Katy and I have discussed collaborating on a painting project for years. We’ve been married for 12 years and we’ve finally officially begun our first project.

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While shuffling some paintings around, we paired up a couple of canvases that we each had created individually and we asked ourselves if it would make sense to purposefully create a pair of images intended to be side by side?

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So the project began.

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Katy started on an 8’ wide canvas and I wish she took the entire canvas with this beautiful field of color, but we agreed we’d try splitting the canvas just to see how it all works out.

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After more development on her side of the canvas, it was my turn to start making marks. I decided to paint a portrait of her on my side. I brought the canvas to the studio and worked on it there for a while.

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We talked about changing the background color and we agreed that Katy looks best with turquoise behind her. We grabbed a Fiestaware plate from the kitchen just to make sure. Yes. It’s the right color.

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The blooms in the front yard further inspired me tonight. Katy often uses flowers in her work, so it makes perfect sense to me to include them in a portrait of her. It’s an homage, not a rip off.

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