Dear Colorful You,

The focus in both my Art Journaling and Drawing at the Museum classes this month has been color: Mixing primaries into secondaries to make our own color wheels; figuring out how to “paint” with colored pencils; creating luscious browns and grays by accident or on purpose, and so on. 😻🫶🏽🎨

In my own studio, although I generally feel like a “circles and spirals kind of gal”, these days I can’t seem to get enough rectangles. My explorations are about two things: layering colors until I absolutely LOVE them, and working the edges.

For your visual pleasure today I give you COLOR.

What Are These About?

My first “color box painting” started as a way to use what was left on students’ palettes after a workshop I’d hosted. Now that I’m on my fourth one, I’m curious: Do they represent ways I compartmentalize my life? Or show how things are connected even when they seem disparate? Prove that everything does eventually fit together?

I suppose I don’t really need an explanation. Maybe aiming to bring beauty to each space I enter, whether with my words, my attitude, or my paintbrush, is enough. And tending to the liminal, transitional places is worthwhile in itself: appreciating the abruptness, complexity, or nuance when one color shifts into another on the canvas, as when one stage of life merges into the next.

Questions For You

It also prompts these questions: What mundane objects, habits, or relationships in your life could be made more gorgeous by giving them the gift of your attention? And which of your edges — your endings + new beginnings , or maybe the outer reaches of your comfort zone — require care?

Feeling both square and edgy,
Pam

P.S. I’ve started working on a book/workbook about transitions. Really it’s about the opportunities for self-knowledge and healing that times of transition open up for us. I’m mentioning it here because saying it out loud to people helps hold me accountable for actually doing it. 🤓⚡️📝 To that end I’ve also assembled a small group of volunteer readers who are receiving bits of my writing every other Monday for the next few months, and offering their feedback. If this feels like something you would love to be a part of, email me and I’ll include you in the next round!