to be free

I found it along a worn path in my yard, this perfect bird nest. No broken eggs nearby let me hope that this nest was no longer needed and the chicks had flown to their own lives in trees nearby.

But the nest! The nest!  I carefully picked it up and brought it to the studio, where I could study it.

I sat it on a satin cloth and pulled my lamp over to light it. It was beautifully crafted from small sticks, moss, grass, feathers, and white dog hairs. Every piece of its construction was fitted together with the others in such a way that its form did not shake or shift as I moved it.

There are times when the hurry-scurry of life wraps me in a cloak of I'm-too-busy-to-stop-and-see. It seems that this cloak becomes a strait jacket of ever increasing immobility and distance from what touches my soul.

And then, I found the nest. Such a small object, and yet it touches me so deeply, I am left gasping for breath. The strait jacket falls away. And I am back. Trying, in my own way, to be free.

Leonard Cohen "Bird On the Wire."

at first sight

At First Sight, 22 x 22, acrylic on paper

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,

while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

Lao Tzu

Leonard Cohen "Dance Me to the End of Love."

that's how the light gets in

acylic on canvas, 28 x 22

During the course of a great workshop, I am so busy and electric with new ideas and wild energy, I do not stop and really take in what I have done. It makes the post-workshop days feel luxuriously lazy and contemplative.

I just completed "Painting the Figure," a five day workshop with Bill Park. Into the studio, I unloaded my trunk full of art stuff and hundreds of drawings and spread out my 15 paintings. I am excited by what I see. A new notch up in my understanding of the figure and a freer approach to painting.

acylic on BFK, 30 x 22

I enjoy the complexity of the paintings and the layers of exploration and play. I even like the drips! The painting (above) was an exercise in messing up a piece by painting gestures over the top of the subject.

acrylic on canvas, 28 x 22

As I look around at the work I just finished, I feel a sense of new light on a darkly shrouded subject.

Leonard Cohen "Anthem."