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Simon's music, Lois Dodd, and mini paintings
Life has been busy and I haven’t had much time to paint. Between starting a new job and the change of seasons, I’ve been feeling mixed up.
When I get like this and I want to sneak away, I like to put on Simon’s music.
It has a way of centering me again. I think of all the little moments I’ve seen him steal away to make time for the thing that makes him happy. Working on songs before dinner, or only for an hour on the weekends. His music is so thoughtful, it’s like a transport for my brain when I’m in a funk. I’m grateful to have Simon’s music, and I hope you like it too. Do you have someone that fills that hole when you’re having a hard time?
During this busy time, one thing Simon and I have been doing is taking 40 minutes after dinner to work on our separate projects. Having that dedicated time everyday has been really helpful for my arty brain to decompress. I finished these three mini paintings that are now listed in the shop:
On The Great Women Artists Podcast, I listened to this sweet interview with my all time favorite painter, Lois Dodd (now 98 years old!). I’ll quote art critic Lucy Lippard who said Dodd’s paintings are “like small poems composed with deceptively simple words”. Her work reminds me to not get finicky. I love how direct she is with her brush, her quiet compositions, her minimal palette.
I came across the video below where Dodd is talking about the environment she paints. It’s nice to be reminded that you don’t need to travel far to find a subject. As a New York painter during the Abstract Expressionist period in the 1950’s, Dodd kinda went her own way, and stayed that path. She was painting from nature even then, when most of her peers were painting non-representationally.
See more of Lois Dodd’s paintings at the Alexandre Gallery. Or, see if your library has this amazing book of her work.
If you’re interested in what was going on with Abstract Expressionism in New York in the 1950’s, and the trailblazing women involved, I highly recommend Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel.
That’s all for now! Hang in there and have a good weekend!
Sara
Xoxoxooxo