Working very hard. I have been painting on two 42x42 paintings. It weighs heavily on me. The price of painting. I saw a quote by Degas the other day that made me smile.  "Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do."

This week after a lot preparation I started to paint.  With this body of work more than any before I have to prepare panels for weeks. It is a continuous cycle. In order to achieve that which is in my mind I have to get many things in place. It becomes part of a routine. I have always painted with routine surrounding me. Right down to my morning coffee or afternoon run.  I think because my work is not routine I like to set up as many things in a routine so I can have a structure as a jumping off point. If I had to lot of chaos in my life it would be a lot harder for me to step outside of a comfort zone in my work. This system allows me to go into that area of exploration and removes predictably and repetition.

The one thing I am enjoying right now is hitting my stride. I can compare my work to running. I do both run and paint. There is a point in running where it is uncomfortable and every step makes you wish you had not run today. And then something happens and your speed picks up and you find yourself in a rhythm. Before you know it you have hit a stride like never before and everything is working for you not against you. Your breathing becomes a cadence. You trust each step. Each reaction to the path ahead.  Knowing where you are and seeing a road in front of you. Building upon every run you have ever taken on. That is painting. That is me.

Opportunity knocked! And I answered the door!!

Travelling tomorrow to Los Angeles for a few days. I always take time to pack what art I am going to work on. It is as important as what clothes I am going to wear. I have spent a few days preparing papers and making sure I have enough drawing material. I must work. The need to make art is too great.. I am always interested in what a new location will bring to my work and how my work will affect the new location.

It has been some time since I posted but let me assure you I have not been taking it easy!  I have been working very hard having completed a very large Construct painting for Nordstrom in Vancouver. Making the jump up in size made me realize the new potential of my work. The impact of the increased size and how it can command a room. I am very excited by this shift and have started 12 new large paintings that I will be hitting hard upon my return from California. I can feel my work about to explode once again. I am very focused and can hardly wait to see my new paintings.

Last week I was fortunate enough to have Chris Cran in to see my show and have a one on one with him a couple of days later at the gallery. I have always listened to Chris. He is a great painter and has a very good eye. It is hard to find someone that you can trust while looking at your work. With Chris I feel I have that. We walked around looking at the new series and I listened while we went from one painting to the next. This series is so new to me. I have felt each of the paintings but I have not seen them. Or not all of them. If that makes any sense? I remember when I was young and John Walker was in my studio and I had a painting which I thought was half done. John looked at it and said it is finished. I was floored. Finished? How could I stop working on this painting which was only half done. He then said to me, leave the painting for a week. Don't touch it. If after a week it does not look finished, paint on it.
I never touched that painting again. He later said to me that it was a felt situation and that I had not seen it yet. I learned a lot from that. What is great about working like this is that you are always looking. Always searching. Always finding.

Back with Chris, I was overwhelmed by his kindness and complements. One I will never forget was him describing a painting as f**king killer!
Painting is a quiet and lonely life. You spend so much of your time away from the public eye. So to put yourself out there and have someone like Chris praising my work like he did gives me the pat on the back that makes it easy to go back in to the studio.
Thank you Chris for a wonderful visit