EXPEDITION SPECTRUM gives the viewer a visual opportunity to meditate on color; to connect their thoughts toward inner awareness and close observation of minutiae in nature. The paintings in the Expedition Series journey into unknown spaces inspired by bird songs, forest canopies, and seafoam. With these prompts from nature, the works focus on depicting simple pleasures and silver linings. Viewing the paintings invites a chance to slow down and investigate our surroundings. With this introspection comes resilience, no matter where we are. The painting process I employ is the culmination of my personal quest to find joy in color and to radiate warmth and optimism on each piece. The works act like fantastical prisms of nature, reflecting the shifting magic of color, from red through purple, one color at a time. Expedition Spectrum renews the spirit and shifts the mindset towards hope.
Daily Drawing Project TAKE TWO in 2020
Beginning on April 1, 2020
Studio view with Daily Drawings / Color Meditations Nov 2019 - March 2020.
Since this past November, I have been thinking about bringing back my Daily Drawing Project from April 1, 2011 – March 31, 2012. I self-published a Daily Drawing book on blurb—if you are not familiar, that was 9 years ago and not 10. Recently, I chatted with artist Philip J Mellen on AHTCAST where I talk about this project in a two part audio interview. Get excited!
I have been pondering how I would do this project the next time, what would be different, and what would be the same. Mostly I wondered if I really wanted to do this project ever again. I think that I do but have been carefully thinking about how to approach it. There are positives and negatives to the project—more positive than negative, but it tends to take over the amount of larger pieces that I have energy to create in a year. My studio focus has been larger paintings over smaller drawings. But that can change if I want. I listened to this fantastic podcast called I LIKE YOUR WORK with artist Erika B Hess where she interviews San Francisco based artist Lisa Solomon. Check out the interview here. Solomon wrote a book about watercolor meditations. Anyway this podcast was special to me, as I really liked how Lisa would practice color meditations for 30 minutes to begin her studio practice each day. I even bought her book a few months ago, although in true confessions I have not read it yet. I DO plan to read it shortly. I’ve only paged through it so far but very much looking forward to reading it.
Additionally, I have always wanted to get more into blog posting but I’m lazy and would rather make paintings instead of write. I do have a blog with 4 years of blog posts but my last blog entry was in 2014. It’s mostly photos of art but there are some blog posts and essays on my work. I published the daily drawing project on the blog so you could see the work without being connected to me on social media. I would like to figure out how to move this to my website or if I can do that without having to move each blog entry individually. That is another project for another day. For now, I’m just going to use the blog template on my squarespace website as it’s much easier to update, and for older entries I will link to the old blog.
The photo above is a pile of daily drawings/color meditations that I’ve worked on since November 2019. I don’t really want to show people these, as they are not what I would consider finished works. These pages are a place to let my mind rest from noise of the world. These are also preparatory works or warm up exercises that allow a place to meditate and experiment. The daily drawings are a way to begin painting right away when I don’t really want to paint or would rather do absolutely anything else but paint. They lighten the mood and give me permission to begin right away instead of puttering around the studio and staring at everything for hours. Puttering around time can be useful but sometimes it’s debilitating. It’s all part of the artist journey. The time to be quiet and look inward is now. Lots of time for introspection and self-awareness in a studio practice. Sometimes it is good to just begin even if there are strong feelings of failure or blocks that discourage working at all. Sometimes it’s good to patiently look and let the artwork tell you what to do next. Both are appropriate solutions and ways to move forward.
April 1, 2020: Daily Drawing No. 1
EXCITING NEWS!
I’ve decided to start my Daily Drawing project again on April Fools’ Day in 2020. I’m not sure how long I will do it but I started today. Since I’ve been having a lot of trouble concentrating in my studio, I needed to put additional structures into my practice and life. I have to allow for moments of joy without pressure. Since I’m the only one here there is only myself to count on.
Project Parameters:
1. Format of 8 inches x 10 inches (Whelp this is big and that freaks me out!)
2. Watercolor media (Can use other media later but base starts with watercolor)
3. Start a new one each day and consider approximate time limit of 1 hour.
4. I can work on one from the prior day as long as it’s within the same week of drawings. Once a new week begins I cannot go back and work on the last weeks drawings. At the end of the week I will sign each of the finished drawings with a date on the back. The works are finished at this point and I cannot go back into them. I can however choose to destroy them later.
I can add new parameters for each week to allow for change but generally follow the 4 rules above. I start on April Fools’ Day to give myself permission to stop at anytime as a joke. Keep it light, airy, and fun. That is after all the entire point of maintaining a studio practice as an artist. Sometimes being an artist is not fun especially as you get older and the business parts and intense rejection pummels you down on a daily basis. It’s important to work hard to forget about all of that junk and try to make it fun again. Maintaining joy in my studio is #1 right now, which is very hard to do. I might not post these everyday on social media and still have to figure that portion out. Perhaps I’ll post weekly on my blog website or even monthly. I look forward to sharing more as I figure out this new project.