I love the way abstract art invites the creator and the viewer to collaborate as storytellers.

As the creator, I have my own story that informs the choices I make (materials, color, gesture, etc.) that lead me towards a finished painting. Sometimes I clearly know the steps I need to execute to realize my vision.  But more often, my process is based on intuition.  I couldn’t articulate what influenced my color choices for this piece.  That pop in contrast just felt right to me.

And I love what you can learn about a person based on what they see in a piece. At the pop-up market earlier this week, I was struck by how many people were drawn to this painting because of the “Seattle Seahawks” colors.

So it made me wonder…was it intuition that inspired this color combination, or has the seasonal rise in Seattle football paraphernalia subliminally influenced my color palette for this painting?  Inquiring minds…

All I know is that this piece is super pleasing to my eye.

Here is painting 16 of 30:

Talking about these SOLO pieces with people I met at the pop-up market got me thinking about ways I can continue to explore this series.  All of these pieces are on 9″x12″ paper because it was the size I had available. Yesterday, I bought a larger pad of paper, and am interested to see how these paintings change as I scale up.

I have also been questioning whether I need to include cold wax for these paintings.  I used cold wax initially, because that’s the medium I’m exploring.  But as I grow this body of work, I’ll be curious to see how these paintings work with oil or acrylic paint alone.

Doors leading to more doors…not unlike the opening credit sequence of Get Smart TV show I watched as a kid.

Here is painting 15 of 30:

Well…my internet exploded yesterday when someone erroneously included a portrait of my family in a post about US Open Champion Naomi Osaka. It is bewildering, to suddenly find myself sucked into this stranger’s orbit.  I spent the past 12 hours trying to disentangle my personal family photo from his careless post, and I just finished filing a copyright infringement report. Hopefully this whole matter will be laid to rest soon…

All this to say, I haven’t had time to reflect on today’s post.  So I will simply present you with painting 14 of 30.

September has turned art into an endurance sport, which is a welcome change following 2+ months off!

This “30 paintings in 30 days” challenge has reactivated my blog. I’m writing, painting and posting every day. It also gave me some much-needed inventory for my first pop-up market yesterday.

Thanks to Artist Trust for including me in this stellar line-up of local artists. It was my first time sharing my oil/cold wax paintings with the public — and the response was so encouraging, I might even be inspired to keep the SOLO series going after this challenge ends!

I’m giving myself a day to recover, then I have a week to prepare for the COCA 24-hour Art Marathon/Auction. Works made during the marathon will be auctioned off as a fundraiser for COCA Gallery the following day, with artists getting 50% of the sale price. Everybody wins!

I feel so grateful to be busy doing the work I love…♡

Painting 13 of 30:

SOLO #10 – 9″x12″ Oil & cold wax on Arches Oil Paper

To date, I’ve only created series that were loosely held together through a core concept, shared dimension, or technique. So what unified the body of work as a ‘series’ was usually only visible to my eye.

I look forward to seeing how these SOLO pieces look, hanging at the Artist Trust Pop Up Market at Amazon today. I expect I will be struck by the explosion of color and the rhythmic repetition of this series…

Here is painting 12 of 30:

My Instagram feed during this 30-day challenge is a radical departure from my usual posts of works in progress. The evolution of these Solo paintings happens in a moment. There’s no history of layers, no touch ups. Just paper, then finished painting.

Minimalist in form and execution.

As with everything that appears effortless, all the progress comes in the prep and planning leading up to the moment when the paint touches the paper.

Here is painting 11 of 30:

In college, I rowed competitively. As someone inherently drawn to contradictions, I quickly fell in love with this sport.

Rowing married the rigor and discipline of a solo sport with the camaraderie and bonding of a team.

I loved the balance of endurance and meditation, elegance and pain. And I was seduced by the pursuit of the elusive perfect stroke.

To a varying degree, I sense that same adrenaline rush now as I work in pursuit of the perfect stroke.

Here is painting 10 of 30:

I’m curious to see how this 30-day meditation on The Line manifests in my work moving forward.

Will this new language of bold gestural marks become integrated into my work?

Will the difference be mostly one of mind set — intention, confidence, comprehension — and therefore discernible only to me?

Out of curiosity, I pulled out an old piece today and started painting over it. And I could definitely feel the difference. (Will post a pic of this piece when it’s further along…)

In the meantime, here’s painting 9 of 30:

These pieces are so different from anything I’ve done in the past. And I’m finding this creative detour invigorating, if not intoxicating!

Mark making is still pretty new for me. Making a single gesture on a page is a bold statement. It feels risky and vulnerable. But this boldness by my hand is a thrilling departure for me. And I now feel a boundless curiosity to explore this most rudimentary of marks — the straight line…

Here is painting 8 of 30:

One of the joys–and challenges–of making these pieces is resisting the urge to “fix” them. Each one appears on the page fully formed…completely unique, impossible to replicate.

Sometimes it can be tempting to pick at, scrape, add, fill in…just to “fix” that one thing. But then I remind myself that my only role here is to breathe life into these pieces. Nothing more. Once they’re out, I need to step back, and let them be what they are. It doesn’t take long for me to find beauty in their imperfections.

This daily practice has become an invitation to make peace with what is…and to let go.

Here is painting 7 of 30: