Middle of August Check-In
I’m still recovering from my surgery, but I’ve been getting a little stir crazy so I’m easing back into my regular routine. It was a little difficult to start painting after taking almost a three week long break from it, but I started out small and painted a little landscape on a 4”x 6” piece of paper. This was helpful because it was a very low commitment painting in both materials and time, so if I didn’t like how it turned out, I felt okay about it. That helped me overcome the hurdle of starting, and the next day I essentially forced myself to focus on working on one painting that I’ve been avoiding for a while. Once I overcame that block in painting, I wake up ready to paint every day.
What I’ve been working on:
I’m back to working on my California Highway One series. I think I’m finished with one of the paintings I had started probably months ago at this point. I am slowly working on the largest painting of the series while I also started the seventh and last painting of the collection that I planned for. I had debated on whether I should do the seventh painting because the reference photo was very similar to another painting I had made in the collection and I didn’t want to have two very similar paintings. But so far, it’s turning out quite differently from any of the other paintings in the collection, but still fits the theme, and I’m excited about it.
Inputs
I started reading Saving Time by Jenny Odell at the recommendation of one of my new art friends. I had read her first book, How to Do Nothing before the pandemic and I don’t remember much of it besides Odell talking about birdwatching and feeling like the book was a little bit all over the place. So far, I’m finding Saving Time easier to follow and I am relating more to it, in part because Odell is from the SF Bay Area and she includes a narrative of various locations in the SF Bay Area that I know and am familiar with. I’m only a few chapters in, but I’m enjoying it so far.
Outputs
I haven’t been able to go outside on walks and drives until last week, so I haven’t had many outings. I am driving up to Berkeley tomorrow to see my printer and to get photographs and prints made of a few of my paintings including my painting that got accepted into the Wildling Museum of Art and Nature’s California National Parks: Stories of Water exhibition.
I also have an opening reception for genART’s Experimental Exhibition: Who Are You? on Saturday that I’ll be attending.
I think that’s all I have for this update. I’m hoping that I’ll be fully recovered from my surgery soon. Meanwhile, I’ll keep making progress on my California HIghway One paintings. I started planning my next collection of paintings, which I think will be of my trip to Yosemite.
