Yesterday started with a bad dream—the kind that clings. I woke up sad, heavy, and I was convinced that I didn’t have it in me to paint.
I went into the studio anyway.
I had several works in progress, but I couldn’t bring myself to touch them. I was afraid I would hurt them somehow—overwork them, push too hard, say the wrong thing with paint. Instead of forcing myself into something unfinished, I chose the safest option: I started something new with no expectations.
That first piece came fast. It surprised me with how quickly it emerged, and I let it be what it wanted to be. I thought that might be enough for the day.
It wasn’t.
I started another from scratch. Then, almost without planning to, I went back to three paintings that were nearly finished—pieces I’d been circling but not quite landing. Something had shifted. The hesitation was gone. I finished them.
Within a span of 4 hours, five landscapes were complete.
Five!
Five paintings in one day—born out of sadness, restraint, trust, and finally momentum.
Looking at them together, I realized they belonged to each other. They shared a mood, a rhythm, a quiet intensity. I began thinking about blues music—how it holds sorrow without collapsing under it, how it transforms heaviness into something resonant and alive.
That’s how The Blues Series came to be.
Each piece is named after a blues key:
F Major, A Major, D Minor, A Minor, E Minor.
They are all 8” x 10” oil paintings. (The major keys are on aluminum panels. The minor keys are on wood. ) They are a record of a day when I didn’t think I could paint—and did anyway. Proof that sometimes the work doesn’t need confidence or certainty. Sometimes it just needs permission.
Please contact me if you are interested in adding an original to your collection.
Update: E Minor and D Minor have sold
You can also get framed prints and other very cool merchandise here!
