Have started a new piece today that I'm excited about. 30 x 40 so it's a pretty big one. I hope this painting lives up to it's promising start. Sometimes by the end, I kill the excitement in the effort to get it right. Probably a great little metaphor for life there .

People have questioned me about painting blocks. This summer there have been a few spells of them for me. Usually I avoid the studio for few days and then start to feel very weird so I get back in there and try to paint. Even if I just go in and underpaint a canvas or organize my storage or go through my reference, I find it helpful to get me started again.

I'm going through a period of extreme discontentment with my work right now. Not a comfortable place to be but it happens. If the latest painting works it will help but I think I need to go back to learning. Read a little more, maybe take a workshop.

Am reading Richard Schmid's book right now- his old one called "Everything I know About Painting". I find it funny that he has since written a new book. Anyway, it's a great book and very inspiring. He is such a genius painter that one might feel like just hanging up the brushes but he is definitely worth checking out f you don't know him. Reading about his process is interesting for me because it is so different than mine.