Keyhole Swamp, 2014 – Michaela Harlow – Pastel on Coldpress, Deckle-Edge Paper, 20″ x 16″

Somedays —especially when exploring lowlands after heavy rains— my hikes are somewhat more akin to wading. When I am mindful of the wetness, I prepare by pulling on my mud boots. Unfortunately, I tend to have a more spontaneous personality. I’ve been known to wander around snow-drifts in slippers, just to catch the right light with my camera. At this time of year, there are times when I’m driving back from Gill in the early morning hours, still gussied up with pretty boots from the night before. I really shouldn’t own such things, but I do, and I disrespect them for my art. I spot a turquoise swamp, shimmering in light, and off I go into the muck. Perhaps it’s time to stick an extra pair of waders in the car.

In addition to this nonsense, there’s all sorts of news to report . . .Bits and pieces of things going on when not painting. I’ve been spending more time in the Boston area lately, and this will continue as I am joining a new gallery on Harrison Avenue, in the heart of Boston’s SoWa Arts District. I’m pretty excited to be seeing more of my artist friends in eastern Massachusetts, and showing my work in a nearby, urban area. I’ll be posting more information about this in the coming weeks and months.

 Giving a finger-tip brush to the surface before beginning today, after fixative has dried overnight. And while on the subject of Boston art, that glorious chunk of poppy jasper on my hand is the ‘To Autumn Ring’, created by Boston artist & fellow Keats enthusiast, Kerin Scales. 

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