June 2023

I just returned from an unforgettable trip celebrating my parents’ 50th anniversary in Italy, and being reunited with my 8 siblings. My brain feels rewired. It was also a break from parenting, and a break from running around, and trying to make ends meet. The trip slowed my mind. I’ve been home a week now, and I’m still benefiting from the mental pace, even as I get back into the swing of my studio work and the kids’ routines. One task then the next. One foot in front of the other.

This month I’m sending you 2 prints:

I made you a print of the piece that my mother commissioned to celebrate the anniversary. It was a surprise for my dad. She is hanging it in the dining room. It is a painting based on a photograph of my parents in that first year of marriage. I think the painting is suited for the cover of a good novel. I titled it Grand Adventure.

I am also sharing a print of an abstract that I made at the same time. This piece is called Slow Jams (because I painted it to Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston tunes that reminded me of junior high slow dances). I wanted to share both pieces because I am painting both realistically and abstractly in this moment.

I found it wild and wonderful to hold these very different pieces together as I begin to merge the styles in my new work ahead. I thought you might like that too.

For your treat, I brought you home a postcard from Naples.

I really hope you have at least one adventure this summer, whether it be big or very local. I just wish you a little mental space, a little time to take it slow and take it all in.

-Liz