My studio is currently filled with 5 large canvases. Two oil paintings are now finished and in the drying stage that will last a few months. Leaning on another wall are 3 more works in progress. Going big is so liberating. My inner perfectionist cannot succumb to picking up a fine-nib pen when facing a 5-foot canvas. Only large brushes are allowed in the studio this month. Gestural marks. Big piles of paint. Big fun.
To begin an oil painting a canvas requires 4 coats of gesso. Each layer is lightly sanded once dry. It is a commitment. Progress is slow but satisfying.
One particular canvas fascinates me. It is the size and proportion of a child-sized, narrow door. I've been working on this piece since the summer of 2020. Something about the work that is emerging reminds me of looking through a door into a vast and magical garden that lies beyond. I have decided that the painting will be done once I feel I can step through that door and into a place worth visiting.
Paintings emerge instinctually from my imagination. The process is spontaneous yet grounded in my life's experience. The palette is composed of colors that both excite and calm my eye. Cerulean blue, soft lemon yellow, and emerald green fill my vision.
This is my Summer series. I'd best get cracking as there is a lot of work left to do and August will soon wane.