February 2024

“Saying Yes”

I sent you a little Valentine 💌

This is the first modified Print Club mailing: A chatty letter written in transit is coming to you, along with a greeting card reproduction of a favorite little abstract painting, called “Saying Yes.” I mailed these puppies with stamps and I felt like I had just crossed a threshold as I left them on the post office countertop. It is the first time I don’t have tracking to be sure they get into your hands. It is the first time in 37 months that I haven’t sent you a print. Change is a VIBE, isn’t it? I’m saying yes to change and all its discomfort this month. Saying yes to making room for more.

I think this is probably my best love note greeting card. Saying yes, committing to someone over and over, I think that’s real love. So it is the perfect card for this month.

Here is a little background on, “Saying Yes.”

Back in 2019 I began playing with Arches Oil Paper- a beautiful heavy paper coated specifically for oil paint. I taped a bunch of it on my studio walls and when my brushes were loaded with paint from working on big canvases, I would turn to the wall and paint a mark or two on the paper. Managing color relationships and compositional decisions was transfixing. The little works became as compelling as my larger and long-planned pieces. Each little abstract brushstroke painting raised dozens of questions for me. Why did it make me feel that way? What is it saying?

Five years later, I still work this way and I can see these little abstracts continuing to transform my process. I honor my brush strokes differently. I continue to make larger abstract works though I find them scary. I play with color fields and motion and composition differently in all my work. The evolution has been a stretch, and often uncomfortable. It was unexpected and wonderful too. The uneasiness and playfulness that come from working this way tell me that it is a direction to continue pursuing.

I’m curious about your unexpected evolutions… Also simply hoping you get a little joy out of getting a big, bright red envelope in your February mail.

xoxo

-Liz