Another interesting day in the studio. Since the dahlia painting was still wet from yesterday, I took it off the easel and put back the magnolia that I last worked on in March. That was when I overpainted it with thick impasto to cover up the irregularity in the canvas weave that had become more prominent each time I painted. Now that it is fully dry, I need to bring back the original composition. Now, I’m also rethinking the color palette I want to work with on this piece. It was a very angry red in the corners, and I’ve toned that down, but I imagine I might even go with a completely different color scheme.

In the garden today on this nice warm spring day, I had 4 yards of mulch delivered. The driver reminded me that he’d delivered it last year, after I’d had the deer fence put in. When he arrived, he couldn’t fit the truck into the garden since the fencing company hadn’t specified the gates to be wide enough for a pickup truck. I told him that after his problem with the delivery last year, I had the fence company install a second gate so I could get the mulch delivered in the garden and not on the road as they had to last year. He did a great job and was able to place it exactly where I wanted it now that the double gates are wide enough for his truck. Two successes today, one in the studio and one in the garden.

These daily studio notes lead toward my 2026 solo exhibitions in New York City and  Poughkeepsie, NY.