settling in

Acrylic gouache on watercolor paper.

Wind-ups from Roto-Fugi.

Azalea and Kira.

Hello! We are finally home! It feels so great to be back. We had such a good time in Cincinnati and Chicago, it was hard to leave our friends and family. We stopped by Saki Silver to see our friends Liz and Sak and their daughter Kira. Azalea became her shadow for the day! We had a good time catching up and hanging out at their gorgeous home, eating lots of thai food and little tangerines. They are such nice people and as an added benefit, they make beautiful pieces! If you have a chance, check out their new shibuichi clasps, they are so pretty!

Aren't those wind-ups sweet? Roto-fugi (a Chicago based art toy shop) have a couple more in the collection but I just got these. They are from Nathan Jurevicius' line called 'Peleda'. I love them. I buy things that I wouldv'e loved to have as a kid. Having a child is a good way to play with stuff without getting queer looks.

The little painting was one of the quick pieces I made at Jeremiah's studio. Acrylic gouche is an interesting medium, it dries matte and you can add more paint without lifting the previous layers. I think this would be nice on wood or maybe on plexi to make a background for a diorama. Do people still make those? Maybe I should. Sounds like fun. Anyway, I made that piece as a test and sketch for a possible painting in egg tempera. I have a weird habit of doing loads of drawings and quick paintings of a subject until I'm happy with the color scheme and composition - sometimes they never make it to the finished piece. I also agonize over the symbolism, story and the 'bones' or history within a painting. For example, this piece features a child in the woods riding a stag, which is old symbolism, fairy tales and our deep anxiety of being left alone. But she is not alone, surrounded by creatures (possibly our instincts?) and they have their own meaning. Its facinating stuff! I think that many artists have a visual dictionary of symbols they consistently use to convey a message, which we understand without any need of text. Art is so awesome.