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
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...
My Proof of God
Warning: trigger alert-explicit content. Faith is a deeply personal experience. People come to it in many ways. Although proof of God exists all around us, my personal proof for the existence of a loving God came to me in the most unlikely of circumstances. I had an...
Day of the Dove
We just re-watched this episode from STOS. “Day of the Dove” is very salient at this moment in our history, when an almost irrational hatred and anger grips our planet. The desire to win, to defeat our “enemies” has taken us over. Who is instigating this division...
Making America Great Again?
Want to make America great again? Making anything anything AGAIN is the fool’s exercise in futility. So don’t look backwards. Instead focus specifically on what you thought was so great "back then" and manifest it, today. Accept others. Accept yourself For instance,...
“Uncork/Unveil” Art and Wine Revealed.
PRESS RELEASE: “Uncork/Unveil Art and Wine Revealed" Every Saturday 4-6 pm 476 King Street, Charleston SC 29403 Contact: Robert Maniscalco 313-689-2993 or Mark & Ken at 854-222-3939 Uncork Charleston presents exquisite paintings paired with exceptional wines....
Beauty and the Beast – Part 2
This mythical story of "Beauty and the Beast" is a metaphor for dissociation, the psychological separation from oneself. My out of body experience during my Childhood Sexual Abuse was no accident. God was not only protecting me from the perpetrator, but also from...
Drawing and Painting for Everyone
At the end of a very fun four week drawing and painting class in my North Charleston studio I am so impressed with these first efforts in portraiture. I keep training my competition, sharing the best kept secrets. Why? Because I believe the joy of artistic expression...
Faith
We are taught to believe faith is that secret thought we have deep inside us. Faith is not that thing we profess out loud, that picture we present to the world, but the real truth of what we feel deep down in our being. I’ve come to understand Faith much differently....
The New Normal
I am dubious of the normal, particularly the new normal, where destructive, unhealthy, hate-filled voices are given credence. Their "common sense" solutions are often anything but. It's time to embrace our neurodiversity. Now more than ever, we need the ideas from...
Reverse Engineering History
Imagine what Hitler might have been able to accomplish if he'd had access to today’s social media, technology, wealth, weaponry combined with such intense levels of division and mistrust among his citizenry. Germany’s democracy collapsed under far less pressure. It...
Waking Up is Hard to Do
Trump is performing exactly as expected. His presidency is turning the status quo on its head, chipping away at democracy, discrediting, dismantling and undermining the institutions we’ve built up and have come to take for granted for so long. We are moving from a...
Would you like to get inspiration in your inbox, rather than ads for more stuff? Welcome to ManiscalcoGallery.com
Maniscalco Gallery on Facebook
Very excited to get out there with my work next week. I hope you can join Chris, me and over 60 top artists of the southeast. ... 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.This wonderful couple of world travelers celebrating their anniversary with a #custom #oilpainting of their trip to #giza. ... See MoreSee Less
A portrait of Natalie painted from life today at Wes Israel's studio. Nice people, wonderful artists. ... See MoreSee Less
Nothing Celebrates the legacy of your children or your grandchildren for their grandchildren, like an oil portrait.
... See MoreSee Less
Two paintings. One a commission portrait of Gedney Howe III. Another an exploration of "Unintended Consequences." Both part of "Identity and Self," an exhibition at Park Circle Gallery, open wed-Sat. Until April 25th! Disappointed my brand of realism is not in vogue at the moment. But I'm aware fashions come and go. I know my art will endure. What do you think? ... See MoreSee Less
A competent portrait of the former president.  ... See MoreSee Less
At a portrait unveiling at Syracuse University on April 14, 2026, Joe Biden jokingly called Board Chair Jeffrey Scruggs to the stage, asking the crowd, “Doesn’t he look like Barack?” Biden quipped that he often mistook Scruggs for Obama. While the audience laughed, some found the moment awkward. The event celebrated Biden’s legacy at his law school alma mater
www.instagram.com