This week in the studio has been a good one, the kind that reminds me why I paint in the first place.
I finished two pieces I’m genuinely proud of, and I’m still deep in a third that’s been a whole journey of its own. Sometimes it can feel really difficult to finish a piece because I’m so worried of the outcome, it can get in the way of just making the thing.
The two completed works, exhilarate 20.38.02.17.26 (an 11×14″ mixed media piece on paper) and a Valentine’s Day piece Vday 02.14.26, both pushed me in ways I didn’t expect. With each of them, there was a moment where I was convinced I had completely ruined it. Like, fully ruined it, no coming back, throw that s*** in the trash. But I kept going anyway, and honestly? I’m not mad. The end pieces surprised me in ways I didn’t expect, and felt true to what I had set out to make.
exhilarate 20.38.02.17.26 is acrylic, spray paint, and collage on paper, with a lot of teal and pink energy, bold marks, and color swatches sitting right on the surface, adding pause in a grounding yet interrupting way. It feels alive to me. The spray paint halo around the X was one of those moments that could have gone either way and somehow stuck the landing for me.
Work In Progress
Canvas Work
The red canvas piece is still in progress. I started it a couple of months ago, hit a wall, and recently decided to start over, mostly. That always feels weird to me, like I’m admitting defeat in some sort of way, but some of my best works have come from completely changing my mind. So it’s getting there.
What’s been driving all of this? Honestly, I think I’ve been craving more of the opposite of my day job. As a UX Designer, so much of my thinking is structured, purposeful, and user-centered. Painting is where I get to stop solving problems and just make things. Free, expressive, a little risky. That’s actually why I started painting eight years ago to begin with, and it’s the thing I have to keep coming back to when I feel too much in my head.
This week was a good reset. More to come!