These are lilies dieing in the cold and dim north light of my studio. The dissonant qualities of this painting reflect a part of my nature that I’ve struggle to come to terms with.  What’s dieing is my need to ignore it. What’s alive is a willingness to know it, allow it through. Take a closer look, double click!

Studio Corner

 Excited to try posting video. In this video is Monika, Janine, Mel, Me, and a few other people and places that I love.

This year I turned 40 on Thanksgiving. We were visiting Mel’s family in Chicago.
My birthday lands on the holiday every seven years. Our plan was to stay in a hotel the night before
to spend the evening together celebrating my 40th and our recent engagement.

Mel insists we bring all the stuff we like to do in case we get inspired;
our watercolor kit, books we’re reading, and backgammon.

The Public hotel is beautifully designed; every thing is white, light, taupe, and in its place.
Being creative in a hotel room has a nostalgic romance. I would enjoy an extended stay.

I can’t help but think about Patti Smith, Robert Maplethorpe,
The Chelsea, and Just Kids. We order coffee and talk in bed.

Dressed for dinner, Mel sits on the floor and irons her hair.

It takes a few minutes and I notice how patient 40 feels.

I’ve seen her do these exact steps many many times.

Just about done and she strikes a lovely pose. In a few minutes we’ll be down in the lobby
having drinks while we wait for our table.

Happy together in anticipation.

 A teacher of mine once told us that worship of any kind is good.

First pass on this water color. Not sure where it will go. Thought I better save it as is.

Bursting onto the scene, remaining only for a short time, silently dropping it’s petals to the table.

Something different for me.

This ink drawing teeters on abstraction, which is what I love about it.

Its pleasure comes from its gesture and the purity of black and white.

CLICK ON THE PIC FOR A CLOSER LOOK

My understanding of the title, a balance of simplicity and complexity creating  elegance. Jun, the model and composer that I painted here carries these qualities, as does his music.

One of my favorites from Lucian.

In many ways this is Mel. But in so many ways it’s not. While on vacation, with a few days off from painting, I was itching to work. We sat down across from each other, Mel on the couch under a lamp and I just across from her on a living room chair, watercolor block on my lap. I was excited to get back to the materials and really had no interest in formal accuracy, nor the outcome. My focus was on feeling . . . the feeling of how the brush, loaded with pigment and water, goes down on the paper,  the kolinsky hair spreading, releasing a pool of color. The forms that I ended up creating are Mel’s but so much of me is here too, sculpted into this portrait.