New works

Untitled/ in progress - oil on canvas, 36" x 38" b

After graduating with my Master's at the beginning of August, I decided to take a few weeks and just breathe.  It was really a long haul, so much more than I realized, and getting adjusted to life after school took a little time.  I had to be able to adjust to not having constant research deadlines hanging over my head, and planning everything in my life around that.  It was like a phantom pain for a few weeks -- I would wake up and for a moment feel a sting of panic -- did I miss my deadline? Then I would slowly relax and think, "Nope."  A sigh of relief!

I started working on this new painting.  It is as of yet untitled.  I am still working in the genre of Imaginative realism.  This painting is also a self-portrait of sorts.  It symbolizes my inner self, and the struggles I have dealt with in this life, with pain and tragedy, loss, regret, and the strength to overcome.

I was not in my studio these last few weeks at Wagon Works, because it was just so dang hot.  I can't do that kind of heat, where I'm sitting at the easel, and I feel like I'm in a sauna.  I love my studio there but there are few drawbacks, and one is that there are no proper heating or ventilation systems, as the building is being restored, so in the intense heat or cold, it's just not manageable.  So, I worked in my home studio, even though that's not much better, because my A/C, as expensive as it was, is a hunk of junk.  Infuriating to waste money like that -- but there it is.  I'll have to buy ANOTHER system next spring, again.

I'm looking forward to the cooler weather -- the fall, and pumpkins (NOT pumpkin "spice" haha- though I do enjoy pumpkin pie), crisp weather and colorful trees.  Wearing sweaters and boots, and smelling the morning air tinged with mystery and damp leaves.  My schedule is starting to calm down a bit, and for that, I'm thankful too.

Then, in November, comes Egypt.  I go to Egypt, not Egypt coming to me ;-) .  I'm looking forward to exploring Egypt and its wonders -- the Pyramids, Luxor, Valley of the Kings, Hurghada and the Red Sea...taking a felucca down the Nile.  All in time to mark the half-century I've wandered this earth -- sometimes with a purpose, sometimes like a leaf on the stream -- but, by God's grace -- still blessed to be around.

Cheers!