I just bought some new “crayon” brushes for painting on my iPad. Sometimes things just fall together in the right way, and I am in love with the new brushes. They look like crayons, but being digital, have some wonderful advantages. I love layering them to get more glowing color, while retaining the roughness of the marks. Varying the opacity of the marks adds textured glazing. Unusually, I used only the crayon brush when making this image, changing only the size and the opacity of the marks.

When my daughter-in-law was here, I tried to sneak some pictures of her one morning while she was sitting at the kitchen counter. I was struck by her bright shirt, her hair piled on top of her head, and her headband. She caught me at it half way through and sat up and smiled, but I preferred the earlier unposed images to use as a base for a painting. I transported her to our terrace and surrounded her with the roses and lavender that line the path. I think the softness of the crayons foster a relaxed feeling. I continued with the decorative details I’ve been working with, but they come across in a whole new way.

Seeing something new sparks my creativity and sends me down a different path. It can be anything, a new brush in this case, or an unusual composition that catches my eye, a different color palette, a new app, interesting juxtapositions of color and textures, a new location, even the change of seasons in my yard or on my daily walks. Looking at art in museums and galleries is a huge catalyst of ideas for me. The pandemic has limited many of the ways I find that little spark. In looking harder for that spark at home, I find myself making different decisions about where I am going with an image and that the process itself can create the spark!