
For "New Snake and Tree," I chose a 24" x 30" canvas that was waiting in the basement. It's plastic wrapper coated with dust, that canvas had been around a while.
Looking at the more recently purchased smaller canvasses sitting there, I suddenly had this feeling of claustrophobia. This is a larger painting.
Two years ago, when I had to put a few things into my Explorer, say good-bye to my house and home, and head north, I suffered some sort of artistic trauma. I became obsessed with "small." Everything had to fit into a plastic box that I could quickly grab, throw into the back of the car, and take elsewhere.
I obsessively check the National Hurricane Center website to indications of any tropical cyclones. This year we learned that not all hurricanes give us days of warning. Humberto went from depression to hurricane in 16 hours before slamming into Beaumont, just a few miles away.
But it is now October 14 with nothing on the horizon but cooler weather and water. Two seasons have passed and I am relaxing about things. Something has told my psyche that it is again okay to paint big.