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
New Years Revolution
Equestrian Head Study As we cross over into the future tonight, to what ever extent, in whatever way we can, let's go from being a watcher to a doer. It’s so easy to accept being a cog in the consumer machine, part of the elaborate ecosystem of what’s expected. We...
Capture the Rapture
Dove Abovehttps://maniscalcogallery.com/product/dove-above/ I am a Christian and an American. Whether or not you believe in the rapture of the church (a word never used in the Bible) it is wholly (not holy) inappropriate for a high ranking government official to...
This Christmas
Hallowed As I listen to the Christmas carols and enjoy the lights and decorations and the smells of the season I reflect upon Christmases gone by. Everything changes when your parents die. The world is filled with people finding ways to survive the good tidings...
Student Work Inspires Me
As I wrap up another semester at Charleston Southern University, I am so impressed with what I have learned about the process from my students. I often say, if you want to learn how to sell, try teaching art to college students as an elective. But I think once they...
When Will it End?
This morning, I found out about an incident of CSA, which took place at a church just down the street from us. We had even attended as a family a few times. Everyone was warm and welcoming. She was a nurse, taking my blood pressure and checking my temperature. She...
Marketing: Money vs People
I love being an artist. I've always considered it a privilege. In recent years, however, it has also become a luxury. In fact it has become a vanity. It used to be that vanity galleries, founded by the super rich as tax shelters, were all the rage. Now, the...
Russell Ebeid Presentation
In addition to the official portrait for the St Joseph Hospital, I was happy to present two more portraits to the family for their personal enjoyment. Here is my speech of October 29th, presented at the official unveiling at the hospital: Hello everyone. Thank you so...
The Next Conservatives
Here’s why Liberals are the next conservatives We all believe in capitalism. If you've worked hard, you deserve success. If you’re a natural born citizen, if you were born into money, stability, or social status, if you happened to have been born white or male, then...
Look Me in the Eye and Lie
Jeff Flake is confronted by Sexual Assault Survivors Did anyone notice the conflict and terror in Jeff Flakes’s eyes as those survivors confronted him today? Dylan Roof also refused to look into the eyes of his accusers. But there is a subtle difference. Many believe...
DARVO
Independent? Judicious? He doesn't sound very independent, judicious or even remotely credible. The testimony of Bret Kavanaugh sounds exactly like the rants I endured on the phone for weeks after I was sexually assaulted at 14. This person is self-righteous,...
Classwork tribute to Gilda
Getting out of Our Head One of our first painting projects in my Charleston Southern University painting class was this tribute to Gilda Snowden's chair series. You can see Gilda's entire Artbeat episode, along with the entire first season, on Amazon Prime. More info...
A Labor of Love
The Russell Ebeid Portrait There is nothing like that sweet moment when I unveil the portrait, into which I have poured my heart and soul. The immediate family traveled to Pontiac St Joseph Hospital to see and approve the portrait of Russell Ebeid, in advance of the...
Would you like to get inspiration in your inbox, rather than ads for more stuff? Welcome to ManiscalcoGallery.com
Maniscalco Gallery on Facebook
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
... 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."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
“The Fantasy” oil on canvas 36" x 48", invites you into that lucid dream space where imagination feels more vivid than reality. In this oil painting, a solitary figure drifts through a dreamlike landscape of softened edges and impossible light. But the story is not fixed—you’re handed a doorway.
This piece lives in the uncertainty between escape and awakening. At first glance, it feels like a beautiful dream: rich color, fluid forms, and a sense of effortless drift. But stay with it, and you begin to notice the undercurrent—a quiet question about what we run toward, and what we’re trying to leave behind.
For the thoughtful collector, “The Fantasy” becomes a mirror for their own inner world. It speaks to anyone who has ever built a private refuge in their mind: the daydreamer, the creative, the survivor, the seeker who knows that fantasies can be both sanctuary and trap. The painting doesn’t judge that impulse; it honors it, and gently asks what new possibilities might emerge when we begin to bring those inner visions into the light of our real lives.
Hung in a living room, bedroom, or reading space, “The Fantasy” doesn’t just decorate a wall—it opens a conversation. With its layered symbolism and emotional depth, it’s the kind of work people return to, again and again, discovering new details and meanings as their own story evolves. ... See MoreSee Less
"Three Little Buds" is a framed #oilpainting looking for a new home. “Three Little Buds” captures a tender moment of becoming: three rosebuds held in that brief, luminous stage before they open. The dew on their petals hints at fresh beginnings and quiet resilience after the rain. This piece speaks to anyone who feels on the edge of a new chapter—honoring both the vulnerability and the promise of what is about to bloom.
“Three Little Buds" is about beginnings and the quiet power of what hasn’t fully unfolded yet. I painted them at that in-between moment—still closed, but clearly full of life and color, with the dew clinging to them after a fresh start.
For me, the three buds might suggest three children / three important relationships / three versions of ourselves at different times, held together in the same space of light and nurtured by potential energy. The droplets are a reminder that renewal often comes right after the storm; there’s a softness and resilience there.
It’s a painting for someone who connects with the idea of growth, protection, and the beauty of what’s just about to bloom or has bloomed in their own life. ... See MoreSee Less
Here's the entire portrait. I love judicial portraits. What do you think of this portrait? Know anyone who wants a portrait legacy created? A portrait is how people know us when we're gone. ... See MoreSee Less