Summer-mode means art
Summer is a time of expansion—not in a domineering way—but in a way that opens our borders and allows more to come in… enlarging our perspective.
It’s a little like a compost pile (which I painted in Unison pastels, below): the heat increases organisms’ metabolic rate, and they get super-busy doing what they have evolved to do, which is reach out to bio-matter around them, break it down and cycle it forward. This benefits the plants around it (like the rhubarb in the image), and the rhubarb feeds us, and we, in turn, feed the compost with anything we can!

In making art, this up-cycling can take different forms for different people. For some, it means learning a new skill, or maybe breaking from an engrained way of painting to try something else. This creates new modalities, and new inspiration.
Of course, every cycling system has its time of repose, but it is not this day (to quote King Theoden in LOTR)! Take time this summer season to expand a bit: call a friend and go sketching, support a young artist, or dig into a new project. Renew yourself!














