I’m still working small — for me, that means anything under 12×12 — which is perfectly fine. But my head is crowded with quarter- and half-sheet paintings I want to get out. (Quarter = 11×15. Half = 22×15.)
To do that, I need a few larger brushes and some bigger sheets of masonite to tape paintings down on — partly so I can keep those clean white borders, and partly so I can move pieces aside easily while they dry. I also need to clear out my workspace a bit.
Right now it feels a little like trying to cook in a messy kitchen: the things you want to make can’t quite happen because you need a new hand mixer, there’s no clear counter space, and all the dishes are piled in the sink.
It’s not lost on me that I’m trying to create literal room for this Breathing Room collection to grow.
1. Listen to the Slow — 10×10
The first piece is 10×10, built through layered washes of rose, ochre, gold, and deep umber. It feels atmospheric and quietly grounded. To me, it invites interpretation, offering space for rest rather than resolution.
That’s a big shift from the sharper-edged, more literal work I’ve made in the past.
2. Salt Air — 8×8
The second piece gives me big salt-air energy. It’s 8×8 on handcrafted paper, full of turquoise sky, dune grasses, and mineral greens. It reminds me of those days at the coast when sea and sky blur into one continuous breath.
These two definitely belong under the collection name *Breathing Room.*
3. Estuary — 7×7
The third piece is a slight departure, and I’m not sure yet whether it fits the collection — but I like it. After finishing *Salt Air,* I found myself looking at aerial photos of river deltas and estuaries, and this is what arrived on the paper.
You can probably tell I’m still leaning hard into my favorite greens and golds.
In the painting world, artists can be oddly divided about the color green. I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe because the natural world contains so much of it? You’ll hear painters talk about avoiding green altogether, or inventing elaborate ways around using it too heavily.
That may be exactly why I love it so much.
I have an absurd number of greens, and honestly, I want more. This week I got so deep in my feelings about greens that I sat down and swatched all my Kuretake watercolors, liquid acrylics, and India inks — just the greens.
It’s a lot, right?
And it was such a pleasure. Like eating Krispy Kreme donuts hot off the line.
I think I’ll be perfectly happy painting greens for a long while yet. I love golds and browns nearly as much — though I tend to stick to the same three browns over and over, and still somehow have strong opinions about them. Those colors belong together in nature, and I suppose I’m content to let them belong together in my work, too.
New quarter and half sheets coming soon.
* Local pickup/show pricing listed above. Shipping available separately. Several of these will also be available at this summer’s home show unless sold beforehand.
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