Day 37 : From the Archives

The other night, I was rummaging around in my drawer full of paintings from the past several years. It was so sweet to journey back through the artwork I’d made and to have a tangible representation of the time I’ve spent exploring with paint and water on paper.

Here are a few pieces that I was especially happy to reconnect with.

I love getting lost in this first one. It feels like one of those magical evening sunset skies that only last for a couple minutes but remind me of the magic and beauty of this earth side experience.

This one reminds me of waves crashing in a dark ocean. I love the contrast in hue and tone. The bright orange reminds me of the first time I saw bioluminescence, though not this color exactly. I remember it felt like magic seeing the water sparkle and glow as we jumped into the ice-cold water of the Puget Sound late at night on my high school senior trip.

I painted this one in one of my first classes with Dave Muller on 9/10/2021 (thank you to my past self for adding that little date and note on the back!). I remember feeling so new to this medium and wanting to be so much further along in my practice than I was. I can see the hesitancy and overly controlled feeling in this painting, which frustrated me at the time, but it’s actually really special to be able to look back at this and see how much freer I’ve become through continued practice. Of course, I still overwork paintings, and get fussy about things, and make marks I don’t love, but each time I meet the page, I know a little more about myself and a little more about the materials and I feel a little more connected to myself in the process. I’m so grateful I kept coming back to it.