I stumbled upon this fantastic video that talks about the history of when art and craft became two different things. Definitely worth a few minutes of your time: Here's a bit of the content from the video: It might seem obvious to us today to view people, such as da Vinci or Michelangelo, as legendary artists, and, of course, they possessed extraordinary talents, but they also happened to live in the right place at the right time, because shortly before their lifetimes the concept of artists hardly existed....It wasn't until around 1400 that people began to draw a line between... Read more →

A collection of miscellany for you today: ONE: Pastels This week I was delighted to be a guest in Andrea Chebeleu's Under the Influence art journaling lesson. The focus for her students was on pastels and so I went digging for a few pastel videos that I've done over the years: My current collection of pastels includes: oil pastels wax pastels PanPastels soft pastels They each have such different qualities. It's hard to choose a favorite! TWO: Watertown Arts Market I will have a booth at the Watertown Arts Market this Saturday -- August 19 -- from 12-5pm at Filipello... Read more →

For years and years, I swatched paint in notebooks or loose sheets and then I decided to make it all a bit easier and more organized. This is my color rolodex: Watch the video to learn all about it: As I mentioned in the video, three things I love about my rolodex system: It's easy to add and remove cards. I can easily compare colors across brands, or simply to compare. It's simple to create a color palette. I simply pull cards and put the palette together. No guessing. THIS is the rolodex that I own. I use the regular... Read more →

Monday was the Member Livestream and someone asked a question about drawing. The main demo I did was based on a photo of Lady Gaga from a magazine advertisement. This is how it turned out: But, as you may have guessed from the title of this post, I've got a bit of a lecture to deliver. Drawing is a skill, like writing. Some people may be naturally more gifted at it, but with practice, everyone can draw. The key here is practice. When you say, "I can't draw," I hear, "I don't practice drawing." I'm pretty sure that I can't... Read more →

I'm so delighted to share that I am the guest on the current episode of the Craftermath Podcast. The host of the podcast is Tania Ahmed, who was a guest on my podcast, The Adventures in Arting Podcast, back in 2021. Here's a quote from my conversation with Tania: You can listen to that 2021 podcast HERE. If you'd like to listen to this week's Craftermath season 2, episode 2 conversation with me, you can do so below: Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

You know what they say: Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life! Quite often people sign up for coaching with me because they want to transition into becoming a working artist. I then have to break the bad news to them: being a working artist turns out to be a lot less about making art and a lot more about running a business. So the thing you need to love is business and branding and marketing. Otherwise, it will definitely feel like work. Let's oversimplify the situation and break it down into a set... Read more →

I stumbled upon this video from Monica Maldonado on YouTube. I kept saying, "Yes!" throughout the video because I agree so much with everything she talked about in her voiceover. In fact, most of the classes I teach are rooted in a similar philosophy of discovery. Watch the video for more: To summarize: Style is what an artist uses to make their work recognizable. It can be a brush stroke, a technique, a subject, etc. Voice is how someone expresses an idea or feeling with their work. It's more than just style. Style and voice are different for everyone. We... Read more →

I was reading one of my favorite fashion blogs yesterday and saw an Alexander McQueen collection in which the textiles are inspired by "The Garden of Earthly Delights" by Hieronymus Bosch. And here is one piece from the collection: You can see more photos HERE. Also yesterday, by coincidence, my Mother sent me a link to a New York Times article about Louis Vuitton using Joan Mitchell's artwork in their advertising campaign even after the Joan Mitchell foundation said, "No." They have a blanket policy that they don't license her artwork and it can only be used for educational purposes.... Read more →

Sending all of you a lot of love! Here is some heart art from over the years: Which one is your favorite? Hope you have a terrific day! Read more →

I wrote this post in May of 2007 -- more than FIFTEEN years ago. Wow! I have been blogging for a loooong time. I was a different person 15 years ago. Childless. Married to a different man. Living in NYC. Working in the theatre. Art as a hobby. And yet, I was the same person I am now -- inquisitive, thoughtful, approaching art through an intellectual lens, and always striving to improve. Despite the cringe-worthy reference to the New York Times article about a generation of sore losers, I feel like this blog post gets at so many things I... Read more →