The Power of 10

Sunday, Aug 30, 2026Art

Had to add a UV-protecting varnish to the last of the paintings. Took them outside. Laid them all out on the pavement. Realized there were 10 in all.

Ten black-and-white paintings laid out in two rows on the pavement

I make notes to myself. Cheering myself on. Breaking down thinking. Exposing the loops. Making 10 “of anything” has always been a big deal.

“Just make 10” would be the thing I would write down.

10 “of anything” would feel like a body of work.

Do 10 things and step back, look at it, make decisions… do it again.

Make 10.

The Last 5

Here were the first 5.

The first five paintings on a kitchen table

Then, I kept going.

Two new paintings taped side by side: a figure-eight shape and a bird-like form

A painting of a large face in profile with a stubbled chin, next to its sketchbook version

A painting of an oval shape with patterned wings, next to its sketchbook version

A painting of a winged heart over arches, next to its sketchbook version

I made 10.

10 feels good.

I’m going to make another 10… of something.

Instead of starting big, I’m going to start small and grow.

What is next?

I’ve been playing around. There are a few different directions that things can go.

Here’s where I’ve been poking around.

Ghost Man

A Ghost Man card: a ghostly figure with a long arm reaching toward lightning shapes on a yellow sticky note

Three Ghost Man cards laid on a sketchbook page

These are all a play on a few drawings from a LONG time ago. This thing has always been interesting to me. It is on a single card, but the combination is wild.

Ghost Man in blue ink beside a yellow-and-black panel of eyes and chains

I’m often thinking about the heaviness of this fleshly life and the fact of leaving it all behind, looking back on it as it were a dream (after the death of the body). All of the body’s wants, needs, expectations, pains… gone.

Life is glorious, but the weight of glory is not in this dead weight.

We will leave and go beyond.