In-progress gouache & colored pencil on colored paper.

A strange week. One of my art heroes, a brilliant painter named Jennifer Wynne Reeves has died from brain cancer. Since I discovered her work a few years back, I have made trips to NYC every time she has a show. I have never had a such a strong sense that I needed to see work because I desperately needed to learn something from it.

I am working in my studio sublet every day, but I switched from my regularly scheduled project yesterday because I was so thrown by Jennifer's death. I simultaneously felt that her soul was so big that a huge presence was lifted from the earth, and that a part of her was infusing all the artists she knew, acting as muse yesterday.

I am struggling. Putting in hours in the studio, but spending lots of time tossing & turning at night trying to solve some really big problems regarding my work.... it is incredibly stressful.  I know what needs to be made, but there are parts that I haven't figured out yet, particularly because I have not REALLY painted with oils in 6 years, and I want to make some changes rather than going back to the way I have always worked. In addition to the painterly aspects, the imagery is also more challenging than any I have ever worked with before. I am convinced I am doing the right thing, I just feel like it is not yet on target. I have never danced on ice this thin before.

study/sketch for new work

For the first time in 6 years, I will focusing on my work full time for an extended period. For the first time in 6 years, I will break out the oil paint. I have sublet a studio for the summer in D.C., and I am spending every weekday there until Sept 1st. Stay tuned....