I don’t think it’s a coincidence that all my artwork lately has been landscapes. In my dreams I pack for a trip night after night, but the dream always ends there. I think I may have mentioned in passing that Boston hasn’t been the easiest place to live for the past three and a half weeks.
But look at these places. Don’t you want to go explore them? I draw with my finger on my computer’s touch screen. I love the oil paint setting of the paint program. It looks so real, like real, thick paint spread by real brushes. It’s such a visceral experience, moving my fingers across the screen. I usually “paint” pretty quickly, in broad strokes at first and then maybe a few small details at the end. My arm gets tired quickly. Real painters must build up muscles after a while.
But it’s such a right-brained experience, to just draw, quickly, without thinking too much about what I’m drawing. Then I can sit back and take in the picture, and notice things about it I didn’t do intentionally. The calm orange and active blue and white in the first picture (going against the nature of the colors); the quiet cove in the second; the winding path in the third.

And all landscapes. The long view, pulled out, not a person or a tree in sight. Sky, ocean, mountains. I look at my own drawings and want to know the story set in them. Who travels to these lands, and what does she find there? I’ve been trying to write stories, too. Maybe they will begin in these drawings. Stay tuned.