Robert blogs on art, creativity, politics, CSA, religion and culture. Many overlap into multiple categories, like motivational or random favorites. Robert is a life-long artist, writer, musician & actor, a professional creative his entire adult life. Born in 1959 in Detroit, he has lived in New York, New Orleans and currently in Charleston. His commission portraits and fine art are part of over a thousand collections throughout North America. Read his bio.
BLOG CATEGORIES
ALL BLOGS
LOVE
This Valentines I’d like to take a moment to admire those who take seriously the idea of love, integrating love into our daily lives. Love is a verb. Love is pure potential. Love is the life force that makes all things possible. Love is more action than feeling or...
Kurt Wilder Investiture
It is always exciting to present a portrait. Last week was the investiture of Hon. Kurtis Wilder's portrait at the Michigan Supreme Court. The ceremony took place in front of the entire court, all members present. There were speeches by many supporters, including...
My Teaching Method
When I teach privately I like to use the paint along process, where the student paints along as I demonstrate. This is how I learned, sitting next to my father and painting what he painted. I call it full immersion study. It usually works out as a win-win. The student...
The Political Divide
Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd. ~Bertrand Russell (Book: Unpopular Essays : https://amzn.to/3PvxdDo) It’s strange to be a member of a group (democrats) that is so feared...
My Furry Friends Demo
Recently, I had the pleasure of creating an oil portrait of my dog, Bailey, as the subject of my "Furry Friends" demo, begun at Art on the Square Gallery, where you can also see some of my latest work. I finished the painting in my studio. Here's my Youtube video of...
The Slavery of Work and AI
We are witnessing a transformation of our economy, as the unpleasant tasks we formerly performed for money will be done automatically by AI. We all will someday soon receive a guaranteed income and be free to do whatever we like. Whether that is pursuing our art or...
How to Appreciate Art
Steve Anthony Cefalo created some great tips for appreciating artwork, with which I agree whole heartedly. This is not anti-intellectual dribble (heaven forbid). It’s a way to expand your intuition and use your lifetime of experience to enter a work of art. The...
One Man’s Trauma
We refer to life's obstacles as “formative experiences” or “trials” when we’re mature enough to process the challenges they present. We may succeed or fail but we are emotionally prepared to accept the consequences. And when we are not emotionally prepared to deal...
Dare to Paint Badly
You have the choice. It’s just paint. No one will get hurt if you lay down paint where you choose to put it.
Picture Lights
A Circus Barker: See the video on FB. Heres's the transcript: Folks, ya simply won’t believe how you've managed to live without picture lights. The light reflected by an original oil painting into a room is at least 375 times richer and warmer than any fancy lamp...
A Vortex of Hoplessness
This is a very difficult subject and I'm probably out of my league discussing, because I'm a member of white middle class by birth. But maybe, that is what makes me the most qualified. I have lived the entitlements heaped upon my demographic. Yes, I have struggled,...
My Shatner Experience
For those of you who are aware of the depths of my admiration for a man whom my son and I may or may not have met last Saturday . . . I have a recurring dream where Shatner is a main character and we are just hanging out like brothers. His Captain Kirk has not only...
Shatner in Space – the poem
William Shatner in Space by Robert Maniscalco Consider the young and the old Shatner, both, who, in the understatement of any century, I deeply admire. But I don't go to Star Trek conventions because I am not a joiner. That’s because of my emulation, often to a...
Maniscalco Gallery on Facebook
Yesterday was the #investiture of my #portrait of Hon. Kurtis #Wilder before the entire #Michigan #supreme #court. This marks my tenth portrait in the #MSC #historical #society #collection, which includes portraits of every Supreme Court Justice since Augustus #woodward, whom I also #painted. I was #happy to #share this moment with Cate and my sister Betsy. #capital #portraiture #Lansing #painting #commission #Judicial #judge ... See MoreSee Less
... See MoreSee Less
A sweet #portrait and a #sweet #lesson in #painting. #Portraiture requires tremendous #control. Take a look at a new #student’s #first ever #oilpainting along with a little on the #method that #helped her be #successful. You won’t #believe your #eyes. maniscalcogallery.com/art-instruction-2/my-teaching-method/ ... See MoreSee Less
This content isn't available right now ... See MoreSee Less
This content isn't available right now
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.Keeping those portraits coming. ... See MoreSee Less
This content isn't available right now
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.Is "The Warrior" too controversial? If so, perhaps we need to examine our feelings about race more closely. maniscalcogallery.com/product/the-warrior/ ... See MoreSee Less