Spring By The Sea
Happy first week of Spring,
Every day since January, I’ve been painting from a sandy bluff overlooking the sea.
I’ve spent the top of this year deeply rooted at Camera Obscura Art Lab, as Artist-in-Residence with the City of Santa Monica, working in a glass-filled mid-century studio with floor-to-ceiling windows that lets in this ethereal, buttery light from the ocean. As I write this, waves crash below, beachgoers dot the shore, and the surface of the water keeps shifting in the sun. It’s a surreal, once-in-a-lifetime place to be working.
And yet, while I’ve been quietly cocooned here, the world has felt anything but steady. Last month, I lost my father after battling early onset dementia. I’m grateful he is no longer in pain, and grateful to have this space as mental reprieve. Meanwhile, my one other studio mate, fellow resident artist Sara Hassan Khani is from Iran, where her family still lives; she too has been creating while holding worry for loved ones far away. In different ways, both of us have been working inside this coastal sanctuary while moving through grief, uncertainty, and the feeling that everything is shifting at once.
I’ve been immersed in a mix of projects, including painting dyes and pigments directly onto silk - something I had wanted to explore for years. I’ve been mixing dyes, painting and watching the material soak, move and breathe as if it has a life of its own.
Each morning I light incense and begin again. Repetition is ritual. A little prayer. These small acts of devotion have carried me through the past months, a way of staying present when the world feels fractured.
Below are a few images from my time so far in the studio.
If you’re in Los Angeles, we’ll be hosting open studios this Saturday, March 28th, 3-6 PM PT; I would love for you to come on by and see this view!
Mixing Japanese ink dyes for silk dying
Seeing how the photographic textiles sit beside the painted silk works on my drying racks.
I’m always drawn to layering, letting translucent fabric, image, and color overlap until the pieces begin to merge into one environment. Especially in this space, the light and shadows play become part of the piece.