Vasa Syndrome

We recently attended a lecture on Long Island shipwrecks at the Mystic Seaport Museum, and took in the related Lego exhibit while we were there. Then we went to a Mystic Schooners baseball game. It struck me that these widely divergent fields of endeavor have all developed phrases to describe easily avoidable mistakes. In tennis […]

It Takes a Village

I know, I know – could it be more trite? And yet… There’s so much research demonstrating the importance of community, friendships, and loose social networks to health and happiness. Anybody who claims to have pulled themselves up by their bootstraps is forgetting all the kind words, second chances, mentoring and plain old good luck […]

Juicy and Exuberant

A friend described my paintings as juicy and exuberant, which I loved! The comment was about my use of color, cheerful and energetic almost to the point of being Fauvist in style. I like to describe my paintings as expressionistic because I want to show how it felt to be there, rather than simply copying […]

Generalist or Specialist?

Not long ago, I saw an interview with Range author David Epstein. He researched successful athletes, artists, musicians, inventors and scientists. He discovered that in complex and unpredictable arenas, generalists, not specialists, tend to excel. Generalists usually juggle multiple interests, rather than focusing, and often find their paths later in life. They are also likely […]

How To Relax

Many people think of relaxation as involving lots of catch-up sleep on the weekend. Others relax by sitting in front of the tv, or playing games on their computers or phones. A recent article in Psychology Today sheds light on what really works. The research cited said what really helps people recover from work (or […]

Birth Announcement

The fraternal twins are finally ready to face the world! A few months back I began a series of two paintings (yes, with my boredom threshold, two constitutes a series) of sunsets, a favorite subject. A shoulder injury, a trip to Portugal and an art opening (you can see my travel paintings in the gallery […]

Inspired Again!

We finally took a vacation again, after nearly 2 1/2 years! As regular readers know, my painting inspiration usually comes from sunsets, water and travel. The latter has been in very short supply lately. As readers also know, we had bouts of COVID last month, fortunately mild since we are triple vaxxed. This means that, […]

Serendipity Strikes

Several weeks ago, I received an email from an acquaintance. We had worked together a few years back. I was a consultant for the CT State Office of the Arts when she headed a local arts agency and requested my help on a project. Turns out she now works for the University of Connecticut in […]

Miss Traveling?

Until we can travel widely and safely again, many of us have had to be satisfied with memories of Europe, Asia and Latin America. My current exhibit, at The Space Gallery in charming Chester, CT, recognizes this and is, for now, a great substitute for the real thing. It runs through the end of the […]

Seatbelts, Bras and Neckties

In the interests of a much happier 2021… Yes, we all know masks are uncomfortable, and that a ventilator would be even more so. Think of masks as a courtesy, akin to not sneezing in someone’s face, so that we can get COVID under control and not have another year like 2020. It’s just part […]