17 May 2025

Have been so taken with how Gabe spoke about moving back to their childhood home in Portugal in the context of their art, how they're approaching reintegrating into the community as their practice regenerates. They talked about how, as soon as they moved back, they decided to bring their sketchbook and gouache out into the places they have known to simply draw and paint local flowers—literally beginning from the ground up before even thinking about bringing people they've been away from for almost a decade back into their work. A sentiment full of intentional care and respect, a devotion to the fullness of their process that sits outside of time. It had a Letters to a Young Poet effect on me, a valuable reminder that the daily accumulation of careful, focused merging with the small particulars of one's life is a bridge to true north.