And did you get what you wanted from this life, even so? I did. And what did you want? To call myself beloved, to feel myself beloved on the earth. ~Raymond Carver (1938-1988), Late Fragment I love this commencement address by Dean James Ryan of Harvard Graduate School of Education. In this talk he explores the potency […]
Abstract Art: The Intersection Of Knowing & Not Knowing
Activating The Deep River Of Creativity in Your Abstract Art A wonderful artist in my online course wrote to tell me the story of a large canvas residing in her studio. She felt it had once been quite good, only a bit of the painting lacking something. She went into the work many times and quickly […]
Create Your Deepest, Most Authentic Abstract Art
As an artist the biggest challenge to me is to not repeat myself. The best work is still tomorrow’s work, not the past Hung Liu The art of activating the canvas and bringing your painting to life with your own personal lexicon of mark making, expressive gestures and brushwork is nothing short of miraculous. To […]
The Chrysalis & The Butterfly: Why “Ugly” Abstract Paintings Matter
I’ve been thinking about so called “ugly” paintings lately. I see artists in workshops and classes excited with the beginnings of their paintings…they love activating the canvas with stream of consciousness mark making or with intuitive gestural expressions/shapes/color fields… …only to struggle with the middle of their paintings. In particular, I see artists grappling with […]
5 Reasons Why Trusting Yourself Is Everything In Abstract Painting
The biggest issue I see in every abstract painting course and workshop I teach is the difficulty artists have with trusting themselves I worked with a student at a workshop who created expressive, immediate, raw, calligraphic, continuous line, scroll-like horizontal paintings… And I watched her create astonishing work quickly and with confidence… Only to cover it […]
The Dark Night Of The Soul: Finishing Your Abstract Art
One of the biggest issues I see abstract artists struggle with in my online courses and live workshops is grappling with the middle of the painting. This is often expressed as “how do I finish my painting?” And finishing your abstract art is a whole topic unto itself. I like what Anselm Kiefer has to say […]
Painting Big: How To Face The Blank Canvas In Abstract Art
The Challenge Of Painting Big: How To Face The Blank Canvas I did something recently I don’t typically do. I took on the challenge of creating a 5 ft x 6 ft painting for a southern collector who loves my black & white gestural work and wanted something in that vein. I don’t usually […]
The Question Of Style In Abstract Painting
The Question Of Style One of the discussions that emerges in every course and workshop I’ve given is the question of style. There’s much gnashing of teeth regarding style. I think underneath the question of style are deeper questions. What Are The Deeper Questions? Questions like: What am I trying to express? Do I have anything […]
The Truth About Fear: The One Thing That Affects Everything In Your Art
The One Thing That Affects Everything I met with an artist yesterday whose first words to me were: “I’m second guessing everything I do” Working with clients in psychotherapy for years I know to pay special attention to the opening salvo of a session…because it’s often the most potent expression of their predicament. At the root of […]
Zero To One: Just Begin!
Zero To One: What Artists Can Learn From Mathematicians My mathematician/physicist/musician partner taught me a concept from math recently that rocked my world. He said that the difference between zero and one mathematically is bigger than the difference between any other two numbers! I found this hard to believe. How could this be? Isn’t the […]