“Not to Be Framed”

Thanks to Artists’ Network, one day earlier this week I got about as close to plein air painting as I’m ever likely…

Cutting and Pasting

The only time I’ve ever been good at cutting and pasting has been on the computer. Yep. I can cut and paste…

Wayne Thiebaud once described his paintings as “brush dances”. What a clever way to think about art and the process…

Maybe it looks like I’ve turned a few words around in the title of this post. You might think I…

Oh, yes. American Gothic. Certainly one of the most recognized paintings in art history, and speaking of history, here’s a…

Here’s a fun question! I’m sure you’ll know the answer. “American Gothic”, used as parodies in popular culture, was painted…

One morning recently, I came into the studio and set to work on another “circle” creation. Circles, you may recall,…

When I was growing up, I didn’t believe in Santa Claus. I knew all along that the department store Santas…

I have gathered up all the “watercolor how-to” books I’ve had sitting around the studio, and I’ve put them away.…

I’m feeling a little discouraged this morning. It didn’t help at all that after my less-than-stellar results at the easel…

I don’t like to waste things, especially in the art studio. But, since I’m not always a very neat or…

In early January, 2017, I wrote a post about “mission statements”. I categorized it as “humor”, and in the post…

Quite simply, genre painting refers to scenes of everyday people doing everyday things. These paintings — which have long been a…

Today’s “Art Quiz” question is a simple one: What type of painting depicts scenes from everyday life in a realistic…

Earlier this year, as part of Sketchbook Revival, I spent a morning making “holes” — which are, essentially, circles. This exercise,…

Recently I mentioned the disarray in my studio. Some “messiness” is good when we’re working and playing in a creative…

Doing my own “personal” form of art therapy earlier this year helped me deal with a lot of emotional pain…

It will come as no surprise, I’m sure, that I didn’t exactly follow the directions for today’s drawing lesson. More…

I was feeling a slight bit of frustration this morning when I sat down for another “watercolor lesson”. My lessons…

Yep. Fauvism. You knew this one, didn’t you! I knew it because I’d read about fauvism and had even written a…