Above: Soft Landing, 2025, acrylic on canvas, 24" x 30" (60.96 x 91.44 cm)

Soft Landing is the latest painting I've made this year and was completed in March. It's the second painting this year where soft, warm have been prominent. I tend to not like repeating myself from painting to painting, but I couldn't seem to help myself with this one coming on the heels of the earlier (and currently untitled) piece I made back in January. Besides size, the main difference is an inversion of the background and form colors. 

The form in this one was originally blue. I thought I might leave it in that state, but the color rendered the form too flat and uninteresting. Flatness can be incredibly interesting and moving, but it all depends on how it's utilized. I didn't utilize it well, so after letting the painting sit for a week or so, I thought that jumping back in with layering a warmer, lighter hue on top of the blue would do the trick. 

It did, thankfully. I'm also thankful that I didn't reject the solution I came up with. I can have a tendency to overrule myself when it comes to painting solutions that feel too "easy". This is an ongoing struggle of mine where if a move seems too unchallenging to me, I'll consider more radical options just to show myself that the more of a visual problem I make it, the better it is (a delusion that causes more problems than not).

I have to remind myself that it's ok to have colors next to or layered on top of one another that are pleasing in the most basic way. It doesn't always take away from the power of a piece if there's more harmony than not. Not everything has to be disjointed in some way in order for it to be strong or challenging. 

••••••

The waves of life have roared up and down recently. I had a great time with Julia as we celebrated her birthday week in Holbox (ho-bosh), Mexico recently. It was our third time there and first time during the spring. Temperatures were great with it not being in the upper 90s all of the time. The highest it got was about 88 F. 

I took a small amount of drawing materials with me, but didn't do any art and didn't even take any of my stuff out of my luggage. I read a lot and took photos, that's it. I haven't been inspired to do much while away and that's ok. I find myself more in tune with contemplation, absorption and just "being" when I travel. 

The downward wave came this past weekend when I had to say goodbye to Cooper, the fourth of my five cats that have been with me since 2008. Cooper was a big, black and white goofball whose big personality seemed like a mix of dog and cat. It's hard to explain, but he was that. He was old, having made it to 17, but also had feline hyperthyroidism which took its toll. 

If anyone reading this followed my Instagram from 2015-2022 or so, you might have seen a bunch of photos on my feed over the years that featured Cooper, along with Sydney, Sage, Parsley and Banjo as regulars in my then home studio. Only Sage survives now and thankfully, she's doing great. 

Another high is coming, thankfully, as I'm one of a large group of artists that will be featured in the group exhibition, "The ArtShow", curated by Craig Stover, host of ArtShow with Craig Stover on YouTube, a show that features 30 minute interviews with artists from Philadelphia and beyond. Details about "The ArtShow" can be found here: The ArtShow art show.