20-04-28 Granite Outcrop on North Quarry Pond Oil on Panel 9 x 12 inches

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Corona Journal Entry - CEO’s planning for Post Corona restart, when possible – say they will proceed cautiously with trial and error. Learn as they go. There can be no return to the past. We will be inventing the new normal. Gut sense – it’s going to take longer with more false starts and tough setbacks than we would all hope for. ….. After work I loaded up my 45 lb backpack easel and paints and climbed over a promising ridge line, down to a quiet pond with a gorgeous outcropping of granite at the water’s edge. Mostly covered in a light blue-greenish lichen. Got all the way there and realized how low the light is deep in that ravine. It was bright above and behind me and just shooting through the tops of the trees on the far side. I could have gone for a peaceful easy scene of the trees reflecting in the water or chased the color works in the sky. It was moving fast though. Instead I sucked it up and went after the unique challenge - the granite. Knew it was impossible. Got a smidge more life out of it than I expected. But decided it wasn’t worth a panel (I’m running low). Back in the studio I started scraping. I knew I could go back and eventually make sense of it. Right moment of light. Enough time. Trial. Error. Rethink.. Take a different angle. But wait. As I started scraping I thought, “just try reworking it!” Rethink it NOW. Make the best of what you have already got right here in the studio instead of hoping for the better moment or the (never coming) bolt of insight. This, is where I ended up. Never done that before. I only work from natural light in actual setting. Maybe not new normal as being out in nature is my great joy. But I removed a rule from my head. Replaced it with discovery.