Floating Above: New Paintings

“Still, what I want in my life
is to be willing
to be dazzled—
to cast aside the weight of facts

and maybe even
to float a little
above this difficult world.” ~ Mary Oliver

Winter sun filters afternoon rainbows through old glass windows and lace curtains into my old house's kitchen. On the kitchen easel, near French doors, I work on a new painting "Alter Ego": she was just started today, outside on the back deck before I had to come in due to cold. At this time of day, rainbows, sunbeams and light dance radiant throughout the room, paintings catch the light, maybe wishing to float above this world. I can glimpse light through layers of paint, down to the original gold gesso. It's one of those magic transcendent moments...beautiful, magical, fleeting. Life's like that, isn't it? Some days, some years we get that magic. It serves to pull us along when the nights are dark. It's a reminder that spring does come.

New Work: The Landscape

"You are standing at the edge of the woods at twilight when something begins to sing, like a waterfall" ~ excerpt from Mary Oliver's poem "You Are Standing At The Edge of the Woods" This painting is a larger piece I've worked on and off with for the past year...letting it sit awhile, then returning. With open studios coming up this weekend, I had hoped to finish it, but realize it's impossible to do everything! Let alone mow, clean, rearrange, and get the house ready for the public. Still, I took a picture of it, and really love the ethereal feel, something that has stayed in the piece all along. Looks very simple, but there are delicate layers upon layers.