Last week I attended the opening of the Alaska Triennial, a juried exhibit at the Anchorage Museum.  My painting, Crab Pots at the End of the Spit had been selected and I was there celebrating and connecting with other artists/friends/colleagues. 

Talking with the juror, Mary Bradshaw, about how I paint got me excited to get back into the studio. I came home, re-mixed and refilled my paint markers with fresh color, and got to work on several paintings that have been floating around the studio space, waiting for my focused attention.

Here are some of those paintings in process:

Making is messy. The current challenge for me in painting is staying fresh, not overworking, while also rendering the subject authentically. 

I work frenetically, and I love starting a new piece. Sometimes a painting lingers on the edges of my studio for months before I know how to finish it. Sometimes, I know how to finish it but I have to wait for the right headspace to work on it. This happens a lot. Beginning things is exciting. Finishing them is a negotiation with how I feel, how grounded I am in the present moment, and - occasionally- what else I might be avoiding. Nothing motivates quite like procrastination.