🔴 1/5/2021: “Quieting the Mind” (40″x30″) is a painting I never thought would leave my house. It’s a subtle piece that’s impossible to photograph ~ so it was never going to sell online. And being mostly white, it didn’t show well on white gallery walls. So I stopped showing it/sharing it, and hung it in the espresso colored living room where I write every morning. Then a dear friend/neighbor/fellow artist asked if she could come by this weekend to see my paintings. And this is the piece that caught her eye. It’s amazing how each painting finds its way to the person who’s meant to have it. This one is easily overlooked by some, mesmerizing to others. And it’s a piece that could only ever have been bought by someone who saw it in person. Thank you for taking the time to notice this piece, S.G. I’m honored that it will be living on in your love-filled home at the end of the lane.🌸
Here is a look back at the relatively swift evolution of this piece.
. . . . . . . . .
May 19, 2019: Starting a new 30″x40″ piece with India ink calligraphy that says “Natural Woman.” I used my favorite jumbo brush (on the right) from Elizabeth Schowachert.
Process shots of the piece as it evolves, starting with blanket layers of colors. First the warm layers…
…followed by the cool. I really like the feel at this stage. I love the fresh marks, the reds poking through, the shades of Spring green, the hints of dark and light. I have to actively resist falling in love with parts of the painting at this early stage. Because I know this is just getting started.
Swinging back to add more warms. The green/red is such an unusual combination for me. I think all the poppies on my morning walks are working their way into my paintings.
[Following the opening reception for my first solo show the previous night]: This introvert’s need to retreat after the high octane output of the past couple weeks is showing up in today’s painting, as I turn the volume down on the already quiet conversations in this piece. Spent most of the day scraping back and dissolving the surface layers to reveal the understory ~ then coating the piece with shades of warm white. Time for my painting (and me) to rest! So I’m putting it up on the kitchen wall, and will see how it feels in the light of day.
June 9, 2019: After a month of hanging on the wall, this piece is back on my easel for some fine tuning. The white was feeling a bit heavy handed in areas. So I scraped it back with a razor to let some more of the under layers poke through. Then I smoothed it over lightly with some cooler whites. This is one of my quietest pieces to date. And I love the submerged thoughts, ideas, memories poking through. Finding the sweet spot between hidden & revealed feels like the balancing act of quieting the monkey mind during meditation…