TBT...  I enjoyed rediscovering this image today. I created it in 2017. (This is a detail of a larger work, “Are You Really Up There Mr. Moon?”)

The process of creating the tree layers was, itself, an exercise in looking deeply and not being afraid. I remember that I had started with the deep blue painted background. I just loved the patterns I had built. But it did not do what I needed in the piece—I wanted to create a dream-like landscape. So I had to do the thing that I find scary. I had to mess with an image that I liked, not knowing if I would ruin what I loved and not knowing if it it would go where I wanted. So I just kept printing and collaging. As the work evolved, it did create exactly the effect I had hoped for.

The finished piece found a home with a collector — always the best possible outcome! And, I also submitted this image to the public art project in DeLand to be digitally printed on an large utility box. It now graces a corner under the trees. I can drive by and see my artwork out in the big wide world!

The process wasn’t easy. This piece took unexpected turns. It required me to get over some inhibitions. But, in artmaking -– as in pretty much any other endeavor— that’s what made it interesting.