What I did on my summer vacation

As I began writing this post, my daughter was looking over my shoulder and asked me if it was about how our summer vacation inspired me creatively, referencing the progress I've been making on a large painting since our return.  The answer was "yes, but..." School started last week. As the parent of a child... Continue Reading →

Pinterest as muse

I discovered Pinterest over the Independence Day weekend and am obsessed. Before I get to why I love it, I wanted to update my readers on my last post, "Confronting a disappointing piece."  Two of you commented with some excellent advice on divorcing myself from the "comfy confines of the art nursery" (love that) in... Continue Reading →

Confronting a disappointing piece

For almost three years now, I've been watching my art of oil painting unfold smoothly.  Until now.  I hit an unexpected wall on a painting I had been working on for three months.  This occurrence is so common among artists that it is practically cliché, yet I am struggling  to not view this as a... Continue Reading →

Morning pages

I began the practice of writing "morning pages" three years ago this week and wanted to celebrate this milestone by sharing my experiences with you.  If you already keep a journal or do morning pages, bravo!  If not, maybe this post can help motivate you to start. I began writing morning pages every day upon... Continue Reading →

Copying is a creativity killer

I had a recent experience, the details of which aren't necessary to get into for this post despite their high entertainment value.  The experience solidified my viewpoint on the subject of copying, and I wanted to share my thoughts with you, my readers, in a way that would provoke, engage, and encourage some good dialogue.... Continue Reading →

At the intersection of the arts and science

I heard someone say today that engineers and IT people have an "emotional barrier" and that top-level messaging coming out of my team should be more rational.  As a marketing change agent trying to push through a big idea, I sat back, listened, and took notes.  This topic preoccupied me for the rest of the... Continue Reading →

Artistic friendships

I have a great friend I'll call W for writer.  We worked together for six years in marketing at a high-tech company and respected each other very much.  I wouldn't say we were "friends" at the time; in fact, we didn't always agree on everything at work for a long time, until our last year... Continue Reading →

The one certainty in making art

A few posts ago, I wrote about letting go of uncertainties in art-making.  Like most, I keep bumping into this difficulty, and my lizard brain has recently been prone to such thoughts as "is this what I want to be painting right now?" or "what will my new boss think of this idea?" or "will... Continue Reading →

Creativity as competitive advantage – Part 2

This post is Part 2 of an exploration on creativity in the workplace, inspired after reading Josh Linkner's terrific book Disciplined Dreaming. I encourage my readers to pick up or download this book. As I did in the previous post on this topic, for now I am skipping the first four steps in Linkner's process... Continue Reading →

The incomparable Georges Rouault

"Anyone can revolt.  It is more difficult silently to obey our own inner promptings, and to spend our lives finding sincere and fitting means of expression for our temperament and our gifts."     - Georges Rouault, 1871-1958 My favorite artists for as long as I can remember have been the Spanish masters - Velazquez, Goya,... Continue Reading →

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