Excerpt from a recent letter

Have you ever seen those wonderful photographs of Edvard Munch working in his outdoor studio? The first time I saw those photos, I thought, “I wish I were there, painting away in the snows of Norway!” However, when I looked at them again, the austere, wooden walled enclosure seemed more like a fortress or compound than a friendly place to frequent. The two paintings that I am working on strive to capture both of these sentiments. Like my other recent paintings of artists’ dwellings and studios, these attempt to commemorate the brave, sometimes beautiful, and farcical act of making art in one’s rundown apartment, porch, or backyard. As you know, art projects are often difficult to fit into one’s life, and such endeavors can so easily overwhelm one’s rented flat.