Ever since I read Digital Minimalism (and truthfully, even before that), I’ve been trying to replace my mindless evening phone scrolling time with more time reading books. But I’ll be perfectly honest – some nights my brain is just too tired to read.
That’s when I’ve been turning instead to my collection of exhibition catalogs from the many, many museum exhibitions I’ve seen over the years. Not only is this a more wonderfully tactile way to take in images and great way to revisit some of my favorite shows from over the years, but it’s also been inspiring my own painting.
This week’s go-to book has been the exhibition catalog for Matisse: In Search of True Painting. (A show that had such a profound effect on me that I shared it here on the blog before.) I love getting such a deep glimpse into the inner workings of Matisse’s creative practice. But even if I’m simply looking at images, there’s something to be gleaned from the book.
Take color palettes.
If it wasn’t obvious, this group of paintings that I just released in my online store tend very much towards blues and greens. So I’ve been challenging myself to use warmer colors, but thus far haven’t been happy with the results. But after seeing this Matisse painting featuring that blue I’ve been obsessed with paired with a this stunning warm tone, I was inspired to try it out for myself.
And the result was this little painting that I’m pretty excited about!
PS. This painting isn’t available in my online shop yet (that oil paint has got to dry!) but if you want to be the first to know when it is available, be sure to join my mailing list!
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