“I am confronted with obstacles on a daily basis, and my job is to find a way to persevere regardless.”

—Amy Pleasant, Living and Sustaining a Creative Life

“Morgan on the Dock” oil on primed paper 5.25x8 inches — *“Morgan on the Dock”* *oil on primed paper 5.25x8 inches*

Recently, my family spent a weekend visiting relatives near Ithaca, NY, including my father-in-law, aka “Grampy.” My kids got to spend a lot of quality time outdoors with their cousins, picking berries, swimming, communing with chickens, and looking for frogs by Grampy’s pond. I myself had plenty of alone-time, which I used to sketch, paint, journal, and write long letters to friends. Today’s blog post is a collection of some of the sketches and paintings I made during this visit, as well as some thoughts on my current “studio practice.”

In general, I’ve been trying really hard to focus on just keeping up the momentum of art-making, as hard as that has been lately. There is just a lot going on right now in the world, as everyone knows, and it’s pretty overwhelming. I’ve also got a lot on my plate currently just with my own small nuclear family; life is complicated. Consequently, I no longer have anything resembling my nice, predictable “Studio Practice” and the regular routines that I blogged about two years ago.

Regardless, I just “keep at it.” I make art when I can, where I can. Sometimes I get up super early and paint outdoors, sometimes I work late in the evening in my studio. Sometimes I work on a painting at my dining room table with only half my attention, while I simultaneously deal with the needs of my children and the household with the other half of my attention.

I certainly don’t paint every day. But on the other hand, I don’t give up.

I keep showing up to my easel. I keep messing around with paint.

I persevere.