One a day

“ There is a crack in everything ,

That's how the light gets in “

- Leonard Cohen

I picked up a paintbrush for the first time in many years at the beginning of 2022, two years after leaving a long and bad marriage.

I had painted in oil and acrylic perhaps three times in the previous thirty years, and also dabbled with digital (some of which I may include in a section at a later time), but had never painted in watercolor or gouche before.

This new creative avenue was opened at the serendipitous direction of a friend named Jodi, who gave me a blank sketch book and some vague directive that I promptly forgot.

Fearing the worst, I though I'd better put SOMETHING in it, so I did some crude scratchings.

One of these evolved into a somewhat tragi-comic cartoon featuring an artist who has shot himself in the head because nobody understands his vision. His vision came courtesy of a crack in his glasses that he miraculously never noticed. All his art faithfully replicated this flaw.

I'm sure it's an idea that's been done before, but it was innovative for me as it was my first use of watercolor, albeit watercolor pencils.

(See- unavailable art/collection three/vision thing)

That set me on the path to painting again. In a sense the crack in the lens let in some much needed light.

I really began painting in earnest October 6th 2022 when I started my Instagram account with the goal of posting one piece a day for a year. Although I gave up that goal two months short of a year (to build this website), at least 90% of the paintings here were painted in those 10 months.

It was bittersweet to give up on a goal I know I could have achieved, but the prospect of putting this together was too exciting to delay.