Polka Dots and Power Boots

My sketchbook work has been intriguing to many people who discover my paintings. I decided for this July 2026 exhibition at Portland Art Gallery to greatly enlarge pages to give a better sense of how I explore ideas before designing a final painting. In the first layer, I drew with soft gray-blue acrylic paint, creating random shapes from several pages. I added a dark blue color to add more thoughts on top of thoughts and this felt much more like a page in my sketchbooks. The sketchbook size of the blocks with people are 1x1 inch, but the painting greatly enlarges them as I layer ideas over ideas. I then chose to highlight one detail in red. I've used these red boots for many years. It’s a reminder of our lovely neighbor Elfie, who would visit my studio wearing her red gardening boots--which her amazing husband referred to as her 'Power Boots'. Her visit that day helped me resolve an issue I was having to bring a painting to life. When I saw those boots they were exactly the answer I needed.