On the evening before a planned hike in Gainesville, Florida, I sat outside in the back yard of the Yalaha studio at the fire pit and burned some of the refuge from two large pine trees that had been cut down after Hurricane Milton damage. Larger branches were left for edging areas of the yard, but some the needles and small twigs were set ablaze. I love sitting by the fire and watching the flames flicker. I set several other blazes on previous nights because it got arctic cold out all week.
Sitting there I wondered if I could capture the dark silhouette of the building and the warm lighting from inside where I sit at the Disney Animation Desk and work. The scene reminds me of a quote from Vincent Van Gogh in a letter to his brother Theo, “A great fire burns within me, but no one stops to warm themselves at it, and passers-by only see a wisp of smoke.”
Since my virtual classes let out at 8pm, I am starting to think that I may need to start doing nocturnal paintings each night. I had some Masonite cut for a bookcase that was just reassembled and I am now planning to do paintings in oil 15 inches by 23 inches which would fit snugly in the shelves. I may need to make a custom carrying box for the paintings so they can be transported without spearing oil paint everywhere. I’ll need to get more Masonite, plexiglass, a few wood strips to keep the painting from touching the inside face f the box and some sort of hinge. I will have to draw up some schematics. I thought I had a Tupperware oil painting pallet that seals up but for the life of me I can’t find it. I will have to order a new one.
Oddly on this night after completing the sketch and going to bed, I was restless and could not sleep. So much has changed in my life the past month, and thoughts and plans keep racing in my head. I am finally settled with every box unpacked. Now I am searching for a new direction as I acclimate to life in the country. A month’s worth of design and illustration work is about to begin, which will keep me focused and distracted.