Looking ahead at 2026
If 2025 was all about working on getting my chops up, 2026 appears to be the year of trying new things. As is obvious, if you’ve looked at my portfolio, I love painting flora and fauna from the garden. That amazing way early morning sun hits flowers and foliage, or an interesting insect.
My work is moving toward other things now, and I’ve started several new pieces.
There’s a self-portrait I began in response to a portrait challenge on Bluesky. Here is my progress so far. I hope to finish it up today.
Next, I’m working on another self-portrait of sorts. It is my shadow as I stood, stunned before the beauty of morning sun hitting the wall of the Airbnb my hubby and I were visiting.
There’s this piece. I was delighted when I looked up to see my daughter’s two cats staring back at me. The graduated shadow on the steps caught my eye, as well. Snap… gotta paint this!
And here is the beginning of a small painting of a lotus flower.
And then, out of the blue, there’s this.
I hate to waste leftover paint, so I usually apply it to something. I’ve painted wooden blocks, eggshells for mosaic work, hand towels, and, of late, scraps of canvas, as in this piece, Fire Ice.
Fire Ice - 11 X 17
Working on abstracts has made its way into my repertoire as a way to be thrifty and a kind of meditative practice. It allows me to slow down my thinking and clear my head. I’ll take a brush still loaded with paint that I don’t need anymore from one piece, and apply it to another waiting canvas. It’s a nice break from the hard work of wrestling out the composition I’m trying to achieve in my more subjective work, and I like saving the matter from landfills or the watershed. After applying numerous “whatever I feel like” strokes, the colors and lines begin to relate. Ultimately, they dictate what comes next.
Looking over all the plates I have spinning in the air, I pondered to myself, “Girl, what are you doing?” But I’ve recently listened to this insightful YouTube video, Artists are Aliens, and this one, Types of Content that Attract Collectors, which nudged me toward a conclusion.
I have vivid memories since childhood of seeing something ethereal in light. The first time I recall was when I was about five years old, and I remember it ever so clearly. I was in my backyard, mesmerised. It’s hard to describe, but the phenomenon stops me in my tracks. I can hardly make myself look away. Everything else melts away, and I see nothing but what is before me. It’s healing. It’s inclusive. It’s encouraging.
And then I want to paint it, and share it. I want to bring warm and good feelings to the viewer. That is the unifying thread of my work. And don’t we need a break from all the discouragement around us here in the US?
Painting is my salvation. The light brings me light. And I am hopeful, in some small way, that I bring a little light to others. A respite from hurt. A moment of glory.
Here it is. It was a quick study, but I like that. Dashed off without too much second-guessing, repainting, or overworking. I’d say it’s been a good day.