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You blog readers know I firmly believe in deep authenticity. Artists are usually counseled to find their single schtick, and do that one thing over and over. And while I don’t believe in scattering your fire, and do believe in being clear at what you are aiming for– to me, exploring widely in the realm of painting is still only one realm. It is not like I’m trying to remodel old cars, be an astronaut, while running for public office, and simultaneously having triplets.

I love both of these new paintings, and both are deeply authentic for me. When people see these wide differences in my art, they act like I’m still casting about to determine what my true voice is. I already feel like I’ve found it; I’m just giving it room to exercise and express itself! Both of these paintings are true for me. I’ll explore more of both these types, along with everything between. (Not to mention spirituality, poetry, and photography, which to me are still in that same realm of reflecting on and amplifying creation.)

And why not specialize in only one medium, they ask. Well, for the same reason I don’t want steamed broccoli every day. When I’ve made a healthy circuit of all sorts of other kinds of vegetables, creatively fixed, I’m happy to get back to broccoli once in a while. But I especially like tomatoes and butternut squash, so similarly, you’ll find I come back to pastel and acrylics more than other mediums, even though I enjoy oils, printmaking, collage, and ceramics too, for example. Pastels and acrylics are especially delicious and full of possibilities, but very different in texture and result, making me return to them, alternately, again and again. Also, every vegetable you ever make informs the preparations of others, which helps you a be better cook than if you only ever cooked with broccoli.

Both of these paintings are 9″x12″.

The painting above is called Dusk on the Bay of St. Lawrence, and is done in pastel. On our trip to Newfoundland last summer, we enjoyed this type of view quite often. When I see vistas like this, I have one of two reactions. Either I experience an intense, remote silence, where you can hear the beating of your heart, or I feel some internal swell of grand orchestral music of portentous import sweeping over me. You can buy the original of that painting here. If you’d rather get some merchandise with it on it, you can do that here.

The painting below is titled You are Here, and is done in acrylic. We find our way by an internal GPS, mapping our existence. Where are we anyway? That’s what this painting is about: You are here. Click this link to buy the original, and if you’d rather have some merchandise with this image on it, click here.

I encourage you too to be all that rings true for you and not to accept the limitations of a world that is invested in keeping you small. Please be all you were meant to be, and know you are not alone in bucking a system that says it rewards narrowness. I’m over here saying no to that too, and how freeing and wonderful that is. I recommend it!

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