It’s All About the Dream

Today’s drawing of Mary Magdalene. She looks a lot like my previous drawing in the last post, but it’s a new one.

Lately, a long weekend means for me a long time to work on my art. I’m using every minute to be in my studio and paint or work on projects. I have too many projects, but usually I just work on what I am inspired to do at the time. This time, it was the oil painting of Mary Magdalene that I started last week and that was already dry enough to continue painting. It’s almost finished now and I believe it needs just one more sitting.

Here is a picture of the state of my studio this past Saturday, taken by my friend Suh, who came by to help me mount the little abstract watercolors (seen on the floor) on the wall of my living room. The painting of Mary Magdalene is on the table easel. It has no red, only Earth colors like terracotta and yellow ochre, and a deep dark blue sky. It is much more finished now and I look forward to sharing it when I complete it next week.

Photo @suh_artstudio

Mary Magdalene sometimes becomes a sort of Earth goddess, a being connected to the earth and to nature. We are, after all, one, made of the same elements, all from the same source. I miss the earth, living in a big city, so I paint images of connection with nature.

This is the original drawing that inspired the painting, from the beginning of this year, in the first sketchbook.

Now that fall is here, rain is here, cold is here… I feel myself longing for the warmth and the earth that I never get to touch. I think of my little house in Puerto Rico, and imagine what it would feel like to be there, just painting all day, taking breaks, being outside in the air after the daily rain. I think of driving to the sea, and feeling the warm Caribbean water and the hot sand in my feet. I think of the colors of dawn when I look out the window. I wonder if a part of me has always remained there and calls me back.

My casita

For now, I have my sun-filled studio, my intense day job and its subtle impact on the lives of children and families, and a lot of people I love. I do love New York, I just wish I could be two persons and be in both places at once. But that is only for saints. For us humans, it’s all about the dream.