Voluntary Boredom

When talking about art and art making we tend to use charged words.  We like dynamic compositions, vibrant colors, compelling narratives, gripping scenarios…well, here, let me pick up Art in America on my desk and open it at random,  here it is, the current March issue, page 139: “ …what ties together the exhibition’s diverse [...]

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Composition Study: Glenview Library with “Inner Light”

It was about 4 o’clock and the light favored Glenview Road. I was waiting on the side street, having just pulled out of the library’s parking lot.  I went over the to-do list for that evening in my head: emails, phone calls, drawings to finish,  a blog to write, what to do for dinner, you [...]

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The Studio Buzz

Buzz—Zone—Energy.  Whatever you call it, something extraordinary happens in a painting and drawing studio.    And, for now, I don’t even mean the results on paper and canvas.  I mean the change in the way your mind works.  Students have often told me,  that at the end of a three-hour class they SEE things differently.  The [...]

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The pleasure of plein air painting and John Singer Sargent (again)

The squeezable tube of paint was invented around 1840. It made painting outdoors possible.  You just packed up your materials and hiked to whatever you wanted to paint.  By the 1860’s painters were turning the art world on its head by painting “en plein air” (in open air) and observing the vivid colors of nature [...]

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The Consolation of Doodling

Your Internet Provider giveth and your Internet Provider taketh away.  Your call is important to us…your approximate waiting time is fifteen minutes…due to high volume of calls…you understand, don’t you.  No, AT&T, I don’t understand, and I’ve been trying to get a consistent answer from your people for three hours.  Insult to injury,  I have [...]

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