This White Mulberry Earthpod is one of two artworks-in-progress created for The White Mulberry Project: A Silk Road Runs Through It to be presented on August 26, 2023 in my studio's Eco-Garden in upstate New York. Why use a gourd? This form represents the roots of my artistic practice. My first Earthpod was created over... Continue Reading →
Gateway to Hell: Exploring an Ecological Mystery
Scrolling through the internet for a research project late one night, I came across this jaw-dropping photo that practically took my breath away. When I read the accompanying story, I learned it was a massive flaming gas crater in the middle of a desert in Turkmenistan nicknamed the "Gateway to Hell." Conflicting stories abound as... Continue Reading →
Creative Journey of a Riverbowl
EXCELLENT NEWS! I just finished Riverbowl III and am excited to announce the piece been acquired by The Folklife Center at Crandall Library in Glens Falls, NY for their collection. Thank you to Todd DeGarmo, Founding Director. I am celebrating this great honor! It took me three months to finish the piece. As I was working... Continue Reading →
George Forss: In Memory of a New York Street Photographer
George Forss was one in a million. When I heard of his recent passing at the age of 80, I crumbled in disbelief. George was one of those artists you just assume will live forever. He was a self-taught photographer selling his black-and-white photos on the streets of New York City in the seventies before... Continue Reading →
Interview with Angie Bowie: Inside the Creative Mind of a Pop Culture Icon
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 →
Looking in the Mirror: The Artist’s Self-Portrait – Day 332
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 →
The Artist’s Sketchbook – The Holy Grail to the Creative Mind – Day 104
[Today’s featured artwork for Day 104 of the 365 Days Project is by Jason Anthony Limberg.] The Artist’s sketchbook is often the closest thing to getting inside the Artist’s Mind. #104 – The Artist’s sketchbook is the place for pure, unbridled creation. Impulses, wisps of ideas, fragments of creative flashes are collected – a ready... Continue Reading →
Artists and Dyslexia – Day 103
[Today’s featured artwork for Day 103 of the 365 Days Project is by Michelle Vara.] What do Steve Jobs, Tom Cruise, Lewis Carroll, Steven Spielberg and Leonardo daVinci have in common? #103 – While not all Artists are dyslexic, the Artist Mind is the portal through which dyslexics experience their world. A vivid imagination. An... Continue Reading →
True Creative Human Relations – Day 102
[Today’s featured artwork for Day 102 of the 365 Days Project is by Kokichi Umezaki.] Imagine the power of living as a truly creative human being... #102 – The Artist Mind can teach us to live through the deep symbolism of a creative life. As I continue this journey celebrating artists and the creative mind... Continue Reading →
Transcending Technique: Art as a Spiritual Dance – Day 96
[Today’s featured artwork for Day 96 of the 365 Days Project is by Cathy Locke.] Technique is important to solid creative endeavors. But there’s more to art than technique... #96 – Technique lays the groundwork for the eventual dance with the creative muse. One of my earliest recollections as an artist was my frustration with... Continue Reading →
The Myth of the Disconnected Artist – Day 80
[Today’s featured artwork for Day 80 of the 365 Days Project is by Gregory Pelizzari.] Artists are knee-deep in life. #80 – Artists experience everything deeply – and one way or another that connection finds its way into their artwork, either consciously or unconsciously. One of the reasons I began this 365 Days Project was... Continue Reading →
How Juggling Made Me a Better Human (and Artist) – Day 79
Much of what I know about the creative process - and life - I learned from a circus acrobat. #79 – Artists in different mediums can offer each other surprising insights into the creative process. When I was living in Montreal, I had become friends with Cory, a student at the National Circus School. Cory... Continue Reading →
An Artist’s Sandbox – Day 77
[Today’s featured artwork for Day 77 of the 365 Days Project is by Elly Prestegård.] What if we could do it all? #77 – Artists often explore a variety of mediums…..but there are some who manage to roll them all into one creative adventure. Artists are like kids in a sandbox, bringing all of their... Continue Reading →
The Deliciousness of Color – Day 76
[Today’s featured artwork for Day 76 of the 365 Days Project is by Jan Crooker.] Creating a delicious world... #76 – Form, color, light and texture. Creatives in different mediums perceive the world from a variety of perspectives, offering a sumptuous banquet of experiences for the Artist Mind. During a road trip with two of... Continue Reading →
Cross-Training for Creatives – Day 59
[Today’s featured artwork for Day 59 of the 365 Days Project is by Kelly Borsheim.] The Artist as athlete. #59 – The multidisciplinary Artist is like the athlete who cross-trains – creative muscles are developed by exploring a variety of mediums. Cross-training helps athletes tone their muscles overall so they can be more effective in... Continue Reading →
Art and Jazz and the Truth about Sheer Luck – Day 48
[Today’s featured artwork for Day 48 of the 365 Days Project is by Jerry Hardesty.] Why the improvisational nature of creation sometimes feels like “sheer luck.” #48 – The art of creation is a combination of technical skill, artistic talent and letting go of the anticipated result to allow the work to create itself. When... Continue Reading →
Evolution – Day 47
[Today’s featured artwork for Day 47 of the 365 Days Project is by Serena Kovalosky.] #47 - Evolution is incremental and often goes unnoticed until enough change has been built up. February 16, 2022 I have updated this 2012 essay on “artistic evolution” to point out an evolution that has been taking place in real... Continue Reading →
The Inevitability of Influence – Day 46
[Today’s featured artwork for Day 46 of the 365 Days Project is by Lino Alviani.] Influence is inevitable in creating art. #46 – An Artist embraces artistic influences and then transcends them to create original work. A variety of influences can shape the outcome of creative work – poems, nature, philosophy, music and other artists’... Continue Reading →
Brainstorming – Day 43
[Today’s featured artwork for Day 43 of the 365 Days Project is by Przemek Krawczyński.] Looking for new ideas? Ask an artist. #43 – Artists excel at brainstorming. It takes the right questions to coax brilliant ideas out into the open. In conversations with my brother, we often find ourselves saying, “Wouldn’t it be cool... Continue Reading →
Developing a Creative Style – Day 42
[Today’s featured artwork for Day 42 of the 365 Days Project is by Vanessa Hadady.] Rather than developing a singular creative style, many artists prefer the freedom of working in multiple styles and busting the “Golden Handcuffs.” #42 – The Artist Mind knows no boundaries. Developing a singular creative style can stifle innovation. Emerging artists... Continue Reading →
How to Begin – Day 41
[Today’s featured artwork for Day 41 of the 365 Days Project is by Nicholas Bellamy.] How do artists begin (or begin again) from “nothing?” #41 – Nothing is created from “nothing.” The secret to beginning is to start with Something. Every day, artists throughout the world face the blank page, the empty canvas, the mound... Continue Reading →
Where Ideas Come From – Day 37
[Today’s featured artwork for Day 37 of the 365 Days Project is by Jason Nelson.] Creating art isn’t a magic act, it’s a relay race. #37 – Artists are always standing on the shoulders of those who came before. As much as we’d like to think inspiration arrives on a lightning bolt, the truth is:... Continue Reading →
No Rules – Day 3
[Today's featured artwork for Day 3 of the 365 Days Project is by Kesha Bruce] Ditch the rules. I had plans on exactly how I was going to tackle this 365 Day Project. I had decided that I would write one introspection per day as I arose each morning for the next 365 days. But... Continue Reading →
Why Artists Wear Black
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 →