Art Instruction Blog
Why, oh Why do we do it?
Sometimes we wonder why we make art, against all odds. We fail. We fail to connect. We fail to see. We fail to be seen. Even our triumphs seem so short-lived. It seems so meaningless, so empty. We feel like giving up. Others do what we do so much better, so much...
Portrait Portrait
A Tale of Two Portraits "Great defect leads to great affect." unknown One of the things I enjoy most about teaching portrait workshops is that even though we are all working with the same method, the same palette, sometimes even the same POV, the paintings always turn...
Three Muses Demo
A step by step Process combing figure painting with landscape For those of you wanting to know more about alla prima methods and value based painting, here is a little demo of my most recent painting, "The Three Muses." This is the finished work is sold, but...
Progress
When nations grow old the Arts grow cold And commerce settles on every tree. William Blake Is this not happening right now? As individuality is being absorbed by the corporate behemoth, we find ourselves wondering why society is becoming more cynical, rather than...
The Chosen
"Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." Martin Luther King, Jr The following is...
A Conversation with Mary
Being Grateful Mary witnessed a subtle smile sneak across my face when I was writing in my journal this morning. She asked me why I was smiling. I told her she was observing the quiet, subtle but deeply satisfying feeling that a person has when they turn a phrase or...
Law of Attraction – Revisited
You Don't attract what you want. You attract what you believe. The Law of Attraction has always been presented to me, or at least in my understanding of it, was that wanting something enough would cause a thing to become true; that what I visualize, focus on, becomes...
Going to the Dogs
Finn has his day in the sun Another Holiday portrait gift, this time to the sister of her favorite friend, Finn. I always enjoy painting animals, to capture their personality and energy in paint is kind of a miracle. I love it when my sitter's caretaker says, "Yes,...
The Gift of Love
Portrait Capture's Morgan's Exuberance Just before Christmas, 2013, Morgan was presented with a very special gift. Her childhood will be remembered not only by her mom and dad, who treasured her enough to have an oil portrait, but by her children and her children's...
Conversation with Fredric DeJaco
I recently had a fascinating conversation with local actor and playwright, Fredric DeJaco, who closes as Scrooge this weekend at the Footlight Theatre, to find out why a veteran actor has decided to start writing plays in his early sixties. Fredric has completed...

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Exhausted but exhilarated having made a couple paintings during the first ever Charleston Plein Air competition at Mary Martin Gallery. The St Phillips painting was sold on the spot at the gallery as I was turning them in today to this nice couple. Talk about fresh art?! The Pineapple Fountain with City Gallery behind, is a view we don't often see. ...
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"Last Tango in Wonderland" is another collaboration with Nick C. Cerrato in which I painted what was behind his abstract expressionistic painting, which happened to be We the People of the world, being danced upon by the Epstein class. ...
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.Day one of the MMG plein air festival in Charleston. A pretty ambitious painting of St Philip. ...
"Evil's Place," another collaboration with my dear friend and great artist, Nick C. Cerrato. ...
"Tempus Fugit" captures the instant fire and ice meet, when strange entities are released into the human psyche. Another collaboration between myself and artist Nick C. Cerrato. ...