​"Fountainhead" - acrylic on mat board, 12" x 16".  Available here and at Artfinder.

I intended to show you a very large, very impressive abstract today. 

Which became not one, not two, but THREE failed paintings and a heap of gesso. And that brought to mind the wisdom of Brian Rutenberg (episode 56 of Studio Visits) "Trying too hard always shows and always sucks the big one."  ​ Yep.  It does and it did.  

I can't even show you what it was, because it is covered in black gesso now.  But Wonder Mike knows, and he is shaking his head at the thought of it. Horrible.

So what do you do when your paint day is an epic fail?  Walk away.  Eat something.  Breathe a little.  Then get back in there and try something else

This time I followed Rutenberg's advice: extreme limitation (three tools - paper towel, rubber wedge, squeegee).  A basic composition.  Then flipped upside down and completed.  Easily.  Like the first part of the day never happened.  Maybe it just took me three large paintings to loosen up?  I love the way the paint glides over mat board with the rubber wedge, leaving galaxies and planets and other worlds where nothing existed before.

I met local writer Thea Constantine this past week at Two Rivers Books in St. Johns.   She just happened to be dropping off copies of her new book, Stumptown, which I grabbed and which she graciously autographed for me.

​It is important to note that Thea has a singing cat, Chupacabra.  This sets a new standard for Wonder Mike, and also for newcomers Norbet and Peanut (arriving this week from Phoenix, along with a certain special someone), all of whom could now be expected to sing for their supper.