Today I’m sharing with you my artist’s manifesto. We all know that creating brings up perils- the perils of fear, self doubt, inner criticism, second guessing, procrastination and even resignation. These fears can stop us in our tracks. Our job is to move beyond the fears and create anyway. A few years ago, I […]
The Artist’s Journey Book Review by Cheryl Wilson
Bold Strokes To Spark Creativity Cheryl Wilson @cherylwilsonart reviews The Artist’s Journey: Bold Strokes To Spark Creativity in her Instagram feed and IGTV. See the video below. View this post on Instagram The Artist’s Journey: Bold Strokes To Spark Creativity by Nancy Hillis January 27, 2019 Nancy Hillis, MD lives in Santa Cruz, California. […]
The Tyranny of Technique in Abstract Painting
As a teacher of abstract painting, I see recurring themes in artist’s struggles with their art. One of these is the sentiment: “I feel like my art doesn’t measure up to what I want it to be”. There are 4 big traps that artists face in their life cycle as artists. These are the places […]
The Artist’s Journey: Unfettered Self Expression in Art
The Artist’s Journey: A conversation between the spontaneous and the considered When creating an abstract painting, there’s an interaction between unfettered self expression and awareness of principles that scaffold and create visual engagement. It’s an ongoing dialogue and dance. If your art is purely about spontaneity the risk is a chaotic painting with little […]
The Artist’s Journey: Making The Journey Yours
Inside The Artist’s Journey Book: Personalizing Your Journey/Making The Journey Yours The artist’s journey is an inner journey. It’s about facing yourself and the inner perils of creating- and going ahead anyway. The Artist’s Journey book exhorts you to move closer and closer to your deepest self expression in your art and life. Artist Kathy Kimball […]
The Artist’s Journey: The Long Game
There’s a big game today in America- the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is an an American sports tradition associated with the consumption of vast amounts of junk fund and the wagering of staggering amounts of money. The GDP of some small countries pales in comparison. It’s a zero sum game. There’s a winner […]
The Artist’s Journey: Highlights From The Book Launch
Highlights from The Artist’s Journey book launch The Artist’s Journey Is An Inner Journey One of the lessons I’ve learned over the years in being an artist as well as working with artists in workshops and classes is that being an artist is ultimately an inner journey. While we learn concepts, principles and techniques, we find […]
The Artist’s Journey: Carpe Diem
Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero -Horace, Odes (23 B.C.) I love this Latin aphorism from Horace’s Odes which translates to: “Seize the day, put very little trust in tomorrow”. Memento mori (remember you are mortal) is another phrase Horace used in relation to carpe diem to urge us to use the knowledge of our mortality […]
The Artist’s Journey: Celebrating Serendipity In Art & Life
Serendipity in Art & Life A painting must be free to wander. The best works are those that seem to simply happen. Michael Cutlip I love this quote by Michael Cutlip. Years ago, I was carving a marble sculpture, creating a hole through the piece that was emerging as an abstract heart, when the chisel […]
The Artist’s Journey: The “Adjacent Possible”
Trailer for My NEW Book: The Artist’s Journey: Bold Strokes To Spark Creativity The Adjacent Possible The sine qua non of being an artist is experimentation- it’s about continually evolving your art. -Nancy Hillis, M.D. Every move you make on your canvas creates the next possibility. The evolutionary concept of the adjacent possible […]