The move into the new studio is nearly complete.  It’s all I might have hoped for as a place to work on the art.  The north light is exceptional and much to be desired.  Friends tell me I was lucky to find this space and I agree.  The view of the old County Courthouse and its clock tower among big old trees is inspiring in a way quite different from any other view I’ve had.

And yet.  And yet.  It’s taking time to get back into the groove again.  I haven’t painted a thing for more than almost three months and that’s a long dry spell for me.  I feel as if I’m getting reacquainted with my art just as I’m getting reacquainted with old friends in this place I once lived.  None of us – not me, not them, not my paintings- is the same as when we last saw each other.  I’ve been talking to people about the art, considering possibilities to show it, inquiring and looking for opportunities.  The other side of the business.

But it’s not painting.

Paintings I did in the unforgiving Mexican sun look harsh and unfinished here in the softer Oregon light.  Work I thought looked good doesn’t look as good.  My older work looks stronger and more complete now, as if that odd sabbatical in Mexico affected my art in some of the same ways it affected me – disruption, incongruence, loss of self.

I’ve started something new, and after a hesitant beginning I find myself back in the swing.  My tools feel solid in my hand again, the colors are what I seek.  The work speaks to me again in a language I understand.  In Mexico, I always felt I was “reaching” for the content of the paintings.  Here, as before, the paintings let me know what they want to be.  And color, that animal that wags its own tail, the animal I love so much, is right there with me in the new space calling, singing, growling, whispering, wagging that thick luxurious tail, letting me know what to do next.

It will take a little more time to feel fully settled, a little more time for the Oregon rain to wash my palette and my soul clean again. But it will happen.  And in the meantime, I have a studio.  A home for the art.  With a lovely view and the best light ever.

I’m grateful beyond words.

The new space becoming a studio…

The view from the big windows…