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No Christmas Spirit? Advice on How to Create Some Christmas Cheer This Year

No Christmas Spirit? Advice on How to Create Some Christmas Cheer This Year

If ever we needed a creative Christmas it’s this year. As Christmas is ramping up so is the pandemic. Many people that I talk to say they’re having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. Understandably so! This year is just so weird and freaking hard as hell to be honest. I’m sure the majority of us have a really bad case of Covid fatigue.  It's hard to project forward into the future and realize that these are hard times but this too shall pass. Covid is just temporary. We don’t know how temporary, but it is temporary.  Crimson...Read More
How to Get Through a Covid Christmas with Joy and Hope

How to Get Through a Covid Christmas with Joy and Hope

Plan for a positive future. Right now I can’t go to my beloved Paris or anywhere for that matter. You’d think thinking about Paris would be depressing. But for me, it’s the exact opposite. You see one day I actually want to live in Paris. At least for a year. So I’ve bumped that dream up to as soon as possible after Covid ends. I spend time looking at apartments for rent and saving them in my favorites tab. I even found one with a rooftop terrace with a view of the Eiffel Tower. Ooh, la la! I daydream about...Read More
My Grandma and Modern Art

My Grandma and Modern Art

I’m writing this post today as I’m missing my grandma and family very much. Since I can’t be with them this Thanksgiving due to Covid this is my way of connecting with them again. Also to share with you about the role my grandma played in me becoming an artist and the role you can play.  Don’t underestimate a small choice like having a piece of art on your walls for future generations.  So when I was a little girl I started drawing a lot around age ten. I always loved being creative. Making things, coloring, and doing arts and...Read More
3 Artists that Inspire Me the Most

3 Artists that Inspire Me the Most

Today I’m sharing with you my top three historical artists that both inform and inspire my own still life painting. I’ll be sharing what I’ve learned from each artist.  Here we go! Jean Baptiste Simeon Chardin  Chardin was an 18th-century French artist known for his still-life paintings. He was very influential and successful during his time even though still life painting wasn’t highly regarded.  One of my very first copies was of a Chardin painting. I fell in love with one thick bravura brushstroke on the painting “Still Life with Fowl” and knew I had a lot to learn from...Read More
There’s 1 thing that contributes to the best quality to my art

There’s 1 thing that contributes to the best quality to my art

No, it’s not going to art school or using the best art supplies. Although those can help too. But the one thing that I do that contributes the most quality to my artwork is that  I paint from life.  I’ll tell you why that contributes the most quality to my artwork so you can understand what I mean.  When I started painting I took several different classes across the country. Most of them taught me how to work from photos or how to do abstract paintings from imagination. I was happy to be painting, but something always felt off. I...Read More
3 Reasons Why I Left Galleries

3 Reasons Why I Left Galleries

Working with galleries is the traditional path for most artists. There’s a level of prestige and validation that’s implied when you’re accepted into a gallery. This was the path I took as a new artist upon graduation from art school 9 years ago. I remember when I received my first gallery representation I was so excited! For eight years I would work with 13 different galleries. My experience with them led to my decision to leave galleries altogether and represent myself in 2019. This choice didn’t happen overnight but evolved over time. I’ve never shared the reasons why I made...Read More
Have you found your art tribe?

Have you found your art tribe?

We don’t want your content; we want your connection! This is the message I wish I could shout out to the world and to artists right now. For at least the two years in my business, I’ve seen that community and connection is more important, more nurturing and more powerful than just content.  During this Covid19 crisis, this idea of connection over content has been beautifully proven true. While everyone is isolated and quarantined, my online group is coming together more and more intimately. Instead of growing further apart, they’ve grown closer together. They’ve shared their fears and frustrations. They’ve created...Read More
What I Can and Can’t Live Without

What I Can and Can’t Live Without

Have you ever noticed that you think you can’t live without something until it’s taken away? We’ve all learned so many lessons since the hit of Covid this year. Some of those lessons have been harder than others and some have left us focusing on what’s really important in our lives for the better. I’ve certainly learned about what I can and can’t live without.  Covid took away things that I enjoyed as rewards and self-care like getting massages, pedicures and manicures, haircuts and facials, getting dressed up to go out for dinner with Monte, the symphony, and travel to...Read More
What do you need?

What do you need?

I want to hear from you. What do you need to achieve your artistic goals? I thought going to art school would magically turn me into a successful artist overnight. What I found out was that art school, while it taught me the fundamentals of technique, would contribute very little to my success as an artist.  Dutch Red and Lemons, 12" x 16" There was very little accountability or customized mentoring at the school.  So I had to figure that out on my own. I became OBSESSED with goal setting, learning about planning, time management, and understanding the psychology behind...Read More
Have You Decided?

Have You Decided?

Have you made the most important decision you’ll ever make as an artist?  When I took the chance of a lifetime at age 28 and enrolled in art school (and plunked down $25,000 to do so) I thought that was the most important decision I needed to make.  Surprise Sunday Bouquet, 16" x 20" It wasn’t. It was a move in the right direction, but it wasn’t the most important decision.  At the end of my first year of art school, I was thinking about quitting.  I called family members and filled with pity I lamented that I just wasn’t...Read More