And sometimes I can just paint without all the constraints.
Here is a recent commission.

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?” – Rumi

It was time for Orange…

“Go out on a limb – that’s where the fruit is.”  – Bob Ross

Now the path gets rockier…

One thought leads to another…

I recently bought some softboxes from Amazon…

Wrestling a painting into submission is tough…

Sometimes with color you can be “all in.”

I interrupt our regularly scheduled blog on color for a recap from “Quest for The West.”

A good painting has a clearness of thought behind it.

Creating a realistic portrait is tough stuff. Creating a realistic portrait from a photo is nearly impossible.

What is more elusive than a ghost during the daytime? The waterline in a photo…

Eyebrows can be tricky.

When are rules not rules?

Recently I found myself painting a self-portrait.

Sometimes you get to eat your cake and stay in bed too.

I have a companion in my studio…

I read once that the act of walking is constant falling.

A few weeks ago I was asked to do a portrait demo for the INSPIRE Lecture series…

Oh, fine American Cuisine…

Ah, boys…

Sometimes I get restless.

“I just throw dignity at the wall and think only of the game”
– Suzanne Lenglen- the world’s first female professional tennis player

I found myself recently staring back at an old friend.

“The trouble is, my dear doctor, is that you see, but you do not observe…”
– Sherlock Holmes to Watson

Last Friday I did a zoom lecture.

All light sources have an inherent color.

“Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers.”
– Josef Albers

Let’s talk color.

Poor little potato.

No, I’m not talking about the AC/DC song.

But sometimes work gets put on hold…

So now it is time to get to work…

“… and we never failed to fail, it was the easiest thing to do.”
– Crosby, Stills and Nash

This is the only thing I have that belonged to my grandfather.

The biggest weapon an artist has is observation.

I recently got a splinter.

How things change…

Survival is its own creative act.

I love authentic people.

Last week I was talking about a space feeling “right.” This week is about a painting feeling “right.”

I have a confession to make… I like making my bed.

Happy New Year! I’m back!

Please tell me 2020 is almost over…

Time to chat about composition with Patrick Lee.

A focal point in an image is key.

So the textures in Patrick Lee’s paintings are unsurpassed. Yet it is the composition that makes you look twice…

I love butterflies. How weird and wonderful that they taste flowers with their feet.

Someone asked me recently what was the most difficult commission I have ever done. And without hesitation I thought of one of the very first ones I ever did.

My daughter was struck by lightning.

So apparently my cat walked into wet oil paint and walked across my taboret and floor…

“So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains and we never even know we have the key.”
-Eagles song, “Already Gone”

Just as in this tumultuous political climate, in art, there is no such thing as neutral.

In the past few weeks I have moved on to painting other things. And sometimes things get knocked around.

A hardbound book is given to the client at the end of a commission.

You know the saying “To make an omelette, you have to break a few eggs?” Well, to make a pastel painting you have to break a few sticks.

So I always get annoyed with taking photos of my finished work…

Portraits are a treasure hunt… searching… searching…

Once the client is satisfied with the overall design and I know what their goals are in the commission, it is time to get to work.

I have worked with artists creating commissions thoroughout the years and one of the biggest pieces of advice I can give to them is to do your homework.

I have a new commission…

A painting is theater.

So I am not an expert on abstract paintings. In fact, when I go to a museum or show, they don’t tend to capture my attention. The only clear exception for me has been Frances Kline.

I see portraits all the time with teeth… oh man, just don’t do it.

A brush is an artist’s friend, so we need to take care of our pals…

“It’s hard to dance with a devil on your back so shake him off…”   – Florence and the Machine

The weather has been nice where I am lately so I recently found myself out on the grass looking up at white, fluffy clouds moving quickly past the trees.

I am a bionic woman.

Pastel Is a tactile medium.

I am crabby. Crabby, crabby, crabby…

And just like an an awkward teenage girl, when a line grows up it can get curvy.

A line is the most powerful tool in art.

There is something inherently powerful about welding a brush…

You know you are an artist when…

So while in quarantine I have been doing critiques for artists…

Sometimes a light shines in the darkness… or at least into your living room.

I am busier then ever… so why do I feel that I am not getting much done?

Hi! this week I am taking you to a wonderful blog spot called How to Pastel.

In the very beginning of designing this painting I asked myself- “What is most important?”

Hang in there everyone! Glad you could join me again this week from containment. I sincerely hope that

“What color should I use for skin?” I get asked this question all of the time.

“Pink” is just a name for a broad category of colors.

I often see artists getting ready to paint something like this flower above and I watch them getting out all their pretty, pink pastel sticks or start to mix up pink paint… uh… nope.

I got new glasses.......

More on those panels!

This week I will take you through the stages that the paintings went through for the restaurant project that was discussed last week.

I recently found myself painting in oils for a new Restaurant…

Over the holidays I was...

My easel broke…

Lately I have noticed a weird phenomenon…

Tomorrow in the United States is Thanksgiving.

One of my favorite...

All light sources have an inherent color. Photos tend to throw things off so we see things as “white light”

While you are reading this I am in day 4 of Jury Duty. Yup, this week I am a servant of the State.

If you paint portraits from photos, you instantly have a battle on your hands because those pesky photo references tell lies. Here’s why.

Controlling color is one of the most important things you can do as an artist… as well as the most difficult.

My students often complain about painting a nose. I hear ya, they are tough… so let’s look at a few things to make painting the schnoz a little bit easier.

I recently posted a little oil painting that I was working on last week and was pleasantly surprised when it received a lot of attention on Facebook. SO cool! So I thought I would show how this little image came to be.

I am always amazed when people tell me, “Oh! you are so talented!!” as though my work stems magically from fairies and pixie dust. Nope. Good art is created out of dedicated time and knowledge.