Art Instruction Blog
Dear Bully, Yeah You (Me)
Dear Bully, yeah you (me), I can see you don't go around pushing people, insulting them, sticking their hair in inkwells, that sort of thing. But you do single people out. You find something you don't like about them. You may not even know exactly what it is, but...
Drawing for Smart People
Here's some advice for all you really smart people who want to be able to draw what you see: Dumb it down a bit. Great painters have more in common with magicians than with detectives. See less, rather than more. Don't show off your sexy curves. Curves are where...
Reviews Are In for 33 Variations
Here's a lovely, thoughtful review of the show, this by wonderful art spirit that is Olivia Pool of ART MAG. We are so lucky here in Charleston, to have the support of our media as our many artists throw themselves into their passions. The review also has a great...
Hoping is the Great Curse
"Hoping is the great curse" Beethoven, from 33 Variations Keeping dreams alive that can never be is a form of insanity. This flies in the face of those who have bought into The American Dream and other delusions fed to us by those who desire to control us. Better to...
Beethoven and God
In answer to Schindler's question about the Opus 31, No. 2, Beethoven replied, "Read Shakespeare's Tempest." Much is said about listening to your inner voice and soul, which is all well and good. But first you have to connect your inner voice and soul with others. ...
Interview with “Beethoven”
An interview with Sara Coy for the Threshold Theatre production of 33 Variations 1. Where did you grow up? What drew you to theatre and the arts? I grew up in a household full of the arts in St Clair Shores, Michigan. I remember hot summer days of intense creativity,...
Which Came First, the Art or the Artist?
A friend posted, "you don't have to be an artist to create art." Yes, I suppose if you created art that would qualify you as an artist. But only an artist can create art. Most people simply aren't willing to risk looking foolish in the attempt and will never rise to...
Creativity and the Definition of Art
"Creativity is allowing oneself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." I've been saying this for many years as a teacher. The idea that giving ourselves total freedom to do anything at all and calling it art, may sound absurd, but it is a great first...
Madness and Art
In his turn, in a letter to a friend, composer Zelter from Berlin, Goethe let him know of his meeting with Beethoven: "I met Beethoven. His talent astonished me; nevertheless, he unfortunately has a tumultuous personality, which is not completely wrong in thinking...
Orphan Relief Gala Performance Painting
Orphan Relief Gala and beautiful people I performed this sketch of Mary Playing the Violin at the Lowcountry Orphan Relief Gala, last evening, where it was auctioned off to raise money for first responders in cases of child abuse here in Charleston. I was given the...
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“The Handoff” captures the exact moment when one generation places the fragile world into the hands of the next. Suspended in a cosmic cloud of light and stardust, the small Earth glows between older, protective hands and younger, open palms.
“The Handoff” will be featured in my exhibition at Park Circle Gallery, opening Good Friday 5-7 pm. Thru April.
Two sets of #hands reach toward a small, luminous Earth, held tenderly against a swirling #cosmos. The older hands cradle the #planet with care; the younger hands open to receive it. Between them hangs a silent question: What are we really passing on?
“The Handoff” is a #meditation on stewardship across generations—the moment when responsibility for our fragile world shifts from those who have carried it to those who will shape what comes next. It’s a piece for anyone who feels both the weight and the hope of that exchange: parents, teachers, mentors, spiritual leaders, and quiet guardians of the future.
Hung in a living room, office, or gathering space, this painting becomes a daily reminder to live—and lead—with the next generation in mind.
It’s a painting about trust, responsibility, and the quiet courage it takes to let go—and to receive. It asks: What are we really giving to those who follow us? A burden? A blessing? A chance to do better? In this suspended second, everything is still possible.
"The Handoff" is for people who feel they’re standing between generations—parents, teachers, mentors, spiritual leaders, even environmental advocates—anyone who feels the weight of what we’re handing to those coming after us. It’s a visual reminder that the Earth, and the future, are something we pass on, not just something we use. ... See MoreSee Less
The figures in "A Walk in the Park" are the inner cast you carry everywhere—the fool who leaps, the doubter who drags his feet, the dreamer who stares past the horizon, the judge with crossed arms, the child who still believes. They bicker, whisper, revolt and reconcile, but together they make the one you call “I.” We are all onstage at once, caught in the thin light between meaning and emptiness—a reminder that your chaos is not a flaw, but the chorus through which your true voice finally emerges. ... See MoreSee Less
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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."Identity and Self"
Opening Reception and Exhibition at
Park Circle Art Gallery
4820 Jenkins Ave.
North Charleston, SC 29405
The Exhibition runs through April 26
Gallery Hours: W-F 10:30-5:30, Sat 12-4
The collection will center on how identity interferes with our true self, our true freedom, which is a central value for an artist, as well as any self-actualized individual. For instance, when I draw my idea of a thing, rather than opening myself up to the full potential contained in the thing itself, I am limiting my creative potential.
So, who are we at our core, after we strip away the names we call ourselves, the parties with whom we affiliate, the causes for which we are fighting? After all, these are all inventions of the ego, which separate us from God and the infinite. Existence consists of light on form. Light is my medium as an artist. I am a painter of the self. I am looking always for something deeper than the surface representations in my subjects. It is the true self I am looking for when I paint, whether it is an orange, a sky or a judge. ... See MoreSee Less