When I was in the 4th grade, on random – but mercifully infrequent – Friday afternoons, we would “have art.” Paper was distributed, crayons were exhumed from the bottom of desks, & an LP was put on the turntable. The mandate: Draw whatever the music, be it...
Every now & then, as I’m leaving the gallery where I teach on Saturdays, I take a short detour downstairs to spend a few minutes in front of what I refer to as “my wall.” This is the spot where, at any given time over the past 10-plus years, a half-dozen or...
I once read a quote attributed to Pierre-Auguste Renoir that said something like, “I have painted every day of my life.” I remember feeling tremendously impressed by this statement but also vaguely disconcerted for it simply sets the creativity bar, the passion...
Here’s something I’ve been puzzling over for the last 20-odd years: Why is it so very difficult for me to give myself permission to go into the studio to work on a project if it happens that the house hasn’t been cleaned in over a week or some other,...
I’ve always had a penchant for shadowy things. For example, I’m attracted to (some might say, addicted to) film noir & mystery books. I adore listening to old radio programs like Suspense & The Whistler. And, at this time of year in particular, I find...
All through grade school & well into college, I habitually obsessed over tests & homework assignments. Hoping to allay my anxieties, my parents would always tell me, “Just do the best you can.” Naturally I understood, equally well at age 9 as at...
