Welcome to my newsletter (and 2025)!
I don’t know where my art or this newsletter will go this year, but I’m grateful to have a small bunch of people (10!) on board for the ride.
I’m also grateful for the opportunities I know God will give me to grow, in art, in life, and in my relationship with him. I pray that I don’t squander those.
This is my first painting of the year, just finished today.
Acrylic and oil pastel on 11×14” canvas panel
I’ve put a lot of pressure on myself to “become an artist”, and I want to get back some of the fun and exploration of my first year of drawing and painting. This was a good start.
Being full color
is weird in a world
that prefers beige carpeting.—Christ (rhymes with “wrist”) John Otto
I’m enjoying Christ’s writing. It’s unique, challenging, and affirming. Check out “Be weird”, which the above quote comes from.
I’ve been to see exhibitions by two of my favourite New Zealand artists, Colin McCahon and Gretchen Albrecht, recently.
I relish seeing anything by McCahon, but I particularly enjoyed seeing the “Angels and Bed” and “flight from Egypt” paintings in the flesh.
Of the Albrecht paintings, the 1970s landscape paintings with bands of colour stained into unprimed canvas were my favourite.
I only just learned yesterday that the New Zealand sculptor Paul Dibble died in December 2023. I’ve seen a number of his sculptures, and they are beautiful and unique. You can see a catalogue of his work at pauldibble.com.
I’ve long enjoyed Brian Rutenberg’s art and YouTube channel and was keen to get his book A Little Long Time, but it’s expensive and not easy to get shipped. Thankfully, Marjorie at Forum Gallery was friendly and bent over backwards to make it happen for me, so I got it (from my family 😄) for Christmas.
I’ve started walking, intentionally, to improve my health. Just 10 or 15 minutes at the moment, often right after a meal, which apparently has a number of benefits.
I was inspired by this article by School of the Unconformed. I’m also finding the (very short) Walking is Fitness podcast helpful and enjoyable. Thanks, Dave!
I’ll write more about walking in future emails. I think there will be some connections with art and faith. It’s also something I want to stay motivated with, so it helps to write to you about it.
Happy new year! 🎉