Today I went to my bank like I normally do and was asked how I'm coming with my "Christmas Commission". It's so nice to see people taking an interest in my work. People that I don't even know are waving "hi" to me. I'm not sure if they know I'm a local artist, or just picking up on my confidence and smile. I like to think that it's a combination of the two. My window display is coming in January so I'm hoping that even more people see what I have to offer as an artist. I plan on having eight to nine paintings along [...]

Here we are just one day before Thanksgiving and the start of the holiday season. If you get my newsletter (and I hope you do!), you know that my family has left cooking the Thanksgiving dinner to me. I'm good to go as the turkey has thawed out in the fridge at my mothers along with the other "trimmings" as I believe they are called. I got it planned out as best I could so we'll see what happens! What I really want to talk about today is of course, being thankful. Right now we are in the middle of very uncertain economic times [...]

As many of you know I have a very demanding day job which makes doing my artwork difficult when I come home at night. I sometimes have to force myself past my "tired" feelings so that I can produce some work on my paintings. Some days I'm successful and some I'm not but things click when I'm in the studio and I start working somewhere on a painting. I may decide to just block something in as my goal that night and leave it go at that or just start painting without a plan and see what happens. What I do know is that [...]

I found out through another artists blog that there is a new art scam out there. It seems people are making copies of artist instructional videos and selling them for their own profit. When will it end? I have always believed that if these kind of people put as time, planning, and effort into something creative and legal using their equipment and talents as they do their scams, they would be successful. Imagine that, making your own videos and selling them! I remember when the artist website "boon" was in full gear and the thing then was people taking your JPEGS and claiming them as [...]

I'm progressing smoothly with the "Christmas Commission" as all of the white canvas is now covered. I'm now able to see how all the elements of the painting are shaping up. What I have in front of me now is doing all the revisions based on what I'm seeing and then bring it home to a finished painting. As you know because this collector is giving this away as a Christmas present, I can't talk to much about what it is. Having said that, I can say that the sky came out good with a nice glow at the top that I have never have been [...]

Today I thought I would talk about what I call the"chess game" of art. When you start a painting you are thinking "a few moves ahead" just like a good chess player would. For example, when I'm painting the top of a sky I'm thinking about the transition from dark at the top, to light at the bottom. Another example is painting buildings. You want to do it in a way where you paint the back and work your way to the front. If you are a really good "chess player" you work on the building after the background areas are dry. This way you can [...]

Last night after taking care of some things I worked on my "Christmas" commission. It is starting to take shape nicely. As you know because this painting is going to be used as a Christmas present, I can't tell you anything specific about it. What I can say is that I was talking to another co-worker at my day job about it and she may want something similar for herself. I told her that I won't be able to get anything else done by the holidays but she is definitely interested in my work. The "buzz" looks to be starting as more and more [...]

On Tuesday night, our nation elected a new leader. Regardless of who you voted for (and you did vote I hope!), we have something different. We have two wars, a bad economy, and many other concerns facing this country. We can make the choice to focus on that or be optimistic and focus on the potential for good. Some might say, "what good?" For starters, people are still spending money but making sure they get a high "value" out of what they are spending it on. That alone is great news for artists that are able to explain to prospective collectors the fact that the [...]

I was going to make this post yesterday as planned but it was just too nice a day be inside the house all day with winter right around the bend. I was able to talk to Sue Matthews on Saturday, and my turn in the "Lincoln Avenue" window will be this January. I'm really looking forward to starting the year off with a way to show the community my work as well as my message that you should all know by now. Affordable, ready to hang, frame matches painting, and of course commissions done from photo. The bad news is that I won't be [...]