Morning painting is becoming one of my favourite things. I used to feel like a night owl for so many years but the light is so much better in the morning. It’s so much quieter.
This painting is based on a sketch in my notebook and uses only burnt sienna, ultramarine blue, and titanium white. Partly a meditative exercise and partly an answer to the question of how far I can push this particular colour palette. Already it is beginning to remind me of swirling, geometric smoke, which is pleasing.
I continue to paint while sitting on the floor even though I have a really great bench easel by my window. I feel less restricted down here both physically and psychologically.

I’m feeling pretty accomplished today, as I’ve got the Zorn palette exercise completed for the portraiture workshop that I’ve been doing. I’ve been putting this off for weeks because I just had no idea how long it would take. I really the way the pinks turned out.
The Zorn palette is interesting to me because it incorporates black (every teacher I’ve ever studied with said “never use black”) rather than blue. Zorn was a rebel; I like that. It is red, yellow ochre, black, white. Every colour on the board was made with these.
I got so into this that I forgot to put music on, and so I’ve been listening to the neighbors listen to music while they clean out their van (Slayer, Sabbath, Zeppelin). Must be summer, babybabybabybaby.

I’m always striving to become a better painter, but this year in particular I’ve defined one singular New Years Resolution, and I’ve stuck with it: “Work on my artistic chops”.
With this in mind I’ve taken on the sub-project of painting 100 faces.

(These are all studies in my sketchbook. As a rule I don’t draw from other people’s photos, but for the purpose of this exercise, taking 100 photos of strangers would be both impractical and creepy.)

Faces are probably my favourite subject to paint because they’re both challenging and fascinating: What makes a good likeness? Sometimes it only takes a few lines. Other times all the pieces are there but the resemblance is off.

The renderings are becoming more elaborate as I’m going along — starting off with pencil sketches, then ink washes, then full paintings, then paintings with collage elements — and so the images are emerging more slowly now. This one is number 18.

I'm putting the final touches on a couple of mixed media pieces for a show that opens next week. Stay tuned for details!

The Button Earring Production Line, aka my backyard patio. These are brand new and they're selling so well, thank you! I'm keeping them coming for you, a brand new shipment of buttons is on the way!

Remember mixed tapes?

Of course you do.

Getting one was great, but making one was almost better, right?

I received a bit of insight, this is good. Here it is: When you feel like you're losing track of that place where you're creating from the heart, that's the energy you want to bring in -- "Hey, I made this for you".

Since feeling-states are better experienced than described this might not make sense. (I did after all start off on a premise that you love mixed tapes). Maybe your hey-I-made-this for-you joy place comes from baking cookies for the neighbours.

I have a secret plan, btw, to make online mixes on 8tracks and share them here, (because it's the most mixed-tape-like forum I've seen). So now it's not a secret - I've said it, it's gonna happen! -- so you can watch out for those.