Last spring, I set a creative prompt for myself: to make a new "painting" each time I visited Fire Island. Twenty visits later, I created 20 works on canvas. The second part of the prompt was to incorporate the word "KLUNK" and graphics from the Peanuts comic strip.

My aim was to explore how iteration on a seemingly banal subject could push me past the point of repetition and into new territory—discovering fresh compositions and ideas.

Over time, "KLUNK" began to take on a deeper meaning for me. We all experience "KLUNKs" in life—those unexpected bumps or challenges. In fact, life is really a series of them. But there’s something beautiful in how we navigate these moments, how they shape us.

As summer came to an end, I felt the biggest "KLUNK" of all—the impending loss of my time on the island, the season slipping away. But perhaps that’s the essence of "KLUNK"—it’s ephemeral. And recognizing that somehow makes it a little easier to accept.

- Matthew Sandager

Klunks, watercolor on canvas, 14 x 17 (variable) inches, 2024