Gloom. Now Sun.

Close up of stitched paper birds from the above painting:

The sun is out today, leaving the gloom and gray of the last few days out of sight and out of mind. Try as I might, I can't seem to help but absorb the mood of the weather around me. This is why I moved: for more guaranteed deep, warm rays of happy sunshine. So, walking down tree lined streets of my new city today and feeling the heat and shine that was so kind as to influence a cheerful demeanor in me again, I was feeling especially creative. Add a cup of coffee from a cute neighborhood cafe into that mix, and I'm about as good as I get creatively. After exploring new neighborhood streets a little more on foot, I returned home to my little studio and have been painting most of the day thus far.

I've been feeling the need to experiment a little more with my painting style. Just for fun, not trying to be too perfect, because - after all - isn't creativity born out of play? Above is something I worked on a few weeks ago in that spirit of experimenting. It ended up being a slow process of first putting down the paint, then stitching with white thread around the shapes, then painting over the stitches, then tearing pieces of white paper into bird shapes, then stitching with white thread over the paper to reinforce it in place. I sat with the piece for a while, not sharing it, because I needed to figure out if I liked it. I still don't know if I like it. But, maybe that's not the point. Maybe the point is to keep working. Keep experimenting. Keep playing. Keep pushing forward with our work - rain or shine - while hopefully growth takes place.