There are four new charcoal pieces since my last post, but today I’m presenting #14 to keep it simple. The others can be seen on my website at www.maureenmccarron.com but I think you’ll agree that #14 is more compelling, if not riveting. It’s the mark making, and my growing familiarity with my materials. I’d introduced a creamy pale pastel called Mummy to the mix last week and have been working to keep it distinct by not blending it into the charcoal. I also like to go into a section of black with aggressive erasing, which leaves interesting textures. The Mummy pastel is more for highlights and finicky details. I apply those marks much the way I painted the little wooden panel pieces I did when my 15 year old Facebook friendship with my now fiancé turned into a relationship two and a half years ago. Early into our romance, he told me about a dream he’d had in which he helped me hang a show. The pieces were much too big for me manage by myself and had ornate gilded frames. I was sure I would not be doing large work any time soon, but within several months I’d given up working on the little wooden panels to begin painting works on paper. They were still birds only bigger, not enormous mind you, but definitely not small. As I now unframe those works on paper so I can reuse the frames for the charcoal pieces, I am struck by how lush and intricate they are. They have a sense of wonder and exploration that’s not in the wooden panel paintings which I returned to last fall. This is probably because of my being accustomed to that process, but I’d also had the cataract surgeries and could no longer see the way I used to. They are good paintings, they just didn’t move me like before. However, I am moved now by the charcoal series, especially this new owl. I can see, like in my fiancé’s dream, there may someday be enormous birds in elaborate gold frames. I am currently limited by the size of paper available to me, 18x18” or 22x22," I prefer to work on squares, but I know bigger paper is out there. So, yes, onward.