Let’s face it. Paint is expensive. Whether you’re using watercolor, oil, acrylic or gouache… or whatever might be your medium of choice, every artist wants to squeeze the very last drop from each tube. Color is not something you want to waste. For years I struggled with pesky paint tubes trying to squeeze out the […]
Arts Benefits Over the years I have created many works of art to benefit various causes: hospitals, art associations, schools, libraries. Because I get so many requests I have had to become very selective about the places where I donate. I wish that weren’t the case, but along with every other artist, I’m frequently asked […]
Recently I had an fortunate/unfortunate experience in the process of selling a large canvas. (Well, 4′ x 4′- not that large.) Having someone fall in love with the painting and take it to a new, happy home was great. A successful sale was great. But one of the stretcher bars had warped. Not so […]
Mindfulness is a trendy term right now… But for the best of reasons. Just thinking of mindfulness I find myself taking a deep breath. Slowing down. Noticing details. Feeling more calm, more focused. It was even on the cover of Time Magazine this week. I believe in it most thoroughly, though I may not always […]
The world around me is white and gray, but in my classroom at Castleton State College there is COLOR! It was so much fun to guide this group in color exploration, composition and design elements. There were some pretty fantastic results, especially considering that many of the students (first year through senior college students) had […]
It’s bitter cold in Vermont and across the continent. But we humans are not the only ones afflicted. The heron in the photo below fell out of the sky in the forest behind my sister-in-law’s house two days ago. Temperature- minus 5′, more or less. When the beautiful bird couldn’t get back into the air, […]
People often ask me how long I’ve been an artist… The answer of course, is FOREVER… but how did it start? Perhaps it began in the sandpile, or with a box of crayons or clay from the ditch behind the house. Many long summer hours were spent creating dolls from hollyhock blossoms using my […]
LAST WEEK when we were hiking at Tsankawi Ruins in the Jemez Mountains, I heard flocks of cranes flying above us. It’s a very different sound, a chorus of croaking, chortling, rattley, raspy calls… quite unmistakable. (The Forest service says that “Both the males and females make a rattling “kar-r-r-r- o-o-o” sound.”) As soon as […]
I recently had an unfortunate incident with a painting I was mailing to a collector. The painting is 5″ x 5″ so it didn’t seem to present much of a problem. I’ve mailed large paintings across the country and they’ve arrived perfectly well. I carefully wrapped the painting in glassine paper. (Glassine is a special […]
Owls and airplanes? Strange things seem to be happening to me lately. For example, the other night I walked into the house in the dark. I had forgotten to leave lights on. The moon is waning so it was pitch black. As I entered the kitchen I was startled by something small, but larger-than-a-bug flying […]