Over the past couple of days, as the country burns … with understandable anger among the oppressed, and rapturous anger among the divisive …. there’s been no painting. It’s not that I’ve been feasting on the crisis … I’ve actually tried to avoid the news …. tending to the lawn, digging in the dirt, cultivating black-eyed Susans, loofahs, and vegetables to climb all over the fence, further separating StudioKitchen from the world with a living border wall …. oddly, fantasizing about how to make the four-foot enclosure even higher. I love my little village, I really do …. there’s no reason to shut it out. I just don’t want to live in this version of my country right now. I want to make my own country: population 1 artist, 1 golden retriever, and 3 cats.
Like everybody probably, I feel the pressure of darkness around me, and I know that if I don’t get back to the studio it will take me down. Color and beauty and craft will restore me the way they always do. So I’m back to work on this little painting. Purple tulips, white poppies, and a Chinese dragon should be just the ticket. If history can be counted on, I’ll go to bed this evening thinking it’s finished … then wake up at 2:00 am to “hit it again”. If the world weren’t burning, this would be a perfect day.
