Another abstraction, I`m getting a feel for Terraskin. Made from minerals, it seems the environmentally better choice than the plastic Yupo. This is on the heavy weight version but it is still fragile, especially damp. Things stay put a lot better though than with Yupo. No walking up to a completely different painting after using the bathroom. There are many acrylic layers in places and the repainting of those areas was easy. Though I bought these big 20x40 sheets for drawing, I have a feeling everyone will be used for painting. Working on paper has always been my first love. Easy to store and much less precious than a panel or stretched canvas. I let loose much quicker, and my best paintings usually are made with element of chance. Quite often after seeing something beautiful on a walk, I come into the studio and paint it disappointingly conventional. That riles me up enough to risk destruction and then the process gets really interesting.
Yesterday would have been my brother Gary`s 71 birthday. He died ten years ago of pancreatic cancer, and it was fast, two months between his diagnosis and death. My family was shattered. Premature death upends all expectations of reality.
We`ve had ten years to recover.
Gary`s wife Mary thought of it; a memorial for the family near his birthday rather than the day he died. Using some ideas from the Mexican Day of the Dead, she constructed a little shrine and we placed objects there that were his, gifts he gave us, and photos. We ate Mexican food which was his passionate favorite, some drank Black Russians, his cocktail of choice, and the brothers wore his clothes or the football jerseys of his beloved teams.
Then we told stories as we sat in Norma`s beautiful garden and the long northwestern light of summer, faded into night.
In the memories we shared, generosity, respect and loyalty were the means by which he loved us.
The night was as joyful as any I`ve ever experienced.
The loss of a husband, father, brother and son can be survived. That lost life came alive again for each of us and we were stunned with gratitude.
by Denise Levertov
She is a hero of mine and a ferocious plein air advocate. She too left the world way too soon.
Finally, if you haven`t seen this video on a death in Ireland, it is well worth watching.
Portland Open Studios Tour 2018
work for sale in my studio
Fog on the Mountain Studies. Try to stay cool.
