Painting almost every day and holding a public exhibit every two years is a rhythm that makes sense. The work gets to accumulate and settle before it goes out into the world.

I love that you're still working from those college photos fifty years later. There's something about mining your own archive like that, returning to places you knew before they became memory. Canson Mi-Teintes in Steel Gray is a beautiful foundation for pastel, enough tooth to hold the layers without fighting you. I keep a few sheets of it around for when I need something with more grip than my usual acrylic surfaces can give. The mix of soft and hard pastel makes total sense for holding both broad passages and tight detail in one piece, and a light fixative coat at the end is exactly how I'd protect something like that without killing the surface. Fifteen years between shooting those frames and working from them now says a lot about what stays with you.

Thanks, Dana, for your insight. All true.

Thank you Bree for your thoughtful note. Greatly appreciated.