A Recovery Blog

This blog is about my continuing recovery from severe mental illness and addiction. I celebrate this recovery by continuing to write, by sharing my music and artwork and by exploring Buddhist and 12 Step ideas and concepts. I claim that the yin/yang symbol is representative of all of us because I have found that even in the midst of acute psychosis there is still sense, method and even a kind of balance. We are more resilient than we think. We can cross beyond the edge of the sane world and return to tell the tale. A deeper kind of balance takes hold when we get honest, when we reach out for help, when we tell our stories.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Another Acrylic Abstract


I painted this yesterday. Today I didn't paint, mostly slept and tomorrow I go shopping with my brother. I'm tempted to get some small cans of enamel house paint so that I can paint on primed, but unstretched, canvas on the floor as I did a few years ago in art school. There's something really nice about the enamel paint, makes me think of the printing paints I got to use when I took my one and only printing class. The paints I was using for on the floor were so colorful, meant mainly to paint kids' bedrooms. And then painting on the floor is an experience in itself. But if I remember correctly, my best work was done on smallish pieces of canvas. I can't afford to buy large stretchers anyway. I was looking at a Blick art supply catalogue because I just got some more watercolor paper and, boy, it's easy to find stuff to spend money on, a lot of it very useful stuff, not frivolous. It's not just the painting of something, it's the storing and then displaying that is important, too. I store my watercolor/gouache paintings in Itoya portfolio books, that's the economical alternative to having large, flat storage furniture. I will be so excited the first time I matt one of my pieces well, but then I will have to store the matted work...oh, I'll figure it out. I know I have a lot to be grateful for--some talent and some supplies and a supportive family and people (you) enjoying my work.

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