The temperature in my studio is once again safe to be in. I had finished the Ro piece before my brief exile while Swinger lay almost done the entire time of my banishment. I am very pleased with both pieces.

Swinger has special history. Over a decade ago the place I had lived part of the year every year in Paris for a long time had art supply stores all around it. I had a preference for specific things from each store i.e my pencil store, my paint store et al.

By happenstance I became pals with one of the guys at the sore closest to me. It’s proximity meant that i often walked by it and would pop in just to walk the isles, grabbing pencils or little notepads which I really didn’t need. We would chat.

He started letting me use his employee discount, plus coupons and samples. The very last time I saw him, I was so loaded up with supplies (lots free non-sample things) that when returning stateside I needed an extra bag for all the goodies.

He followed a proto-Coachella girl to Ibiza, then all around the hotspots for EDM festivals until he vanished in the ether.

Swingers is the very last piece of paper from all the paper swag he had given me. Obviously, I did not use it non-stop but I did use it steadily in-between all other papers I was exploring.

I would like to think that he got the girl or maybe he realized he didn’t need to get the girl, that it was about the adventure. And now, like Ulysses, he is heading towards a land where people do not put salt on their food.

RO 9×12 Rembrandt Cotton Paper

Swinger 7×9 Cotton Paper