February 2021

And I love this old photo of me with my mom and grandmother...so the "three generations of women" - taken in our old farmhouse outside of Syracuse, NY where we lived until I was seven. I've been looking at the interior paintings of Vuillard, Bonnard, and Mamma Andersson for inspiration. For now I am doing a series of small sketches or sketch-like paintings. I find it's a strong way to open that door intuitively and just let 'er rip. 

I was motivated to start by painting from a photo of my mom that has always been in my studio. This is from back in the 1960's when we vacationed on Cape Cod and mom always wanted to stop at this jelly stand to get her favorite Wild Rose Hip Jelly. Then I went through a box of old family photos and pulled out about eight I'd like to paint. 

Early Summer 2020

During the time of isolation, I signed up for an online residency called the Yellow Chair Salon run by Michael David, Stephanie Hargrave, and Cherie Mittenthall, and the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill (Cape Cod).  This fostered much-needed discussions on art and life, support during a time of isolation, camaraderie, and personal growth.  And I am happy to report that I am back in the studio with a much needed "eagerness to learn" mindset. I just, like all others, want to keep pushing myself to become a better painter.  This connection with other artists and a re-connection with myself and my art has been invaluable. What a gift. 

Fall 2020

This one (above) is of my brother Doug from sometime in the 1970's. Doug was "born" blind, meaning he was a preemie baby and back then (1950) they put preemies into an incubator with too much oxygen and the result for these kids were cognitive issues and permanent blindness. Doug's love of sports was evident at an early age when he would listen to the Yankee games on his transitor radio and as he grew my dad had a small basketball "court" poured outside our suburban home's garage and Doug would be out there all day and almost year-round shooting baskets. I was much younger and just remember the pounding against the backboard all day...until I noticed it was quiet and would go out and help him find the ball which had invariably rolled down into the backyard. Doug is now 70 and has been living in Chelsea (NYC) for nearly 50 years as he held a job working for the state listening to tapes and transcribing them.  I have been sketching from this photo and a few of the studies are shown here.