I had this almost religious experience yesterday when I had the Kansas City Zoo Aquarium all to myself for a little while...

My husband, Ryan, was running in the Kansas City Zoo Run. I was going to run too, until I realized I was the only one in the aquarium. What an unusual opportunity and massive gift from the universe it was to spend time with these creatures without the usual crowds and shrieking of children. 

sun salutations

Fleeting moments of beauty.

Refraction. Oil on panel.

Some oil works. I've been doing the underpaintings in red.

Float. Oil on panel.

Cyanotypes on fabric.

Quartz crystals and string.

White Vervain, Honeysuckle, and Gayfeather

Honeysuckle

Sawtooth Sunflower and Goldenrod

Goldenrod

Black-eyed Susans

Winged Sumac

Beaked Panicum

Foxtails

Foxtails, Daisy Fleabane, Goldenrods

Woolly Croton and Goldenrods

Sericea (invasive in Missouri)

An underexposed test strip made in indirect sunlight. I love how ghostly it turned out.

I also used the same transparencies to make wet cyanotypes, embellished with gold ink.

I've had plenty of adventures this summer, so nothing but gratitude here, but I miss the ocean bad. It's been 385 days since my last pilgrimage.

Devotion/Abalone. Oil on Canvas.

This painting was a test of my ability to paint iridescence. I also found myself bumping up against the limits of my focus - I had to complete the painting in several sittings instead of alla prima, which is the way I usually approach oil painting.

Devotion/Underbelly. Oil on panel.

I wanted to explore the texture of words (and say some things more directly), so I made a tiny zine of poetry and photography. I'm certain my literary friends could tell me what's wrong with these poems from a craft standpoint, but I'm a big proponent of just going for it, regardless of ability.

Anyway, a couple excerpts:

In other news, just trying to continue painting. I've been dealing with an overuse/mild nerve injury in my wrists ever since felting a bit too intensely at KCAI, which has made holding a brush uncomfortable. Luckily, it's improving, as I was able to finish this one today. I'm considering a series of moon snail shells in oil.

Another moon snail shell painting... oil on gesso board