I am not a trained artist. I am a photographer and a novelist. Painting is a retirement hobby. I do have, however, an artist “wife coach.” Seeing her paintings develop and seeing mine are two different experiences. Maria’s paintings bloom like flowers in early June. You can tell from the start they’ll be lovely, you just can’t see past the buds initially. My paintings are cocoons. You hope they’ll evolve past the chrysalis stage and form a butterfly, but often, they turn out to be moths or the odd cicada. Fortunately, my wife loves all my bugs. This one I decided to paint without a formal drawing or my usual prep. It’s called “Syria, 1995,” after a Harry Gruyaert photo. Let’s see what sort of insect we make.

Maybe I will append this post as I go, to show how this thing evolves (or doesn’t).