New Work in Progress: 12 x 12 x 12 November 2026

The inspiration for my 12 x 12 x 12 November 2026 is from the Fences and Nests series of paintings I created in 2012. They have monoprinted textures of orange construction fences with skins of nest-like circles with thread scraps. The first photo shows the already stitched and stiffened fabric with a threads skin sitting temporarily on top, waiting for me to cut the ovals (or "holes" from the construction fence) out to collage on the fabric. The second photo shows the 12" x 12" template I use to mark the size before I trim it down which is helpful in placing the nest before cutting into it and glueing it down.

12 x 12 x 12 November 2026 Inspiration

 

A few days ago I crossed paths with someone who showed me pictures of my work hanging in a conference room at one of the Boston area Meditech locations where five of my Fences and Nests series paintings are hanging. 

I created a series of twelve paintings in 2012 that combined the monoprinted textures of orange construction fences with the nest-like circles of thread scraps, on 12” x 16" x 1.5" cradled board. The paintings at Meditech were purchased at least a decade ago, and it warmed my heart to see the photos again.

It also inspired me to create my 12 x 12 x 12 November 2026 using one of the remaining skins with threads that have been hanging out in my studio, along with a leftover piece of monoprinted textured construction fence fabric. Because November is a very busy month for me, it's a project that has all of the parts ready to go. I "just" need to put them together.

More New Work in Progress: Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026

 

Here is the month of October on my Dates in a Life Walking Project 2026, a year-long painting that documents the number of steps I walk each day. 

The picture above shows how many steps I walked in last month. The red icons show the 18 days I walked over 10,000 steps, and the black icons are for up to 9999 steps (with the 6 circles representing 9000 or more steps). 

The weather last month was beautiful in Massachusetts! I believe we broke the record for the most sunny days in October, which is nice for walking, but that meant we had very little rain which we need very much.

In the picture below, you can see January through October with plenty of room through December. The yellow icons are for walking 20,000 or more steps, which i have done 4 times (so far) this year.

New Work: 12 x 12 x 12 October 2026

New work, 12 x 12 x 12 October 2026. In the middle of this painting are photos of the individual Dahlia's I received in a CSA share each week for five weeks in September and early October,. The rows above and below the flowers are from a photo of red leaves on and under a shrub.

I created acrylic skins of the photos and collaged each photo, or pieces of the photo, inside each "hole" in the grid of the texture of a monoprinted construction fence. This fabric painting is very stiff and heavy with multiple layers of skins, paint, and matt medium.

Palindrome

Last week I walked a palindrome of steps by the thousands, something that has only happened once or twice before in my eleven years of documenting the number of steps I’ve walked everyday.

 

More New Work in Progress: 12 x 12 x 12 October 2026

Over the past few days I have been struggling to get my 12 x 12 x 12 October 2026 painting the way I thought I wanted it, entirely with collaged acrylic skins of photos of the individual flowers I got in the 5-week Dahlias CSA share I was gifted. It became obvious it was not going to work in a similar way as my 12 x 12 x 12 September painting which had photos of blue water access covers I saw on the street while I was walking in my neighborhood.

Last night I was talking to a dear artist friend, trying to explain my frustration. She suggested turning it upside down but that wasn't going to work because it's symmetrical, but I did turn it 180 degrees and went to bed. I woke up this morning with a solution I think will work, so I am making more skins, this time with two photos of fallen leaves on a shrub to collage on the surface. While this is a totally different idea from what I initially wanted to do, I think it'll work. Fingers crossed.

More New Work in Progress: 12 x 12 x 12 October 2026

Work in progress on my 12 x 12 x 12 October 2026 painting.

I am collaging acrylic skins of photos of the individual flowers I got in the 5-week Dahlias CSA share I was gifted from a local farm when I retired from my day job a few months ago.

I was planning on filling each square on this fabric with flowers, similar to how I made my 12 x 12 x 12 September painting which had photos of blue water access covers I saw on the street while I was walking in my neighborhood, but now I am rethinking it, which is part of the process. To be continued.