Megan Chapman's Studio Blog: Tuesday Studio Visit Video

Showing posts with label Tuesday Studio Visit Video. Show all posts

Friday, June 21, 2019

Old ghosts dance under the surface

The sea whispers to me
Mixed media on canvas
20x20x4cm/8x8x1.5”
2019 Megan Chapman

After the excitement of open studios and my pop up exhibition, "To tell you everything" at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall last Saturday, it felt good to return to my very tidy studio and return to the work of painting.

I am not quite ready to dive back into my dark series yet, so I returned to some smaller work. These are lighter and brighter with hidden bits. I like to think of them as "A small series about control." These pieces nod to the palette used in "Echoes and memory" but also nod to other works with a dash of the pink here and there. They are textured, layered, and minimal with a touch of play but mostly a touch of control. When I want to control things, I love nothing more than a clear path. When the path is messy and murky in painting and in life, there is nothing better to me than to white it out, blank it out, clean it up, and fix it. This is much easier to do with painting. There may be chaos under the surface but with a broad stroke of paint, it is covered and cleaned. This creates a rich play of what is seen and what is almost seen, textures of what was, as the old ghosts dance under the surface.

On the wind
Mixed media on canvas
20x20x4cm/8x8x1.5”
2019 Megan Chapman

Six of these small, 20x20x4cm (8x8x1.5") canvases were worked on until completion, documented, varnished, titled, and taken to the framer this week. All six of these pieces were chosen by Roz Walker, fellow artist, and owner of the Velvet Easel Gallery in Portobello, Edinburgh for inclusion in the next mixed show opening July 6th. It was a productive week.

If you listen (again)
Mixed media on canvas
20x20x4cm/8x8x1.5”
2019 Megan Chapman

I also had some fun with the Tuesday Studio Video Visit, singing to the pieces and giving viewers a good up-close look at the work.

Where my soul roams
Mixed media on canvas
20x20x4cm/8x8x1.5”
2019 Megan Chapman

The flowers I bring
Mixed media on canvas
20x20x4cm/8x8x1.5”
2019 Megan Chapman

Small gestures
Mixed media on canvas
20x20x4cm/8x8x1.5”
2019 Megan Chapman

Until next week, keep fighting - the world needs you and the light you bring.

Friday, April 19, 2019

Set my soul on fire : Bikes for Refugees

Okay, Let's do this! Let's put some bikes on the road for refugees here in Scotland! I am very excited to use my art in this way. This sort of thing sets my soul on fire.
Learn more about the charity: http://bikesforrefugees.scot/ Here are the paintings:

Friday, April 12, 2019

Live with art!

A dear friend and patron, Barbara Jaquish shared this photo of her cat, Reuben Roscoe, relaxing in front of one of my paintings (from 2004-2006?). I asked if I could share this with you because this photo captures my ethos of living with art. Art lives and breathes with you and your cat. It moves with you from room to room, marking the years and memories and gives new life to space. It rides in cars, it gets dusty, it gets mishandled, it gets loved, it fades, it gets messy, just like life. Live with art, it's so much more than just a pretty picture.

Right now, my focus is on this brilliant charity, Bikes for Refugees Scotland, that provides free bikes and all the gear needed to refugees in Edinburgh and Glasgow. I’ll be sharing more as my fundraising efforts for this charity go live. I spoke at length in my Tuesday Studio Video Visit this week about the great work they are doing. Please check it out if you missed it (see below).

Until next week, every day we paint is a victory (especially when we can use our work to help others)!

Friday, April 5, 2019

We need you here

In the window!!

Dancing Light Gallery sent me this photo of my painting, "This is where I wait for you" hanging in their window. Lovely! It's always a joy to see one's art in the window, hell anywhere in a gallery is nice, but the window feels extra special. I feel very honoured to have four of my pieces showing in Dancing Light at the same time I have work in The Velvet Easel. I hope they both have success, these are both women-owned and run establishments and they do a brilliant job! Support them!

Inspired, I started working back into some paper works I had put on hold. I have an idea about this series, I'd like to use it for a fundraising effort. We will see what happens...

Until next week, keep making and doing. Keep feeling and fighting. We need you here.

Friday, January 18, 2019

Small works and a visit from the past

This week has been spent in the studio mostly laying the foundations for nine small works. You know I like to alternate between large and small as I build a series. Currently, we have five larger works on the go as well. The studio is warming up, slowly but surely, from the holiday break.

I am continuing to "refill the well" by watching art documentaries again this week (you can see the ones I watched last week, here). So far, these are this week's selections.

Anselm Keifer- Remembering the Future. Brilliant documentary. I love Keifer and have had the thrill to stand before his great work but knowing more about the man, his process, and to see his studio spaces really brings it all home.

Marina Abramovic - The Artist Is Present, I admire Abramovic and understand her work much more after having seen this tender and moving documentary.

Picasso's Last Stand. A fascinating look at the artist at the end of his career.

Robert Rauschenberg - Pop Art Pioneer. I've been a fan of Rauschenberg for ages and this was a lovely way to spend some time with the artist and his work. His sense of humour and life force is contagious.

Again, all of these are currently available on YouTube. Is there an art documentary you think I need to watch or one that has recently inspired you? Leave it in the comments for me. Thanks! I remember in art school, my mentor Ron Graff would tell us to just spend time in our studios, reading, looking at art, flipping through magazines- whatever- that time spent in the studio was good, so if you are feeling stuck, why not watch a documentary in your studio space, whether it's the kitchen table or a spare bedroom, think about art in there while you are not making it and watch what happens.

I have also started mentoring a couple of artists this past week. It has been wonderful to share in their work, their struggles, and to hear of their brilliant ways of seeing the world through their art. I am grateful to be able to do this work. I am still working on my mentoring website, so stay tuned, but if you think you want to work with me send me an email or leave me a comment to learn more. I look forward to hearing from you!

This week for the Tuesday Studio Video Visit, I did something a little different. This week, I filmed myself reading one of my first Studio Blog posts from 2007. It was an emotional experience for me to read my words as I let it sink in just how much has changed in my life and art. Here it is again in case you missed it. You can always find these videos each week on my Facebook Art Page.

I think that's all I have for you this week. Every day we paint is a victory but we also have to take the time to keep learning and growing. We have to see the beauty and feel the sun on our faces and spend time in nature. We have to take care of our hearts and minds.

With gratitude from my heart to yours, thanks for reading.

Friday, November 30, 2018

Open Studios!

Tomorrow is the day! Open Studios! My studio G23 (along with many others) will be open from 11-5pm at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall located at 36 Dalmeny Street in Leith, Edinburgh.

The Arts Market will be on in the main hall with many brilliant makers selling their creations as well, so there will be plenty for folks to see, enjoy, and purchase.

As you know, I made some special small works for the event (five of which have already sold!). I will also have many other smaller paintings ranging in price from £20-55 and as well as several under £200. My larger gallery works will also be on display. There will be something for almost every taste (if you like abstract art) and budget. Just a reminder that I happily offer payment plans for my larger pieces. I will have my credit/debit card reader on hand as well to make your art buying experience more convenient (i.e. I won't have change).

More than anything, I am looking forward to having my studio open to the public. I love the energy of the event and meeting folks and discussing the work. I really hope to see you there.

All that I am

Mixed media on canvas

80x80cm

Sold

Here's a replay of my Tuesday Studio Video Visit. My phone had a mind of its own and cut me off but you get the idea. I was overjoyed to share that a large and favourite painting of mine (see above) had sold.

I guess that about wraps it up for this week. If you are local to Edinburgh, I do hope you will make it by the Open Studios. You can also find my work in Portobello, Edinburgh at The Velvet Easel Gallery and back in my old stomping grounds of Fayetteville, Arkansas at The Fenix Gallery.

Thanks to all my patrons that have purchased and supported my work reccently and in years past. You keep me working by supporting my vision and that means the world to me. Thank you. Until next week, keep fighting! Keep supporting artists and keep supporting each other.

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Do you enjoy my blog, my video visits, the paintings I share, or the other content that I provide for free across social media? Consider buying me a cup of coffee in support of my work. I am a member of Ko-fi.com, A friendly way for creators to get paid! Thank you!

Friday, November 2, 2018

The nights are fair drawing in

Far away

40x40x4cm

Mixed media on canvas

£550

Available through The Velvet Easel

Autumn is here. The clocks went back last weekend and now it gets dark around 4:45. I am drinking big pots of tea and wearing jumpers. I managed to not only pack and ship more pieces that were sold during my studio sale online but I also worked on a few drawings and a painting!

Here's a recap in the form of the Tuesday Studio Video Visit.

Just reminder, tomorrow, Saturday the 3rd of November is the opening of the "5 Years" exhibition at the Velvet Easel Gallery in Portobello, Edinburgh. I am honoured to have four pieces as part of the latest mixed exhibition. Come on out and celebrate the past 5 years of the gallery! Here's what the gallery has to say about it all.

The Velvet Easel Gallery would like to extend a warm invitation to our new mixed exhibition, Five Years, which celebrates the gallery’s 5th birthday as well as introducing our exciting, newly refurbished gallery space!

The exhibition will feature a myriad of new and exciting artists as well as work by those already popular in the gallery. Drinks and birthday cake will be served throughout the opening day on Saturday 3rd November.

Five Years... will run from Saturday 3rd November to Sunday 3rd March 2019 and the gallery opening hours are:
Thursday - Saturday 10 - 5
Sunday 12 -5

298 Portobello High Street,
Edinburgh, EH15 2AS

It feels great to be getting back to my routine and art life after the stressors of moving. Thanks again to everyone who has supported me through their purchases this year. I can't do this without you.

Until next week, keep fighting and I will be back with more proper painting news and work in progress from the studio soon.

If you are in America, please VOTE! Take someone to the polls, ask your friends and family if they are voting and get on out there! If you are complacent someone who isn't will fill your shoes in the voting booth. Don't give up your power. Thank you.

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Friday, September 7, 2018

Between memory and story

Let's see, I don't feel like I have much to say or maybe I have a lot to say but I don't know how to say it. Or I have a lot to say but this isn't the forum. Who knows. All I know is that it is Friday and I am here writing because it's what I do.

Let's start with the basics. I worked in the studio some this week but not quite as much as I would have liked. I might make up for this over the weekend.

You can see what I have been up to on the Tuesday Studio Video Visit recap.

I started fine tuning the canvases that I had been working on as an experiment for a potential commission that I shared in progress last week.

Here are two that are heading into a more finished phase but are not quite done. The other two have a ways to go yet. The colours feel fresh and bright with the pure yellow and dash of coral. We will see what happens next.

In other news, we are still stressed while looking for a new flat to rent (we have about 6 weeks before we have to be out of this one). My studio rent went up £20 a month and another gallery in Edinburgh contacted me to pick up all my work.

However, I know we will find a place to live because we just have to. My studio rent went up but I believe it now includes high-speed internet in my studio (just what I need, right?) and the gallery gave me back all my work but now I am able to present even more of my latest body of work at my solo pop-up exhibition, Between Memory and Story on September 21st from 7-9pm for the Maggie's Culture Crawl at the Out of the Blue Drill Hall.

I am incredibly honoured and excited to be taking part in this special event happening across twelve cities in the UK that aim to provide a year's worth of culture in one night all while raising funds and supporting people with cancer.

I have nothing to complain or worry about. I have had better weeks or months but I have also had worse. You bet I hit the yoga mat this week and the meditation cushion too. I reached out to friends and I felt my feelings. Every day I do that is a victory. I hope you were victorious too.

Until next week, let's keep fighting.

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Friday, December 29, 2017

Passing through in stillness

I am writing this studio blog on a Saturday morning since I am on holiday in Arkansas and the days have gotten away from me. I will backdate it for yesterday for consistency. I am sitting in the extraordinary Fayetteville Public library in the locally owned Arsaga's cafe located in the foyer.

I am listening to Brambles and their album Charcoal on my headphones. I have a soy chai latte by my side. I have just said goodbye to my brother Sean and his family after enjoying a lovely vegan breakfast scramble at a new place (new to me - there are so many places here in my old hometown that are new places to me). Stewart is upstairs in the library reading comics.

I am alone and everything is empty and quiet around me and there is a large Christmas tree made out of books surrounded by red poinsettias. I have sat at this table with my computer before when I lived here but I don't live here now. I am a visitor. I have dreamed of being a visitor from this seat when I lived here before. It is a grey overcast day, and the skeleton trees reach out into the mist and a lone pine stands tall and comes into view. A few people trickle into the library.

This is a studio art blog but I am not writing about art. This week, I am using my studio blog to find peace and a moment of reflection. This is not my standard place or view but I know it well. This library is my sanctuary and a place of pause and rest. I am exhausted and on the brink of tears but here in this library I feel space and hope. This has always been a safe space for me, with all the amenities one could need. I am grateful.

I am grateful to be able to sit here alone, safe and warm surrounded by books, music, film, art. This beautiful space filled with dreams and aspirations, a place that offers more of a level playing field than we often find in American society. Libraries are key to a civilized society.

I return to myself. I sink into the orange chair, my fingers find the soft flat keys of my computer as the spices of my Chai feel peppery in my throat.

Just as I relax for a moment, I realize this is usually when I post my annual year-end wrap-up. As, a kindness to myself, I vow to write that post another day, perhaps next week. A friend and collector stop by my cafe table, radiant with her beautiful new baby, we share a moment of smiles and chat. This is a lovely town, it is a different town than I grew up in now, but still full of good hearts and sharp minds.

I think about other ways I can write about art or culture or this town, but again as a courtesy to myself, I am just going to write about this experience of sitting here as it unfolds.

The music ebbs and flows, the atmospheric dark string and piano arrangements punctuate the scene as more people enter the cafe and the town continues to wake up and make their Saturday plans. I am just passing through, in stillness.

******* art moment *******
If you missed it on my Facebook art page you can see my Tuesday Studio Video Visit again here. I visited the Chancellor Hotel and the Fenix exhibition here in Fayetteville which will be on display until January 9th.

Happy new year wishes for all. Thank you all for reading my blog, sharing and supporting my work. Until next week and next year, keep fighting! The world needs you and your work!

Friday, December 22, 2017

I am of the dirt, cedar, and pine.

Greetings from Arkansas! These next few blog posts might be a bit different from my usual Studio Blog. I hope you will enjoy them.

We arrived late Sunday night, all flights were smooth and on time. Like a vacation in the sky, I enjoyed the films on the first and longest flight, especially Brillo Box (3¢ OFF), the story of one family and their prized Andy Warhol Brillo Box. It's a story about the importance of growing up with art and how it moves through a family, their memories, and then into the greater art world.

On our first day here, we helped to take down Glow, Float, Drone, a sound and light exhibition by artist and dear friend, Craig Colorusso. It was so great to see his work again. It felt like the best way to signal that I was home. We really enjoyed swinging as the drone sounds played against the grey sky as we propelled ourselves higher. I was returned to childhood in an instant.

Later we came out to my parent's place in Winslow, Arkansas population 300. It's a beautiful rural spot on top of a hill that frequently wakes covered in fog. The skeleton trees of winter show that we are surrounded by various ridges and valleys. It feels good to have all this space and fresh air. There have been highway walks, rambles around the land and gathering of seed pods, lichen-covered sticks, ivy and tall grasses. Many photos have been taken.

The Tuesday Studio Video Visit was filmed at my parent's house this week. I did a partial tour of their art collection. They have art in every room of the house and always have as long as I can remember. The art has shaped and inspired my life. If you missed it on my Facebook art page you can see it again here.

And that's all I have for you this week. The tree is up and decorated with decades of family-made treasures, the rest of the family is headed our way soon and after a warm week, there is a dusting of snow on the ground. Time for a cup of tea and a wander.

I am of the dirt, cedar, and pine. I am of the wild wind of Arkansas.

Until next week, Happy holidays to you and yours. Keep fighting, making, doing, and seeing. The world needs you and your art.

Friday, December 15, 2017

Shift

This week was better than last and it was a relief. I was able to paint two pieces that I was pleased with and that seemed to connect with viewers.

This is always a good feeling. Suddenly I see possibility before me again and have a sense of freedom. The work I hold back is the work that is wanted. It is time for me release these things again. I know this release comes and goes in stages. These two pieces are the result of this shift.

Gestural and strong, guttural and decisive, that is what the future holds. It was good to come back from being so stuck and frustrated and have these be the last two paintings of the year. I talk about the shift in this week's Tuesday Studio Video Visit. If you missed it on Facebook, here it is again.

Don't forget it you are in and around Edinburgh, I currently have two paintings at The &Gallery at 17 Dundas Street. The group exhibition, Connection is on until December 23rd, so please don't miss it! I also have paintings at the Velvet Easel Gallery in Portobello until February 25th as part of the Winters Edge exhibition. Back stateside, I have pieces on show in the Fenix Group Exhibition at the Chancellor Hotel in Fayetteville, Arkansas until January 9th.

Speaking of Fayetteville, I will be heading back to my hometown this Sunday for several weeks to spend time with my family and friends for the holidays. I plan to keep up my Tuesday Studio Video Visits as well as my Studio blog with a hometown spin. I hope you will enjoy the change of scenery, I know I am looking forward to it!

Until next week, take care and keep fighting. The world needs you and your art.

Friday, December 8, 2017

Coming down

The opening for Connection was last Saturday, December 2 from 2-4pm at the &Gallery at 17 Dundas Street. It is a lovely exhibition, filled with many heavy hitting pieces of abstraction. I was, of course, delighted to have my work included. The exhibition will remain up until December 23rd so if you are local to Edinburgh or passing through please check it out. If you are not local to the area and want to enjoy the works and artists included in the exhibition you can see it on the gallery's website.

This week in the studio was a washout and there was just no getting around that. It happens. My Tuesday Studio Video Visit alluded to my frustration. It was quite freeing to share how I was feeling and I heard from many artists currently feeling the same way. It always helps to hear that we are not alone and that we are often more similar than we are different. You can catch my video again here if you missed it on Facebook. Thanks to everyone that shared their own burnout and frustration stories with me. It all helps.

Until next week, keep fighting

Friday, November 10, 2017

Connection

New exhibition news!

I am delighted that there has been a flurry of exhibition activity of late. Delighted is really too twee of a word for it. I have been ecstatic! The past three years here in Edinburgh have kicked my arse. Any of my closest friends would tell you this much. So, if you don't already, please consider yourself close. There is so much more to moving across the world and starting one's life over than I ever dreamed. I am glad I don't always have the best grasp of the seriousness of what I am trying to do in this world or I probably wouldn't do anything.

I woke up this morning thinking of my recent good fortune and how hard I have worked for this return to normalcy here in another country. The return of energy spent trading out and creating new paintings for multiple galleries is not something that just picked up where it left off in the states. This a bigger city than where I am from; this a cultural capital of Europe. I arrived pretty much unknown on these shores, but things seem to be looking up. I am grateful.

With that said, I am thrilled to be part of the upcoming December group exhibition, Connection at &Gallery on Dundas street in Edinburgh. I have long admired the aesthetic of &Gallery and their impressive stable of artists, to be included is an honour. Dundas street in the New Town is known for its high caliber galleries in Edinburgh. This is a big moment for me. If you are in the area, please make plans to attend the opening, Saturday, December 2nd from 2-4pm. These are the two paintings I will have in the exhibition.

Currently, my work is on exhibition through the 25th of November at Union Gallery in the West End and through February 25th at the Velvet Easel in Portobello. In hometown exhibition news, The Fenix Collective group show just opened last night in Fayetteville, Arkansas at The Chancellor Hotel and will be up until January 9th. I am so pleased to be able to grow these Scottish connections while I keep nurturing the ones back home as well. Thanks to everyone that takes a chance on my work and provides these wonderful opportunities.

If you missed it, here's a timely Tuesday Studio Video Visit. I talk about my perverse joy in finding hair and other gunk stuck to famous artists paintings while battling the same issues with my own work. Strangely, also this week, an article came out about a grasshopper found in a VanGogh. I've always said I'm a little bit psychic (and a little bit rock n roll).

Throw a website update into the mix, and that's all I have for you. Until next week, keep starting over, taking risks, and getting your arse kicked. Keep fighting and enjoy these beautiful moments. The world needs you, and your art.

Friday, November 3, 2017

I want to tell you everything

I think I spent most of this week recovering from the past two. Thanks to everyone who came out to the Welcome to the Jungle preview last Saturday evening at Union Gallery. It's a lovely show, for a great cause, and if you are local to the area I hope you will pay it a visit. The show remains up through the 25th November. You can see a gallery of photos from the preview over on facebook. Click here.

This week, I delighted to be able to share a digital copy of an article that came out about my work in Sogo Magazine about this time last year. The author Brian McFie and publisher Craig Wallace of the brilliant Glasgow arts publication graciously gave me permission to share it on social media and I was so glad to be able to share it with folks further afield who might not have access to the publication. I would, of course, encourage folks to subscribe if they are able. Print journals are a very important addition to the art world and they can't do it alone. If you missed it, you can find the article by clicking here.

Continuing on the theme of the article, I talked about it further on my Tuesday Studio Visit Video over on my Facebook art page as well as talking about the value of titles of art to engage views with a language they can understand and the importance of art being accessible for everyone. If you missed it the first time, you can see it again here.

This week, I also returned to the studio for a large spot of painting, laying the groundwork for this large piece. Here is the underpainting for a 120x100cm canvas. I am loving the size. I am just getting started so we will see where the piece is again by next week.

Just a quick reminder, pop by The Velvet Easel Gallery in Portobello for their latest mixed exhibition, Winters Edge. This exciting exhibition opens tomorrow, Saturday, November 4th and runs through 25th of February.

There will be drinks and nibbles and artists popping in throughout Saturday from 10-5. I plan to stop by. I always find new art I love at the Velvet Easel and I am so pleased to have my work there.

Winters Edge
4.11.17 - 25.2.18
The Velvet Easel Gallery
298 Portobello High Street
Portobello, Edinburgh EH15 2AS
Thursday - Saturday: 10.00 - 5.00pm
Sunday 12-5pm

Thanks for reading and clicking on links, looking at my paintings and for sharing this story with me. Until next week, keep fighting. The world needs you and your art.

Friday, October 20, 2017

Talk about the passion

This week flew by in a blink but even with the pace, I think it was a rather lovely time. Autumn is definitely upon us and I am feeling like making a nest and preparing for darker days.

We had a lovely friend arrive on Wednesday morning for an overnight stay. It was wonderful to see our city through her eyes, as we showed her as much as we could in a short time. I feel exhausted yet also refreshed.

In preparation for her visit we tore the flat apart and gave it a good cleaning. We also decided to rearrange our art collection, frame some pieces that had been in storage, and generally give the flat a new feeling and look. It's amazing what one will do when guests are coming. I am so happy we rose to the occasion! The space feels good.

I am very passionate about making art but I am also a passionate collector when I am able. My Tuesday Studio Video Visit was about the aspect of being an artist and supporting art as well. I talk about not letting the idea about what is "Art" inhibit your collecting as well as overcoming other fears or obstacles that might get in your way. If you missed it on my facebook art page you can see it here.

In other exciting news, I will be participating in several upcoming group exhibitions here in Edinburgh and back home in the states. I happily have a lot of work on my plate. I will, of course, tell you all about it when the time comes. Thank you for reading my blog, watching my videos, and supporting my work as an artist. Thank you to all the artists out there making such gorgeous and searching work.

Now, I think it's time for sleeping. Until next week, keep fighting, keep reaching out, and keep connecting. The world needs you.

Friday, October 13, 2017

Money, art, and more onion hospital days

It's grey and overcast and the cobbles are wet. I have a cup of coffee and I am listening to this beautiful album to conjure up a mood. My headphones are on and a pad of paper is next to me with a pen. On the paper are social media stats and in my mind are the beginnings of yet another idea to bring my art to more people and also bring some money into my bank. Of course, I didn't want to write the sentence including the words money or bank. Like many other artists, I wonder why can't it just be about the art? Naive, I know.

I am continually reminded of this quote and I wish I wasn't.

“When bankers get together they talk about art. When artists get together, they talk about money.” -Oscar Wilde

I try my damndest to just talk about art, pretend I don't need money, don't want things, don't worry about "security." However, I need, want, and worry like everyone else.

So we will see if the ideas come to fruition from the pad of paper sitting beside me and if I can find that balance of making art and making money.

In other news, this week's Tuesday Studio Video Visit seemed to have struck a chord with folks, as it received 1,800 views! I talked about intuition, imagination and the importance of play. If you missed it on my facebook art page you can see it again here. Thanks to everyone who viewed the video and commented on it on facebook, it feels good when we can connect this way.

You can see in the video that I worked on another canvas this week and made some "spirit bundles." I mostly took it easy as I nursed a trapezius injury which frustratingly kept me away from painting. I love getting to that point in my life where I can injure myself in my sleep.

So, that's all I have for you this week. I wish you more onion hospital days. Keep fighting. Keep playing.