This started out as a simple dream of making homemade wine. It turned into an exploration I never expected. My first taste of dandelion wine was disappointing. One of my cousins used to make it every year and it always tasted like pure rot-gut. It wasn't until I met a 70-year-old Italian in Montreal's Little... Continue Reading →
Amanda Gorman is my new creative hero. At age 22 she has become the youngest Inaugural Poet in history as she delivered her original poem, "The Hill We Climb," at the Capitol during the 2021 inauguration of President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Her powerful performance is even more impressive given the fact... Continue Reading →
"What did you do during the pandemic?" As an artist, the expected answer was that I had plenty of time to create new art. Or work on my film. I did neither. Instead, I made wine. Most will agree that 2020 was the year from hell for everyone except Jeff Bezos. Mine actually started... Continue Reading →
Even though we are still self-isolating, there is a certain adjustment to this COVID lifestyle thrust upon us by this coronavirus pandemic. It involves Beauty.
Fine art photographer Tom Kiefer wanted to portray America. But when he took a day job as a janitor at a US Customs Border Protection Facility near the US-Mexico border, a disturbing discovery changed his photography – and his life – forever.
Join us on a voyage without leaving home! Experience Canada's Yukon Territory through the eyes of its artists as Artful Vagabond's Serena Kovalosky takes you on an artful tour, in collaboration with international art magazine, ACS Magazine.
If you had the opportunity to say ONE THING to a room filled with each of the world’s leaders, what would your message be? And if you were an artist, and you could present ONE WORK OF ART in an exhibition for these world leaders that might inspire them to talk to each other and... Continue Reading →
Angie Bowie is a pop culture icon. Née Mary-Angela Barnett, she met rock legend David Bowie in the seventies when she was only nineteen, yet her creative influence and marketing savvy helped contribute to the style, image and success of Ziggy Stardust in the emerging era of glam rock. Their ten-year marriage as an openly bisexual... Continue Reading →
Leningrad, Russia – 1970s. A talented young painter, Ilya Shevel, enters the Secondary Art School of Russia’s Academy of Fine Art, but finds the Soviet-mandated academic style of realism too restrictive and “uninteresting.” At home, the artist is surrounded by the art and creative thinking that truly inspires him. His father, architect Vladimir Shevel (Shevelenko),... Continue Reading →
Nicholas Benson’s art is the sculpted word. A third-generation stone carver, calligrapher and designer, and recipient of an NEA Grant and a MacArthur Fellowship, Benson’s hand-carved work can be seen on memorials and buildings throughout the United States, including the National World War II Memorial inscriptions and the The National Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial inscriptions... Continue Reading →
Alyssha Eve Csük is a fine art photographer, fascinated by places of bygone industry – places that are “suspended in time – a suspension that disorients, that accentuates the visual.” Her photographs in the Slate as Muse exhibition at the Slate Valley Museum surprised most visitors used to seeing slate’s muted tones on rooftops and... Continue Reading →
When people think of Georgia O’Keeffe, they see the iconic image she cultivated during her years in the American Southwest. But from 1918 until 1934, prior to moving to New Mexico, O’Keeffe spent most of each year at Alfred Stieglitz’ family estate in Lake George, NY, where she produced some of her greatest, most innovative... Continue Reading →
America in the 1950s holds a certain nostalgia, especially for those of us baby boomers who were born during the two decades immediately following World War II. Life was simpler back then and the world was a kinder, gentler place that was filled with magic that came from our unlimited imaginations. There were no cell... Continue Reading →
Art is a deeply powerful tool that can enhance a spiritual practice and, at the same time, a spiritual practice can bring another dimension to an artist’s work. Robert Bridges practices what he calls “contemplative photography,” using his camera as a meditative tool and as a means of concentrating awareness and focusing his intent. “Contemplation... Continue Reading →
Simon Beck creates large-scale “paintings” in the snow by walking them out, step by step, wearing snowshoes. Read about how he does it.
Toys are what sparks a child’s imagination as they spend hours each day creating and playing out stories inspired by real life. Revisiting old toys as an adult can bring up surprisingly strong emotional connections and can offer revealing perspectives when explored through the creative process of art. Juan Rodrigo Piedrahita is a painter who... Continue Reading →
The kaleidoscope is a fascinating visual toy, with its name derived from Ancient Greek meaning “observer of beautiful forms.” It magnificently alters the scene before you, as bits and pieces of life are reflected off tiny mirrors to create beautiful, mandala-like images that shift and change, depending on where you point it. Tathi Premchand is... Continue Reading →
Why do artists create self-portraits? What’s it like to create something so intensely personal and how does the artist “step back” enough from knowing the subject too well in order to be the artist and the subject at the same time? Vladimir Kezerashvili creates the most extraordinary still-life paintings. As I was perusing his portfolio,... Continue Reading →
Creativity and entrepreneurs: New leaders are revolutionizing business through creative thinking - and they're learning those skills from artists.
Growing up with Barbie as an example of the “perfect” female body, followed by the pencil-thin models in the fashion world, young girls often develop unrealistic ideas of what they’re “supposed” to look like. It takes an artist, one who sees the nude body – imperfections and all – as the ultimate subject for a... Continue Reading →
Artists are always looking for ways to expand their market while protecting the integrity of their work. Sculptors cast their sculptures in alternative materials while painters might create a series of limited-edition prints or find other unique ways to get their work out to a wider public. Richard Malinsky’s paintings are collected for their emotionally... Continue Reading →
Inspiration can come from anywhere and the Artist Mind thrives on the unusual and the unexpected. For many artists, researching alternative mediums brings new perspectives into their creative practice. Diane Clement is an artist who uses a wide variety of products and techniques, mixing assorted paints, water, beer, wine, oils, alcohol….and even Lear jets! “I... Continue Reading →
Art can serve as a means of expression when adversity strikes. It can provide an escape, it can offer solace or it can be a way to express and sort through the emotions that surround the event. But for painter Brian Glenn Truex, art also became a tool to explore the development of his inner... Continue Reading →
There is a legend among the Inuit of the Northwest Territories of Canada that tells the story of Kujiak, a young boy who was considered an outcast by his mother and three sisters and forced to live with the dogs in the foyer of their igloo. He had made himself a knife in order to... Continue Reading →
The expression of movement is always a challenge for those of us who work with the sculptural form – but when an artist transcends the grounded physicality of the medium, the result can be one of awe and surprise. Johnson Cheung-shing Tsang is a Hong Kong sculptor specializing in ceramics, stainless steel sculpture and public... Continue Reading →
In most creative realms, trends are often what drives sales and, particularly in recent years, a majority of the large-scale, commercially-driven art, music, film and literature we consume is created from proven “formulas” and popular themes. I am always grateful to discover artists who explore subjects, themes and styles that are outside of the mainstream... Continue Reading →
Humble organics in the service of a greater purpose. The deeply complex abstract paintings of Saba Hasan from New Delhi, India have a universal language that transcends culture and politics and speaks directly to the heart. Hasan’s materials are her alphabet. She’s been known to use nails, fabric, sand and leaves, slashing the work and... Continue Reading →
Water isn’t meant to be controlled, but a watercolor artist can offer insights into how it might be managed….. #94 – Each artistic medium has its own energy that the Artist must learn to properly manage. This one is about Water. I’ve always admired watercolor artists. It is perhaps one of the toughest artistic mediums... Continue Reading →
[Today's featured artwork for Day 32 of the 365 Days Project is by Kimber Berry] Dance. If you want to dance, invite an artist. #32 – Artists know how to dance. They dance with their paint, their forms, their words, their music. I’ve always experienced life in full-blown living color. And it surprises me when... Continue Reading →
[Today's featured artwork for Day 25 of the 365 Days Project is by Jan Hopkins] When your materials choose YOU……. #25 – I didn’t choose the materials I use in my work, they somehow found me so that I could create from that deep, rich place that long-time artists know. If my logical brain had... Continue Reading →
[Today's featured artwork for Day 4 of the 365 Days Project is by Leslie Parke] Curiosity. This hallmark of the Artist Mind is the most entertaining - to me, anyway - although I do have to rein it in sometimes in certain social situations. #4 – My Artist Mind has the curiosity of a small... Continue Reading →
[Today's featured artwork for Day 3 of the 365 Days Project is by Kesha Bruce] Ditch the rules. I had plans, but I should have known. For this project, I had decided that I would write one affirmation per day as I arose each morning for the next 365 days. But every time one would... Continue Reading →
The sculptural piece pictured above is one of mine. It was a departure from my usual work, which made it a challenge to create and raised all sorts of doubts about my validity as an artist. What started off as a "mistake" ended up pushing the boundaries of my artistic practice. It’s the perfect image... Continue Reading →
[Today's featured artwork for Day 1 of the 365 Days Project is by Rick Hunt] After I wrote yesterday’s post, I started doubting the validity and purpose of the “365 Days project. But when I woke up this morning and wrote down the first of what will be 365 affirmations, I felt profoundly connected to... Continue Reading →
I wasn’t going to make a New Year’s Resolution this year. Over the decades, I’ve already attempted the obvious ones – where I’ll lose weight, make my first million, find the love of my life, quit my day job, become an artist. (I did manage to achieve the last two, and the rest…..well, they’re still... Continue Reading →
Dining in my neck of the woods can be an adventure. Sure, there are extraordinary restaurants and delightful cafés scattered throughout back roads and rural villages of upstate New York and Vermont, but once the leaves fall off the trees and a brisk chill fills the air, an annual tradition draws people from miles around:... Continue Reading →
Man has been creating “art” long before the arrival of museums and galleries. Primitive art had a spiritual purpose rather than an intellectual or a commercial agenda and the best examples of this are the 20,000-year-old cave paintings in Lascaux, France which carry an ancient energy and a symbolism that still resonates in today’s computer-driven... Continue Reading →
I grew up on John Wayne movies and “spaghetti westerns,” where the Hollywood version of the relationship between American cowboys and Native Americans was more than slightly exaggerated. As a child, the game of “Cowboys and Indians” was a popular one in our neighborhood, with “cowboys” shooting their “guns” at the “Indians” who responded in... Continue Reading →
I used to wear black at my exhibitions. Back when I lived in Montreal and was regularly touring the gallery circuit at the beginning of my career, I noticed that many artists wore black at their art openings like it was some sort of unwritten rule. I also saw that there were artists who wore... Continue Reading →
Léa Rivière is an extraordinary painter. When I had my studio in Montreal’s St-Henri district, Léa occupied the studio directly below mine. We became good friends almost immediately, sharing stories and philosophical views over late-night dinners. We rarely talked about our work specifically, our conversations tended to focus mostly on the business of art. It’s... Continue Reading →
I’m collecting shoes. Juicy shoes. Shoes that aren’t afraid of being different, or saying what they really think. Shoes that tell our history, tell a story, or perhaps even tell lies. Ever since my experience with Richard G. Murphy’s shoes, and other shoes sent in by my readers, I’ve become fascinated with foot coverings that... Continue Reading →
As an artist living in a society in transition, I was becoming concerned about the place of art in these shifting times. Relationships and visual experiences seem to be moving from real life to the virtual world, and I wondered whether art, galleries and the living artists of today were in danger of becoming disconnected... Continue Reading →
A Cheese for Truck Drivers It’s not about the cheese. Some time ago, I overheard a conversation in a Vermont country store about a special cheese that is produced – and sold – only in Vermont. A variety of excellent, locally-produced cheeses abound in the Green Mountain State, but this particular one caught my attention... Continue Reading →
