Grace in Repetition

There’s a kindness in repetition—an affection, even. It’s a form of devotion. I feel that devotion in the objects I choose to paint more than once. I’m compelled by the form of the skull and what it represents enough to keep showing up, to draw yet another one today.

Suddenly a space opens up, something different—a contrast. When I’m willing to stay steady with an object, coming back to it again and again, that’s how the next door opens. In this painting, the difference was stretching my arm out, exploring the color blue. And here is the grace: the delight in what’s new and unfamiliar, in exquisite contrast with what I know.