I’ve always thought of my “Tangle” series (see “Recent” page) to be a “side hustle.” Working on them is too fun and I fling myself into these all-over compositions with abandon. Yet, I’ve wanted to do more observational painting lately. And surely “real” painting is more serious than mark-making! The big question front and center is: how can I keep that playful, loose mark-making as an important part of my other painting efforts?

This was on my mind when I tackled what was up next on my easel: “Wade in the Water.” I was stumped by the wonderful ways in which water swirls and ripples. Even if I could slavishly render that gorgeousness, I wasn’t sure the attempt would be elevated beyond an academic study. Idly rifling through sheets of various studies for IDK what, I came upon one of my ink tangles that had not made it past a draft stage. But there it was – something I had originally “seen” with fish, and it had a lot of watery sensibility.

Looking closely, I noticed a torso emerging from the tangles and other body parts then joined it. In true “tangle” fashion, no judgment was made about what a body “should” look like, and layers of thin acrylic paint began to build up this shape on top of the ink. Years of life drawing classes should appropriately, I decided, give way to a voice and gesture that is informed, but not dictated by, observation. The figure emerged. Edits happened. When I started down the road of “fixing” the painting, which is always a red flag for me, I stopped. Maybe it is done. Maybe it is mostly done. But for sure, here it is. A side hustle that stepped into a new hustle.