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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Dying
The Day After Roe Fell - June 23, 2022 No mail today; it's an unofficial holiday. Our master's heart is flying, as we hear the fireworks, decrying. At least the weeds I tried to kill are dying, even as our politicians all are lying, while mothers stuck with children...
Playing in the Mud
Stepping into the Arena A friend who took my workshop many years ago, posted today that she hadn't painted since, and wanted to. I recall how much she enjoyed herself and the wonderful results she got using my painting method. So I posted a reply, hoping to encourage...
January 6th Hearings
Have you been watching the January 6th Hearings? So far, we've learned there was no evidence to support Trump's claims of a stolen election, that Trump himself was attempting to steal the election, that he was behind the insurrection at every stage, that he tried to...
The Real Issue Behind the Mass Shootings
What is Really Behind all the Mass Shootings? Some people say it’s a mental health issue. Others say it’s a gun issue. What it is, is a political health issue. America is experiencing political psychosis. There’s an insanity, a deep illness, an acute political...
Headmaster Chad Lawrence
The Portrait Presentation was a Hit I'm very excited to present my portrait of Headmaster Chad Lawrence who is retiring from Holy Trinity Christian school in Beaufort, SC this year. The portrait was a senior gift to the school and will hang in the lobby of the new...
The Dynamics of Sharing Our Creativity
Blinders On When I ran the Maniscalco Gallery in Grosse Pointe, I remember more than once, artists coming through the door, head down, arms full of art, mumbling something like, “I don’t want to look at anyone else’s art. That’s how I know that what I’m doing is...
Palm Sunday Conversation About Dreams
Welcome to Psalm Punday! Today, we live in a world of guns and violins. Personally, I don’t condone violins. I’m rather partial to violas. Seriously, thanks for having me here at the All Souls Waccamaw Unitarian Universalist Church. We tried this once before. And then...
Portrait of Juan Wu Li
I have gotten to be very particular about taking posthumous portrait commissions. They pose some singular challenges to any portrait artist. My goal is to capture life, or at least to create portraits that have the feeling of being painted from life. This can be very...
LOVE
This Valentines I’d like to take a moment to admire those who take seriously the idea of love, integrating love into our daily lives. Love is a verb. Love is pure potential. Love is the life force that makes all things possible. Love is more action than feeling or...
Freedom and Truth
Plausible Truths In light of the trucker protests, essentially weaponizing their trucks and the anti-vax movement at large, my measured conclusion is that ignorance is a fatal disease. Not getting vaccinated may kill you and others. As we pray for the future of a...
Forever Young
The Portrait of Steve Holmes I love the adventure of creating portraits. I always have. Some portraits stand out, not just because they are amazing subjects, fun to paint, but because the story around their creation moves, touches and inspires me. They say you can...
West Side Story Fully Realized
My Mini Review of this Must See West Side Story This is my mini review and reflection of the latest iteration of West Side Story, brought to us by two masters of our time, director Stephen Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner. Let me say right off the bat, this is...
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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