Midsummer’s thoughts on abstract art:

This month’s print is a reproduction of a 2019, abstract oil painting called Oyster.

As I prepared for my first solo show in 2019, I was painting as much as possible. I use a lot of paint… and cleaning brushes often meant unloading big amounts of beautiful color. Luckily, Arches, a classic French watercolor paper manufacturer, recently began making paper that is treated for direct use with oil paints- a new and wonderful invention. Instead of throwing out the paint on my dirty brushes, I made little compositions on paper taped to the wall.

The exercise became really consuming. The relationships, textures, and the feelings that these small pieces generated really surprised me. Now, I continue on a journey to better understand and make decent abstract work.

This month’s letter is about that. AND I’ve made you little, original oil painting sketches to accompany your print this month. They are all unique, matted and easy to frame in a 8 x 10” frame. I hope you enjoy seeing and feeling the real deal after all these reproductions. Scroll down to see many of the sketches mailed to subscribers.

Happy July!