It’s always been apparent that having water views makes me feel better. Conversely, being cooped up inside without views, as in my corporate days, depresses me. Before I earned a promotion and a window, I used to joke that it was like living inside a Band-Aid box – beige, bland and boring. Turns out there’s […]
This is the rough block-in for the composition of a new painting. It’s also art therapy. It’s based on a favorite photo from my first trip to Venice, and I unearthed it at an opportune time. It reminded me what some people have to go through to do laundry. At least my clothes aren’t hanging […]
Years ago I bought a funky, colorful raincoat at a craft show. I wasn’t long past my corporate days, when beige (which is not a color! at least in my world) trench coats were the only acceptable choice over my pin-striped suits. So I hesitated, and was egged on by the woman who’d made the coat. She […]
When conducting market research interviews, I understand that open-ended questions solicit richer, more detailed information. Answering with your own experience, or rebutting people’s comments, can shut down the conversation. However, I hadn’t thought about how this principle applies to my art life. Most people want to know their concerns and interests have been given consideration. […]
Nope, not that F word. This F word is flexible, from a running gag with a friend who shared a Balinese adventure with me years ago. The erstwhile leader of our trip was not a strong manager, to put it mildly, and kept telling the group to “be flexible” whenever she didn’t keep to the […]
As in last year’s post about fidgeting and health, it appears there is solid research to support my notion that wandering helps creativity. Regular readers know my habit when traveling is to walk for hours, taking photos that later serve as reference material in my painting studio. And when I paint, my habit is to […]
Whether on a baseball diamond, in a courtroom, or with slights from someone, you know that three strikes indicates a line has been crossed. Quite probably repercussions will follow, and hopefully a lesson has been learned. What does that have to do with pastel painting, you might ask? Well, for me it’s about my preferred approach […]
Some people travel to relax on a beach, to try famous restaurants, or to ski and hike. I travel for inspiration. The best trips stimulate both my brain and my creative juices. It seems I need this kind of travel to be able to paint. This past year, we experienced Havana, London and the Greek island […]
My paintings are normally quite vivid, in keeping with my preference for a high energy, colorful life and my desire to share that with others. Sometimes, however, a place to rest the eye, and a sense of wonder about life's smaller gems, is needed. That's perhaps particularly true in these turbulent, stressful times. So I found myself […]
People often ask what style my paintings are and I sometimes stumble to explain. Expressionistic colorscapes is the phrase I've coined, but it usually requires clarification. In a nutshell, I try to show how a particular experience or place felt, versus simply showing what my camera saw. Expressionism ls a style of art, like Impressionism or Realism. Impressionism uses […]
