All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. ― Jorge Luis Borges Covid-19 is killing people who haven't caught it. I just read the lament of a colleague whose out-of-work client committed suicide last week. That man won't...
These are days you'll remember. — Natalie Merchant While 2020 is the year everyone wants to forget, I'm among the lucky few who think it's a year of wonders. With so much time on my hands to paint, I feel I've reached a fresh plateau unimaginable only twelve months...
I found myself in love with this strange Wanderess. Maybe I was in love with the dream she was selling: a life of destiny and fate; as my own life up until we met had been so void of enchantment. — Roman Payne My first crush was...
Chaos, for me, breeds images. — Francis Bacon I've always been an über-neatnik. My studio—kept neat, clean, and in apple-pie order—reflects that. I worry sometimes my innate tidiness hampers me. Compare the condition of my studio to that of the great British painter Francis Bacon. Besides paint tubes, Bacon kept over...
It's heartwarming to hear family, friends and neighbors ask "How are you doing?" and mean it. So far, so good, is my answer. I'm asymptomatic, taking all the recommended precautions, and adding a few of my own (such as sniffing Stubb's Bar-B-Q Sauce every morning, to test...
Experience is merely the name men give to their mistakes. — Oscar Wilde Blame Trophy Communism: in our everybody-gets-a-trophy culture, self-criticism is hard to come by. Which means a lot of weak work gets off the drawing board. If you're a Trophy Capitalist, on the other hand, you don't...
Originality always happens as a byproduct of the search for the answers to a technical or aesthetic problem. — Robert Kulicke When you paint a pear, how original can you be? It depends on your definition of "original." Like a rose, a pear is a pear is a pear. And,...
Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world. ― Marilyn Monroe Fashion footwear―boots, shoes, sandals and slippers―no longer captures the bulk of consumer spending in the footwear category, according to retail analysts. "Athleisure"―sneakers, flats, slip-ons and flip-flops―has walked off with it. The reasons for the...
Art doesn’t have to be expensive. — Judith Selkowitz, Art Adviser Al, a painter I know, asked me yesterday about the size of my works. He's friend to another artist who is enjoying commercial success with large abstract paintings, which he sells to interior decorators. Al wondered...