10/30/2025
These three paintings came together at the end of the summer. I was riding high off of a solid summer of swimming in some of the best spots in northern Wisonsin and Minnesota. I lingered in cool, clear lakes in Ely, floated in Lake Superior, cliff jumped with the teenager and his buddies, found a rope swing that dropped you into magical tree canopy covered lagoons, did long swims in Lake Superior, the Chippewa Flowage, Square Lake, and had dreamy pool dates with my 12-year-old siren at the neighboring community pool. The work I showed last spring was all about being alone in and with the water, but as summer came to a close, I was drawn to the community built around water. I saw teenagers testing their limits, I noticed the groups of women in their sunhats floating and laughing, I watched a group of 10-year-olds who create an elaborate improv game where they found increasingly creative ways to pretend to push each other into the pool, and on and on and on. And as I’ve been showing you this work at our neighborhood art crawl and at open studio events at The Toolbox Collective, you all have been sharing your versions of these stories, and it’s about all my heart can take knowing that you all see yourselves in these images. This work is new, but your willingness to share what you see and feel and remember when you stand in front of these paintings tells me I’m headed in the right direction. It tells me where to lean in and what to focus on. Thank you! Now it’s time to get back to work.
