Summer is upon us.
The sun lingers hours longer than I ever remembered it would—my inner clock still somehow ticking to the hourly loss of sunlight by late afternoon; we're 6 months into the year, now.
Somewhat personally, I love listening to 80s Japanese city pop in the summertime. It's a habit I formed in the summer of 2024; a summer full of jazzy disco, consisting of ABBA, yacht rock, and of course, city pop. I have even earlier memories scattered throughout my summers in 2021 and 2022, but it has been more prevalent in the last few years.
Those melodies interlace memories of solitary drives in the late, warm afternoon with my windows down.
Or nostalgic nights at the movies watching classics they only screen during the summer.
Or sleepily watching the lazy lilt of leaf shadows, fuzzy blots of blue, dancing down my wall, as an orange summer sun finally settles to rest at the end of another long day.
I crave these moments, living simultaneously in nostalgia and unshakable presence. I wish I could better describe in words the feelings these moments inspire in my chest.
And I feel incredibly lucky to have a soundtrack that immediately inspires that mood, whether I need it in the darkness of winter or to act as backing music for another glorious, sunny day of young adult life.
Now, I share all of this in hopes of exposing more of what inspires me beyond my usual subjects of work.
I worry my inspiration and passion do not translate in my visual work as of late. Honestly, I find my work seems stiff at times—whether it's from the pressure I put on myself or the unfamiliarity of new techniques I’m exploring.
But the whole point of sharing my art with others is to offer pieces of my inner world.
I suppose because I am in a season of learning, refining, and reevaluating—it's natural for my work to feel bare-bones.
It's why I study, to be able to express myself in the way I perceive the world.
If I can capture the feeling summer gives me on the canvas, then I will have done what I long for.
Until then, perhaps this is a sign that I need to play more in my study as I do in the sun.
Thoughtfully,
M.E.