The Studio
Painted here, from life.
Sloop at Anchor
I paint in watercolor because it refuses to be fully controlled. The water decides as much as I do, the way weather decides a day here in Rockport, and my work is to be present enough to notice what it decides.
Painting outdoors is my practice of attention. Before the first wash I sit with the scene long enough to actually meet it: the light, the wind, the sound the harbor is making, my own breath. Most of these paintings began that way, on a folding stool with paper taped to a board, staying with one hour of weather while it changed.
I work on heavyweight cotton papers that let pigment settle into the grain, and I leave the blooms and backruns where they land. Those accidents are the honest record of water moving. Sanding them out would be like editing the weather.
“The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
The studio practice
Every session begins the same way: tea, a few slow breaths, clean water in two jars. Watercolor is a meditation with consequences. The medium punishes hurry and rewards presence, and a wash laid down with a settled mind looks different from one laid down while thinking about dinner. I cannot explain that, but I can show you, and every painting in this gallery is the evidence.
The teachers I lean on are not all painters. Thich Nhat Hanh's small books sit on the studio shelf next to the pigments, and his reminders about presence are the closest thing I have to a method. Watching a wet wash decide what it will become is, as far as I can tell, the same practice as watching a feeling arrive and pass.
“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
Where to find the work in person
A rotating set of paintings hangs locally through the year: seasonal markets, the summer open-studio weekend, and a wall at the café in town that has been kind to painters for a decade. If you would like to see a piece before it finds a home, write to the studio and I will tell you where it is hanging.
“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
Collecting a piece
Every original is sold once, framed simply, and shipped flat from my Etsy shop. If a painting on this site has caught you and will not let go, that is the one. The shop is here, and I am always glad to answer questions about a specific piece first.