Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. ~ Pablo Picasso A lot of my sketchbooks are filled with doodles from daily life: coffee shops and the people in them, parks and riverbanks, nearby buildings and far-off vistas. They are records of my day, of the days that fill my weeks. Those rough sketches […]
Life as Inspiration
Life was meant to be lived and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt I recently read this passage and just wanted to share it: One of the benefits of being an artist is that everything that happens to you—no matter how traumatic […]
The terror of sharing your work
You are only entitled to the action, never to its fruits. ~ Bhagavad Gita It can be terrifying to share your work as an artist. Something that you create seems to represent who and what you are to others. And whether it is accepted or rejected then seems to reflect directly on you. But does […]
It’s Spring!
Spring won’t let me stay in this house any longer! I must get out and breathe the air deeply again. ~ Gustav Mahler At least for the last few days, it’s even felt like it! (We’ll ignore the forecast for the next few days for right now.) I’ve been digging out my watercolors and sketchbook […]
Live Your Life
We are all so obsessed with creating lives of meaning and service and joy when most of us already have them. ~ Mrs. Yalen In his book I Will Teach You To Be Rich Ramit Sethi shares how to get your financial house in order. He also talks about living a rich life – which looks […]
Art Contest? Art Contest!
Let no experience pass that thrills you, scares you, or challenges what you think you know. Yay!!! The second Art Supply House Art Contest of 2019 is live, as of today. You can get more information here on our website. (You may want to bookmark that page, as it will hold the information for all […]
Limits provide freedom
Restrictions multiply creativity. It might not be true in all parts of life, but as far as creativity goes – unlimited options so frequently result in paralysis. If you can do anything, with anything, then your mind goes crazy with all of the potential options – it seems to be overwhelmed and just goes blank. […]
Art as Life Restoration
You see how few things you have to do to live a satisfying and reverent life? ~ Marcus Aurelius I just finished reading Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport and have to say that I greatly enjoyed it, even (or especially) as an IT guy in a previous life. One of the suggestions that Cal gives is to […]
A happy little snow-bank over here….
“I chose Cadmium Red Light as our company color, after reading Kandinsky’s “Concerning the Spiritual in Art”, which declares that yellow advances, blue recedes, green is at rest, and red vibrates in place. I saw Cadmium Red Light as vibrating with tremendous potential, which is what I hope our colors do for artists – to […]
Creative Tension
All in all, the creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world. ~ Marcel Duchamp There is often a tension between the internal and external worlds. It exists between an artist’s vision for a project and the final results. It’s there between the […]