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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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...
Tactically Necessity
Remember Affirmative Action? Every generation has their name for the effort to create true equality. And as always, there are many who will cry "no fair." That's just "reverse discrimination," another buzzword from the recent past. Its three steps forward, two steps...
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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
“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
"Reflections on Nothingness" #existentialism This #painting is not a design choice; it’s a commitment to keep looking into the #mystery rather than numbing out. “Reflections on Nothingness” is a #meditation on the space between presence and absence—the quiet, unsettling recognition that everything we cling to is, in the end, temporary. This piece is for collectors who are not afraid to sit with the bigger questions: mortality, consciousness, and the strange beauty of existing at all. Hung in a study, retreat space, or #contemplative corner, it becomes less a decoration and more a companion for the long, honest conversations you have with yourself. Let me know if you'd like to the whole painting ... See MoreSee Less