The unofficial title of this piece is “Just Starting Out”. It was one of the first pieces I made for the SkyLine series in October 2014. When I had went out on my image-scouting session for this work earlier in the summer, the sun was setting just as the kids went to bed. I remember tucking them in and dashing out the door, cameras in hand. This type of leaving is still novel to me… the not being there at home when the kids are asleep. It’s a new part of the drama when I experience the sunset and sunrise; after nearly 7 years of mothering I realize just how many I’ve not fully seen, willingly trading them for lullabies and dreamy, waking snuggles, or catching just snippets around the distractions of dinner-making and hand-holding. Yet immersing myself in the exactness of the start and end of a day is a powerful set of experiences for which my soul hungers.
This is when the return to painting has allowed/required a return to my larger self. This painting will always serve as a reminder of when I was... just starting out... on that return to the painter-, day-watching parts of who I am.