This is my first blog post for 2024, and it’s been quite a year.
Honestly, I have been trying to keep up with my art practice while having some very personal challenges. As a woman and artist who lives with chronic pain, I am (still) learning the art of listening to my body, while trying to sustain my little art business, and hold on to the joy that making art gives me. There is something to be said for balance, and making things as sustainable as possible. Working in the garden, on the cooler days, has helped me, as well. My 30 sunflowers planted from seeds I collected, are growing to lovely heights. What a beautiful sight, against our summer skies!
We have also had a very unexpected loss in the family this past summer, and while it has shaken me to the core, I am navigating through grief and all that goes with it, and I am also letting myself delve into the calm and peace that making art provides, when I have the energy for it. Again, the need for balance and the art of going gently seems to be what I am holding onto these days.
Let me show you what I have been working on the last month and a half.
I had a shipment of small 5 x 7 inch canvas panels, and that was a perfect size for me…it goes back to where I was about 10 years ago, creating small colorful portraits. For these new paintings, I really had no agenda, no expectations, I just needed to put paint to canvas, basically for the therapeutic effects of it. Eventually I ended up with eight petite portraits in a series I am calling “Sentimental Portraits”. They are all titled for Nat King Cole songs.
Why Nat King Cole songs? Because I have inherited a lot of my parents old records, and CDs, and listening to these old songs really transports me back to my childhood. And I have been in quite a sentimental/nostalgic mood lately.
Here are my eight new portraits.
Top row from top left, I’ll Always Remember You (on hold), The Very Thought of You (available), For Sentimental Reasons (available). Middle row from left, Unforgettable (available), Somewhere Along The Way (available), As Sweet As You Are (sold). Bottom row from left, There Goes My Heart (sold), Let There Be Love (available).
Aren’t they adorable? I love each and every one of them! And while these new ones are now in the shop, you will also find a BIG sale on my colorful abstracts, now through August 31st.
Well, I am working on some new ideas, and I can’t wait to share. In the meantime, I hope you are well and enjoying your summer. Stay safe and creative. ❤️
