3 New Beginnings

I started three new paintings. One is another small Ode to the Eddy Muffin painting, the other two are for my new series with the working title of On the Other Side of Grief. The 2023 fire that burned over 2/3 of the HJ Andrews Forest, a place where I have been delving into with my art since 2012, was devastating for scientists, artists, and the ecosystem. Every person who has engaged with the place in any meaningful way experienced grief and we are all finding our ways through it. I have invited some of the Andrews Forest community who I have gotten to know through the years to take me to burned places in the forest that hold strong personal significance for them. What they pay attention to, what they tell me, and show me directs the content of the paintings. At this time, I have visited the forest with two people: Fred Swanson, a geomorphologist, art-science advocate, and the the backbone of all of my work from the Andrews, has been working with the forest for longer (or close to it) than I have been on this planet; and Tim who first introduced me to the forest in 2007 and who I ultimately married.

Because all of my art is directly connected to specific places, I begin my artwork with photographs that I take (with some exceptions in special circumstances). I play with the photos a bunch on the screen, trying out countless possibilities, until I reach a composition and chromatic rhythm, like an orchestra of color that feels like an interesting starting point with plenty of opportunity for exploration on the canvas. This phase can take an exceedingly long time for some compositions because there are so many potential directions to play with. Once something resonates, only then do I commit to building the substrate, or physical support and playground for the art. Starting three paintings at the same time is a rarity for me!

None of the paintings have reached a photogenic phase yet, but they have all obtained physical forms in the world. The two bigger ones are stretched linen on custom made wood panels, the smaller one is stretched linen without a panel. The undertone for one is Nicosia Green Earth from southeastern Cyprus that I mixed with kaoline, the same stuff used to make porcelain in China, just to see what happens.