Yes, I’ve expanded my workspace…in a manner of speaking. Due to extenuating circumstances, I had begun to find it difficult to utilize my former studio space to its fullest, so I had to make some changes. In my case, it was an easy fix, especially since my recent work has morphed into both smaller dimensions and a less cumbersome medium, that of watercolor. Which came first - the new direction or the workspace? Doesn’t really matter. The fact is we all adapt and roll with the punches in life, and this was no different. My living space has a solid table right next to a view of the back woods and bird feeders. So here I toil now, comfortable and but a few steps from my bed and coffeemaker. I can stop for a nap…or a caffeine fix. And, when the time is right, my old, more “remote” studio sits right below me, ready to welcome me back.

Because of this move, at least partly, my output has increased and pushed into new territory. Yes, watercolor began as a girlfriend visited on the side surreptitiously, but as these affairs sometimes do, she’s moved right in and, for the moment, stolen my heart. She allows me to lose control, see things differently and express myself in new exciting ways. Oh, I’ll go back to the oils eventually (the smell of turpentine still lingers), but for now, I’ll continue to wade into the water with abandon.

I’ve just updated my webpage if you want to take a look at the recent work. Still evolving, but there’s been some level of success, I think.

Over the years, I’ve kept a journal of some sort to capture all the ephemera the ADD mind can generate. I mentioned my earlier notebooks in an earlier post. Add to that piles of sketchbooks, napkin drawings, photographs and such and the pile gets higher and higher. So, when my son and his girlfriend gifted me the book shown above, it was right in my wheelhouse. Add to that my connection to the venerable old port of New Bedford, MA and, well…

This is a rabbit hole of a book. 300 rich pages of records, formal and informal, famous and pedestrian, written and drawn. Each spread is fascinating in it’s own right, imparting stories that would have been lost, had a bored sailor not felt compelled to make it real in his own way. Some of the drawings are scientific and some are quite crude, but all are compelling and wonderful. Edited by Huw Lewis-Jones (didn’t he front a band back in the day?), I highly recommend it.

On another note, the most recent Smithsonian magazine featured an article on a new Roman mosaic floor discovered in the Middle East. I’d tell you exactly where, but I “filed” the magazine somewhere unknown to me now, and that doesn’t matter anyway. What really struck me was the contemporary feel to the imagery. Perhaps it is the amazing condition it was in, or the pixelated effect of the small colorful tiles, but I felt like I was looking at stylized illustrations for a modern logo mark. Beautiful!!