This was fortunate as I am under the gun to produce at least two more paintings for my solo exhibit at the Durham Convention Center in Durham, January - July 2021. The time and thought that goes into choosing the colors for each painting is the most time consuming part of the process. Well, and getting those edges straight! So, to be able to make color and value choices for two paintings at the same time will really help. The grid behind the swirls at the bottom of the canvas really excites me. It gives a framework that holds the swirls in place.

As I work I have begun to listen to Poetry Unbound, hosted by Padraig O Tuama, who reads a poem and offers his thoughts in a ten minute segment. The first poem in the series is "What You Missed That Day You Were Absent from Fourth Grade" by Brad Aaron Modlin. The very title of the poem intrigues me and the poem speaks of learning how to grow up by yourself. The poet fantasizes about a day in Mrs. Nelson's class where the English lesson was, "I am enough." She took questions on how not to feel lost in the dark and how to stand still and find meaning in the wind. Since we missed that day in fourth grade, we all must find those answers for ourselves when we need them the most.

In my mind's eye I see the painting's gird as Mrs. Nelson standing still, a bedrock of wisdom, as the curving shapes of the wind swirls with meaning.