New solo show just confirmed for November 22, 2014 -January 3 2015 Herringer Kiss Gallery. Thank you Deborah for the opportunity. Excited to see the new series up for the first time.

 The one thing I have always done is look.
For hours or days on end without a single brush mark. I don't even have to be in front of my painting. It is always on my mind. I am always thinking about and worrying about my next move or my next painting. Not that I plan or that I am so careful with my next step but I do think and look as the painting slows down. At the beginning there is a getting to know the painting time, where I find my way through the painting by painting. Building up and ripping down. Then there is a time where you get down to the last ten brush marks that can be very slow. Seeing when it is done. I paint them until I get them right. What is right? Well right for me has always been a place where I feel that I can leave the painting. It is never about a certain look or style. Because sometimes the best place to leave a painting is where it is uncomfortably right. A place that is not familiar but a place that allows you to move on to the next one without looking back.  



                                       
New painting in progress June 2014

Whew... tough one today. Half way through my new painting and it is a hard one that is for sure. I am working a totally different way now. Cutting small pieces and putting them together. Seeing the image come and go. Back and forth. Trying to fight my way out of the painting. A lot of fun but what a mental workout.

Painting day today. I have been thinking about my paintings so much these past few days. Getting ready to attack. Mentally preparing for the next painting. It is funny how it is some days. It is like getting ready for a marathon. Seeing as much as you can before the race begins. Thinking what will happen and how you will react. Seeing the whole finished thing before you even begin. And then once you start to paint it all goes away. And every idea you had, every feeling you had does not matter. You are painting and the painting will tell you what to do.

I had a chance to take in the Harry and Roy Kiyooka show at the Herringer Kiss Gallery today and was blown away by it. It was a real pleasure to see such an in depth well put together show of these two talented artists work. One of the best shows I have seen in quite some time. Spanning from the 1950's to the 1960's it showed the dedication and discipline that these two brothers had. Some very nice surprises. Four portraits on canvas unframed were absolutely beautiful. It was a very strong show and hung really well as to see the different styles of work without one period overwhelming the other. I would highly recommend taking it in and seeing some of Canada's best. The longer I stayed the more I saw, which is always a good sign. And it made me want to paint. Harry's small painting Anticol Corrado, Italia Anniene River Valley c. 1961 was a personal favorite. Congratulations to Deborah for putting together such an ambitious show.

Having a wonderful birthday. Feeling so loved and cared for by my family.

Drawing in Maui