I'm back. Thanks to the miracle of my new studio (photos over at On the Easel) I am working on the Feast again. I find if I drink a cup of coffee at 9:00 I can work on drawings in the studio at night for a couple of hours even if I have been painting all day; afterwards I am tired enough to sleep despite the caffeine.

I tacked up 5 or six sheets of paper on the big wall in a continuous line. I wanted to start sketching out ideas for the whole Feast - not just Soup, which is what this blog has primarily covered - but also the transition into Baking; I am beginning to see the outlines of Chopping. Almost immediately I went off the rails of Grand Design and started delving into the particular sections and ended up using the lay out as a place to think instead of as a scroll. Work plans are made to be broken; I don't honestly think I have ever adhered to one.

The important thing is that I started to think about the Chopping section which I believe to be at the very heart of this piece. There are so many layers to it: violence, creativity - blood and death - and also the Zen (I think) idea of the slap of awakening, reality vs. illusion...these associations flood me every time I cut up a chicken; they are the driving force behind this painting, the knock that must be answered.