Yesterday I spent a much-needed day in the studio working on my art. Besides a two-hour client consultation in the afternoon and occasional e-mailing and tweeting, I focused my entire existence on my next alphabet painting: B for Betrayal.

Artists and successful people understand how important visualization is to any achievement. Many of my works require endless hours of meticulous penmanship, one delicate line after another. I absolutely love it when an intangible concept transforms into a physical image that I can share with the external world. When my eyes glide on the delicious texture and forms created by the rich lines, I just get a bit too excited…

The next step will be to gesso the surface later today, so that the background can be painted tomorrow. When the background paint is dry, the dress can be painted on. It’s important to have sufficient time between each step so that the image is not compromised by smudging. The background will be a chocolaty dark brown.

Here, I must thank my assistant Laura for preparing the edges for me. Even though these are fine birch wood panels, the edges still need laborious touching up with wood filler. The work is repetitive and very dusty. Thank you Laura for doing this so that I can concentrate on the creative process.