Onward

A good friend recently asked me about the inspiration for this series.

Here was my response…

I think the inspiration was (and continues to be) “playing” with colour as a way to “self-soothe”…

When the pandemic hit in mid-March, I had just finished sorting all of my art supplies in February… (interesting timing) and I had these six 12 x 12 canvases from a time before we bought the gallery in 2010 (so well over 10 years).  And they just called to me.  I have not been a painter - in that “serious” sense of the word - so I just got them out to play.  What could it hurt, right?

And from there, a series was born. Because, after I painted the first one (Social Isolation Begins) I couldn’t stop.  And it was about a painting a day for a while…

Also - as you well know - this series builds on the hundreds of postcards I’ve painted using watercolours in the form of a grid pattern.  So that was in my system… the grid gave me a structure and a way to organize colour and pattern that didn’t rely on having any subject matter.  Which is how I love to play with colour.

I only want to see colours laying beside each other, in ways that surprise and please me… without “distracting” me with subject matter.

And, so, after the first one, and then another and another… I think I just finished the 34th painting.  Nothing could surprise me more than to be looking back on this series…

I did NOT see it coming. I did not plan for it.  And I continue to wonder where it is taking me.

(Hahaha - answering your question has just given me more words about my process than I have managed to pull out of myself before this time… so thank you!)

(Also - I am a stumbling, fumbling amateur… so I’m learning lots as I go.  I’ve been really happy with the results… but I’m also quaveringly insecure in many ways…)

And thank you, S., for the question.  I’m grateful for the painting that continues to be a major part of my daily practice.