I decided while working on the painting that I wanted to go with a completely different color palette than I’d originally imagined. This happened since I wanted to make the space-inspired background, a fiery swirl of dark red emotions. This will change the whole piece since the flower colors will also change. My show at the Ceres Gallery in November will be titled, Centering in the Midst of Chaos. So, I wanted to create some chaos for the flower in order to present the contrast. At this point, I don’t know what the flower will look like by the time I reach the end and sign the painting. That’s because part of the painting is driven by me and part of it by the painting itself. Still, very much a mystery to me where it’s headed.

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