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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Shading
People think getting the right brush, or coolest color or the perfect medium is going to make them better painters. Painting is primarily an eye thing. A stick with the right value will make a far more meaningful mark than the finest sable brush or expensive pigment....
The Good Christian
My Homily delivered at a service at All Souls Waccamaw Unitarian Universalist Church on October 23, 2022 View the FB Live recording (my presentation starts at 15:15) Thanks Carli and Matt. Thanks for having me again Waccamaw! Don’t ya just love it when the grocery...
Stewart Mungo Portrait Unveiling
Portrait of Stewart Mungo Unveiled, October 11, 2022 0 I'm very excited to present my portrait of home developer, Stewart Mungo of Mungo Homes. It's a privilege to continue their portrait tradition, begun by the late great Michael del Priore. It's always a little...
The Obama Portraits
I'd like to offer a word or two about the recent presentation of the Obama's official portraits, for what it's worth. First, what a class act. There was no mention of the insult leveled by the previous admin for not doing this when he had the chance. I watched the...
The Keto Diet and the Meaning of Life
When one reaches a certain age, it becomes next to impossible to lose weight. I've tried so many diets. They don't work anymore. But I’ve lost almost 20 pounds (so far) on the Keto diet. Here’s my theory: We Homo sapiens were cursed early on to live, eat and die along...
Bravery
The following can be understood and consumed as both philosophy and technical advice. Some musicians have the ability to hear passages of music, fully realized in their heads. Mozart and Beethoven come to mind. That's one reason I play their music when I paint....
The Visitors
Today, visitors who said they were from another planet stopped by to give us a cup of sugar. One of them said, “it looks like you will need this.” I said to them, “of all the things you could bring us from your world, why would you choose a cup of sugar?” They seemed...
My Covid19 Takeaway
A year and a half in of mask wearing, social distancing, and just like that, I got the Covid. And it’s kickin my ass. I’m so glad I’m vaxed and boosted. As an added precaution, I also opted to take the PAXLOVID ani-virals, from Pfizer, a regiment consisting of six...
End the Violence
Violence can no longer be put forth as a solution to our problems. As the President recently said in his Philidelphia address, "it is not normal." It should not become a part of the political discourse. It has always been the way in this country. But violence has been...
Grim Forecast
Here’s what’s going to happen, and it does not make me happy to forecast doom and gloom. The Democrats haven’t done away with the filibuster because they still hold out a quaint hope for bipartisanship, and because they can’t get a majority within their own party....
Stop Turning Your Head
Those who continue to support this pathetic loser say they do so because they like his policies or his stance on certain social issues. They simply ignore his “antics.” But delusional thinking and/or lying, as in the big lie, should be enough to disqualify. Those are...
Overrun by Sociopaths
Do you wish we had politicians who were honest enough to admit the game is rigged, who had actual experience in business and understood how the economy really works, who knew exactly how to stop the illegal flow of immigrants flooding across our borders, taking our...
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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