new body of work

arrow, 12x12, watercolor+ink on 140# paper

My life is a series of "one step at a time".  SERIOUSLY.  I can plan a direction and sometimes this manifests, but it's the letting go that opens the door to happy surprises along the way.

The piece above was inspired by Eugene Herrigel's book, Zen and the Art of Archery and the quote, "What stands in your way is that you have a much too willful will.  You think that what you do not do yourself does not happen."  A good reminder to myself on any given day.

I was resenting putting the time in, painting in my studio.  I know, who am I to complain about having time to go into my studio?  But sometimes the muse is just not there and most of the time, I still need to show up (in case you haven't noticed my motto). I was wishing for some inspiration I had a few years ago along the lines of my exploratory work titled Life Lessons.  

Being reminded of the writer's discipline of one thousand words a day (when reading Carolyn See's Making a Literary Life), thinking about Agnes Martin (we will be studying her work during the first week of art camp at the Create Everyday Classroom) and needing to participate in a meditation of my own, in my studio, a new body of work is born.

This kind of work I do never gets that much attention.  I've been creating different bodies of work "on the side" similar to this for over ten years.  Without this work, I believe my primary work would suffer.

Because, you know, the "side work" is the work.

tent, 12x12, watercolor+graphite on 140# paper

medicine wheel, 12x12, watercolor+ink on 140# paper

what we think is finite, 10x8, watercolor+graphite on paper

"The power of imagination makes us infinite." - John Muir

pyramid, 11x8.5, watercolor+graphite on 140# paper

These pieces (and more in this series) are for sale.  Please contact me here for purchase information.