Firewheel, egg tempera.

This egg tempera painting Firewheel, is titled after a summer blooming flower that grows in the beach dunes. It’s also known as Indian Blanket. It attracts butterflies and is salt and drought tolerant and great for a garden. You can see it in the bottom right corner of the painting.

When I first began painting, there was so much to know. In those early days before the internet, it took me years to parse out information gleaned from library books and travels to used book stores. It thrilled me to find a book written by Hawthorne or Payne.

I read and painted and visited museums to study paintings. The more I learned, the more I discovered. I realized the great painters knew the art fundamentals I was studying. As my knowledge increased, so did my discernment. A masterpiece never grows old. You can revisit it and experience glorious epiphanies.

I more understate than an overstate in my work. My titles often reference an idea rather than the actual subject. The freewheeling nature of the bird in the sun conveys the theme of Firewheel.

It will be available for next season at Hughes Gallery. I wrote about them losing their lease after 22 years in this post, Arising. But they have an exciting new venture planned, and I am looking forward to seeing my collectors again.

Meanwhile, I have been thinking of writing another book.

In 2016, I published a book of curated blog posts. The print copy sold out, but an artist friend reminded me the other day that I have a PDF version available to download here.

I intended to follow it up with subsequent years’ stories, but painting has taken the forefront for the past 6 years, pretty much 7 days a week.

Sometimes late at night when I am at my easel painting, listening to an audio book, the years roll over me. The many nights I have painted over the past forty years. In the house I built before my twins were born, and later, the home on the river in my studio by the water, while they were sleeping. Now my children are older than I was then.

Now I am entering the middle of my sixth decade. My energy ebbs, but ideas are energizing. More paintings and books are distilling. You gotta have something to look forward to in life.

Get re-enchanted with beauty, plant a flower seed, call a friend, take a mindful walk…The world needs less hatred and more hope. It needs more happiness. It’s a simple formula.

“Rules for happiness: something to do, someone to love, something to hope for.”- Immanuel Kant:.

I hope my art gives you some joy.

Here’s more on Instagram.