2:29 PM: thjis afternoon i started work on the first of the seven 14x15 1/2” pieces of portrait linen i discovered while cleaning up a few days ago. titled passing through, it was inspired by a photo i shot at least 5 years ago while looking down at wlking figures, from an upper area of a mall, likely in denver. it may be complete; i’ll know tomorrow morning when i have a fresh look at it.
i am re-reading this wonderful biography of Matisse, which I highly recommend!
view of the sangres from the poa this evening at 8pm
1999 SLV in egg tempera on board
taiko 1, 7x11 1/2” mixed media on arches paper; as she looked at the end of my painting day today
9:19 AM: when i brought it back to the house and looked at it carefully, taiko 1 seemed far to busy and without a central focus for the wandering eye. so this morning, as soon as mikela left for school and while we were chatting during her drive, i went into the entire upper quadrant of taiko 1 with a black crayon, allowing the flower on the upper right and the karagiozis figure in the center to POP.
1:29 PM: today morning i made a new painting: pink & green dream, 7x11 1/2” mixed media on arches paper. it was much more complex until, towards the end of my time working on it, i collaged some cutout pieces of white paper with black ink marks, and it found it’s identity.
PINK & GREEN DREAM, 7x11 1/2” 3/31/26
2:55 PM: today i continued work on taiko 1, transforming it to the degree that yesterdays version is mostly collaged and painted over. two female figures have replaced the original taiko drummer figure, a large flower now appears in the upper left and green leaves below.
taiko 1, 11 1/2x 7 1/2” watercolor, gouache, colored pencil & collage on arches paper, at the end of my painting day
BELOW: yesterdays version on the left
ABOVE: left-taiko 1 right-artist & mirror, both 11 1/2 x 7 1/2” watercolor, colored pencil, crayon & collage on arches paper
1:48 PM: this morning i was in my groove, so when i revisited taiko 1 and artist & mirror, i knew where i needed to go. so i used collage, watercolor, gouache, crayon & colored pencil to juice them both up. compositional patterning now supercedes realism. the unexpected and unpredictable rule, using my photos of mikela watering in our entryway as the figurative anchor.
the night before last in pueblo i slept only about 3 hours in our hotel, so a good 8 hour sleep last night provided me the energy and alertness needed for what i accomplished today. in addition, my gums have healed from the surgery on march 11 to the point where i no longer have pain and am able to eat anything that’s not crunchy or has tiny seeds that could get trapped in my gums. what a relief!
10:22 AM: as we drove home from the convention in pueblo yesterday, i photographed the sunset from our car
10:25 AM: this morning, before leaving for pueblo, i started a new watercolor titled Taiko 1.
taiko 1 11 1/2 x 7 1/2” , watercolor on day 1
11:49 AM: this morning i made a few tweaks to the walking with leaves watercolor and declared it resolved.
walking with leaves, 11 1/2 x 7 1/2” watercolor on paper
2:24 PM: once i completed walking with leaves, i immediately launched into a new watercolor with the same dimensions, titled artist & mirror. it’s inspired by a photo i shot about 10 years ago of a good friend sitting in front of a mirror and painting an icon.
artist & mirror, 7 1/2x 11 1/2” watercolor on paper
