Wok Wednesday

22 X 14 inches

Watercolor

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There is a particular kind of stillness that exists inside a busy kitchen.

The room may be filled with heat, steam, voices and the rhythm of work, yet for the person standing over the stove, the world can become remarkably small. A pan, a flame, the next movement of the hand.

That was the moment I wanted to capture here.

Rather than describing every detail of the kitchen, I allowed much of it to disappear into darkness. The cook emerges quietly from that darkness, while steam rising from the wok catches the light and briefly illuminates the space around her.

For me, the painting became less about cooking and more about concentration—the private stillness we sometimes find in the middle of movement.

Watercolor allowed the steam, light and figure to merge and separate naturally. Edges disappear, forms emerge, and much of the story is left just beyond what we can see.

Wok Wednesday is about that fleeting moment when the noise around us continues, but for an instant, we hear none of it.

Exhibition recognition

Selected — Watercolor Art Society Houston Annual Exhibition, 2026