Musings

What Type Of Paint Should I Use? - Oil Paint vs Watercolor

What Type Of Paint Should I Use

Oil vs. Watercolor - What type of paint should I use?

Part of the fun in being an artist is making your own rules!

You get to choose....

  • What you paint.
  • Where you paint.
  • What you paint on.
  • What paint to use.

I believe in the freedom of artistry and letting an artists find their own method of expression.

But I love giving some insight into the different options that an artist has to express themselves. And today, we'll discuss oil paints vs watercolor paints. 

Oil Paints are paints w…

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Cross country tour, Part 3, and further thoughts, with reflections on the year 2018

I dropped the ball on recounting our cross-country tour soon after we arrived back home. Life has a way of interrupting our momentum, especially when we turn our attention toward other matters. With the year 2018 now in the rearview mirror, I thought it a good time to finish recounting the big trip from the fall, since we’re about to hit to the road again for a “short” trip along the Eastern US.  More about that in a bit.

After Houston and the remarkable rendezvous with Marla, we set out in a w…

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What should I charge for my paintings?

I have a question for you....

Do you paint for fun?

Or....

Do you paint for money?

If you ask me, I paint for both!

I LOVE to paint! I always have.

In my mind, there is nothing in the world quite like bringing an image to life after it has been filtered through my mind.

And then.... 

I LOVE selling my artwork to people who see value in my creation.

Talk about the ultimate validation of my creativity! 

So many of my students also sell their masterpieces to people who appreciate their wo…

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Do you love to paint?

Contrary to popular belief, artists rarely love EVERYTHING they create.

And sometimes, professional artists are actually DISAPPOINTED with something they have created.

This is a common occurrence which almost always has a similar cause.

What is the cause?

Nine times out of ten, the artist is disappointed in their work because they didn’t LOVE the process of creating the work!

Loving the process is the key to creating satisfying, successful paintings, and being able to repeat this success.

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Reflections on a Road Well-Travelled, Part 2

After the first Houston workshop, we went right away for a walk and then settled into our evening. I didn’t post the completed demo until the next morning, Friday. Then we got going on the next workshop, same location, new group, and away we went. At our first break, I noticed someone had posted on Instagram that they lived in Houston and would love to take the workshop. Is that possible? I suggested they DM us and we could work something out. The workshop continued. That afternoon, when the day…

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Reflections on a Road Well-Travelled, Part 1

Aimee and I just completed a nearly 8 week, cross-country workshop tour of the USA. We taught six workshops, had two stand alone demos, visited countless wonderful friends, family, and communities along the way, and saw spectacular landscapes and vistas in nearly every region of the contiguous states with the exception of the Pacific Northwest. 

Our first stop was in Wilmington, NC, just after Hurricane Florence, where we were hosted by the Wilmington Arts Association, John Wulfmeyer, his lovel…

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Off we go!

Aimee and I packing up to go on tour with our first stop at the Art Loft in Dahlonega, Georgia. This a quaint foothill town about an hour north of Atlanta that we visited last year at the start of our cross country tour. Our host is the dynamic Anita Elder, a powerhouse of Southern charm who has transformed her abode into a an art workshop Mecca. We're excited to kick off our tour with Anita and her delightful band of intrepid artists.

From Dahlonega we travel to Louisiana, home of cajuns, craw…

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Well Underway

With a furious dash South, Aimee and I arrived in Dahlonega, GA, on Tuesday evening. The temps had soared into the 80's, for us a welcome respite from the frigid New England winter. But it proved to be a cruel deception as the following day the temps plummeted and a freeze warning was issued.

Whaat?!! This felt like we had unintentionally brought the cold scourge to the warm, springy South. Oh, well, out came the jackets.

On Thursday the workshop at The Art Loft opened with a packed house.

We…

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Old Home Week and Other Musings

After a highly successful weekend in Georgia at the Art Loft, where we made new friends and renewed some older ones, we dashed to Louisiana for our next workshop this weekend in Jennings. How special it has been to return to my roots in Louisiana, reconnecting with the people, the sights, the smells, and the myriad moods of this sultry, incandescent corner of the world.

We are fortunate to have the entire week to re-explore and re-discover all that is old as if it were new. I am fascinated by m…

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