{"id":10182,"date":"2026-04-20T08:18:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T12:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplestead.com\/?p=10182"},"modified":"2026-05-01T07:33:26","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:33:26","slug":"painting-the-internal-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplestead.com\/?p=10182","title":{"rendered":"Painting the Internal Landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I started painting to escape into a world of color and imagination while my dad was dying. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shortly after he passed, everything I painted ended up an ugly and radioactive landscape that I wanted to burn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Instead of setting things on fire, I covered the canvases in black tinted gesso and made them into monochromatic floral depictions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Those permutations of grief eventually gave way to fresh canvases conveying schism scenes — a signifying step towards new life after loss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As Matt and I began making future plans, I reached for bigger canvases and brighter colors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Like the inverse of radioactive wastelands turned monochrome — our monochrome walls became canvased over in color. But we couldn’t gesso over the complications of our rustic living conditions and the need for more accessible spaces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And so we reached for a larger living canvas on which to paint our lives. We found one — high on a mountain ridge with expansive views of prismatically painted skies set against Arcadian-inspired pastures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My first painting in our new home emulated the color palette outdoors (though I took liberties by adding young trees and flower beds that I intended to plant.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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My next painting was an intentional merging of my mid-grief black & white period and my post-grief big, bright botanical phase. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But this time, I painted it with a specific location in mind, pulling colors and inspiration from surrounding objects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In January 2026, I took my first painting class – botanical landscapes\/direct painting with the amazing artist Elody Gyykis<\/a> (online\/live class). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Elody inspired me to mix my own colors and embrace my inclination toward big, juicy brush strokes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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She also encouraged me to stop dwelling on my inability to draw and instead focus on finding ways to be expressively effective using just gestures of color. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Her passion for lighting in her studio also motivated me to move my easel and implements into our best lit space on the second floor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Canvas by canvas, through these phases of metamorphosis, I find myself becoming a painter. Not a professional. Not an artist. Just someone who expresses and navigates life through the medium of paint. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I started painting to escape into a world of color and imagination while my dad was dying. Shortly after he passed, everything I painted ended up an ugly and radioactive landscape that I wanted to burn. 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