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.
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Folly Beach Floral Demo
Painting a Beach Demo Last night was another magical painting party. Cate and I are becoming quite a team, getting great results from people who've never picked up a paint brush. Everybody's having a great time and going home with something they are proud to hang in...
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...
Here Comes Santa Clause
[youtube]http://youtu.be/RlGI0yTmkQE[/youtube] As many of you know, I have been playing Santa on Facetime this year. Why? Because I believe in Santa. It's been a very meaningful project and I'm humbled by each and every amazing experience in which I have been a...
Maniscalco Gallery on Facebook
"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. ...
"Light" captures the moment of decision. To enlighten or to inflame? ...
"Darkness and Light" is my latest collaboration with Nick C. Cerrato. It can be appreciated simply as an #abstract expressionist #painting and closer up as a deep narrative meditation on darkness and #light. ...
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The grand arbiter of taste, who definitely would not recognize a Van Gogh if it hit them in the face. With apologies, of course, to all those who've awarded me over the years, and to those who haven't. This is one more reason I detest authority. When I've played the role of juror, I always feel it necessary to write about each of the works, something kind and something to work on. I see the role of juror is not to judge, but uplift and encourage people who've put their heart and soul on the line. I usually pick the piece most reasonable people would agree was award worthy. And I can tell you why. I think contests should exist to support deep study and commitment to the purpose of art, which is to open our eyes to something heretofore unseen. It is the juror's job to really see the artists' work, in such a way that each artist will know they have been seen. ...
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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.Evil's Place, another collaboration with Nick Cerrato. I know you can't zoom in on insta so I will tell you God is pressing the devil into his place, while multiple figures reacts to the battle of good vs evil. NFS ...