Art is long and life is short.
I'm finally painting again, thanks to a lesson in self-compassion that I received after attending my third seminar (out of four required) in UT's Human Dimensions of Organization "Thinking Smarter" certificate program on November 13. I'm hoping to guest blog for HDO's In the Loop as I have in the past, so I'll hold off... Continue Reading →
It's been four months since my last post. Thank you for standing by, dear readers. My last post was about caregiving, and when I wrote it, I felt confident I could return to painting while my mom lived with me and fought pancreatic cancer. That wasn't to be the case, as the roller coaster of this... Continue Reading →
The San Miguel market is located in the heart of Madrid's tourist center, right next to the Plaza Mayor. Completed in 1916, it is the only surviving iron structure market in Madrid today, having been rescued from abandonment and disrepair by a group of investors in 2003 who restored and reopened it in 2009 and adapted it... Continue Reading →
I write about the creative process and its importance, but, I have to say, stepping back from a completed painting is such a joy. In my post Confronting a disappointing piece, I described how I was determined to get my painting mojo back during the summer by taking a break from a difficult work that wasn't... Continue Reading →
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 →
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 →
"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 →
I showed up at my computer early this morning with a fragment of an idea to build out in this post. It wasn't coming out right, so I got up from my chair to get a second cup of coffee to clear the cobwebs. I noticed the November issue of RealSimple on the kitchen table,... Continue Reading →
On Sunday, I walked into Michael's studio and immediately noticed that my painting - I'm still working on the study of Rouault's The Old King - was on the easel, but the photo of the original was not. I was on to Michael and said, "You are taking away my crutch." He replied that yes, indeed,... Continue Reading →
Today I saw the phrase "show up" three times. The first time was in Seth Godin's blog around 7 am, where he reminds us that we have to do more than show up, that our job is "to surprise and delight and to change the agenda." Around 9 am I got an email from a friend with a... Continue Reading →
Where's my paintbrush? 