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We Swim Amid Particles
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We Swim Amid Particles
oil on Yupo
12 x 19.5 inches
This item is unmounted and unframed
(click on the image to purchase)
And meanwhile,
up here,
we swim amid particles
we cannot perceive
folded into dimensions
we cannot imagine
to tell stories about
what is real and
what is possible,
and what it means to be.
- MARIA POPOVA
And just like that, we're here at the end of a year.
A year of telling stories and of trying to figure out what it means to be.
It is tempting to count the blog posts, the paintings, the canvases shipped and the ones remaining, the comments, the followers, the reposts and shares. It is tempting to tease out what the counts actually mean, what stories they tell.
And yet.
That is the way I used to be (data-driven and quantified) and I cannot now be entirely that anymore.
Instead, I pause and notice what I am thinking now, how I am feeling, whether I am energized or exhausted, inspired or depleted, engaged or withdrawn. How does it feel at the end of a year? All the information I need is right there.
And yet.
That is the way I used to be (data-driven and quantified) and I cannot now be entirely that anymore.
Instead, I pause and notice what I am thinking now, how I am feeling, whether I am energized or exhausted, inspired or depleted, engaged or withdrawn. How does it feel at the end of a year? All the information I need is right there.
It is more difficult for me to check in than to measure. More challenging to probe and question than to analyze. But there is gold in them thar hills, and I am excited to go looking for it. I put one foot in the river and smile. Despite the whole world seeming to run amok with madness and mayhem, what is real, what is possible here in this very moment is good. Very, very good.
I am curious - do you have end of year practices in your world?
I am curious - do you have end of year practices in your world?
A little animated malarkey for your enjoyment!
About the art: another dive into the Sea of Shenanigans in the SS Malarkey, this time with Rocky the Crow. Rocky insisted on a fancier boat than the others, with a full crew below deck. Beginning with a piece of gesso'd Yupo, I drew the figure and boat loosely with a brush. Working from the outside-in to refine the figure and begin to tease out an abstracted sky and sea by using washes of light, neutral colors. A long drying time. Then building layers on crow and boat, taking time to develop the darks and lights. Wet into wet, then a drying time and wet onto dry. More layers for the background colors and then the background and sea darks - layer after layer until the drama appeared. More drying, then a layer of varnish to protect the paint and to make all the darks pop even more. Ta-da! One happy corvid on his tiny fancy boat.
And now it's time to continue the Question Exchange with the inspirational artist and writer Dotty Seiter! First up, my second question for Dotty and her answer in poetry form.
2. now that you’re there, how do you usually begin, and is just beginning sometimes enough?
=====soup and salad
gotta say, i never tire of watching
my friend who writes
poems and makes art.
here she is in soup-and-salad mode
in her creative space, no recipe i can see,
no mise en place.
she just grabs whatever might
serve her rough "plan" and begins
with a turn of phrase,
then maybe a simile. if she can't
recall a word she wants,
well, too bad, she uses a different one,
keeps tasting and adding to
the soup pot
as she creates;
anything goes.
same with the salad bowl,
she tosses in a bit of linework, a
brushstroke of color, making
occasional slight adjustments, and
mostly plays like a child
on a playgound, running
with giddy freedom from
one thing to the next.
if something barely begun
tastes great, she calls it done.
if bright flavors and
pleasing combos build happily, but
she runs short of time or ingredients,
no worries—she puts everything
under refrigeration, returns
later, resumes tossing and tasting.
leaves me breathless, i tell you,
leaves me hankering
for the main course.
—dotty seiter
=====soup and salad
gotta say, i never tire of watching
my friend who writes
poems and makes art.
here she is in soup-and-salad mode
in her creative space, no recipe i can see,
no mise en place.
she just grabs whatever might
serve her rough "plan" and begins
with a turn of phrase,
then maybe a simile. if she can't
recall a word she wants,
well, too bad, she uses a different one,
keeps tasting and adding to
the soup pot
as she creates;
anything goes.
same with the salad bowl,
she tosses in a bit of linework, a
brushstroke of color, making
occasional slight adjustments, and
mostly plays like a child
on a playgound, running
with giddy freedom from
one thing to the next.
if something barely begun
tastes great, she calls it done.
if bright flavors and
pleasing combos build happily, but
she runs short of time or ingredients,
no worries—she puts everything
under refrigeration, returns
later, resumes tossing and tasting.
leaves me breathless, i tell you,
leaves me hankering
for the main course.
—dotty seiter
Get to know Dotty, her art, her dazzling writing and her rhythmic creativity at dottyseiter.com
Dotty's second question for me, and my answer in art (with words to further elucidate).
2. What are the general rhythms of your day—what does the weave of art (all of it, the whole business) look like in the big picture of any given day?
A cloud of thoughts and feelings.
A canvas; each day shaped with limitations, this many hours, this list of “must do’s”, a loose idea of “want to’s”.
Here are the tools I have (energy, inspiration, motivation, skill).
An underpainting of movement, nourishment, rest, love.
Broad strokes of outline; refined, covered over, re-applied, embraced or abandoned.
A pause, a step back, a review. What more? What less?
COLOR! LINE! TEXTURE! VALUE! Precision, abstraction, frivolity, somberness.
A nap.
Rest, reflect, look and savor.
Begin again.
A cloud of thoughts and feelings.
A canvas; each day shaped with limitations, this many hours, this list of “must do’s”, a loose idea of “want to’s”.
Here are the tools I have (energy, inspiration, motivation, skill).
An underpainting of movement, nourishment, rest, love.
Broad strokes of outline; refined, covered over, re-applied, embraced or abandoned.
A pause, a step back, a review. What more? What less?
COLOR! LINE! TEXTURE! VALUE! Precision, abstraction, frivolity, somberness.
A nap.
Rest, reflect, look and savor.
Begin again.
Thank you to everyone who followed this blog along its journey in 2025! Your comments, emails, texts, messages and letters are a source of joy and wonderment to me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Leave a comment to be automatically entered to win the final Reader Giveaway of 2025! Someone will win a Question Exchange of their own, in the format they prefer, to be revealed in 2026. Ready? Set? GO!
Leave a comment to be automatically entered to win the final Reader Giveaway of 2025! Someone will win a Question Exchange of their own, in the format they prefer, to be revealed in 2026. Ready? Set? GO!
my
gosh.
Rocky is the consummate corvid! Perfection, Lola!
***
I celebrate your end-of-year curiosity, probing, and questions, your checking in, your goin' for the gold in them thar hills.
My orientation of late is that every day is the end of one year, every day the beginning of another year.
***
Way fun to see part two of our Question Exchange!!!
Thank you for enjoying Rocky. :) And thank you so much for the wild fun this Question Exchange is provoking! Hooray! xo
My end of year yardstick is think about my family and friends. Are we all well? Does someone need a check in. Then artistically. I’ll look at my paintings and sketchbooks compared to years past. It’s not a pride thing. I’m just looking for growth a glimpse at the arc of the journey.
And looking for artistic growth? Oh YES! Right there with you on that! At your prolific rate of production, the growth is in LEAPS instead of inches. You are simply amazing! xo
Love all your "crows"! He is certainly "in charge". Don't mess with me!
Wishing you many 'gold hills" !
And thanks for the "gold hills" wishes and for enjoying this commanding crow! xoxox