Impressionistic Heroes of Mine

I’ve been asked several times who may own personal favorite artists are. That’s easy: Claude and Vincent. Claude Monet and Vincent van Gogh, despite both being giants in the art world, bring different vibes to the canvas.

Monet, a key figure in Impressionism, was all about capturing the fleeting moments of light and color. His loose brushstrokes and vibrant hues are legendary, particularly in series like “Water Lilies,” where he painted the same scene under different lighting to show nature’s changing face. His style is about the immediate visual impression, focusing on natural light’s play and its impact on the landscape. Monet’s color palette—full of soft blues, greens, and pastels creates a serene, ethereal beauty that draws you in.

“Their subject matter also sets them apart…”

Van Gogh, meanwhile, is known for his emotional intensity and expressive style. As a Post-Impressionist, his paintings feature bold, dramatic brushstrokes and vivid colors. Unlike Monet’s tranquil scenes, Van Gogh’s works are charged with energy and emotion. “Starry Night” is a perfect example, with its swirling sky reflecting his inner turmoil and passion. Van Gogh’s colors are dramatic and symbolic, with intense yellows and blues conveying deep feelings. His thick, textured brushwork gives his paintings a tactile, almost three-dimensional quality.

Their subject matter also sets them apart. Monet’s art is deeply rooted in nature, often focusing on landscapes and gardens, inviting viewers to see the beauty and ever-changing light of the natural world. Van Gogh’s subjects are more varied, from landscapes to still lifes and portraits, often revealing a more personal and introspective side that reflects his own struggles and emotional states.

In essence, Monet’s art soothes and calms, while Van Gogh’s work engages and stirs the soul. Monet’s Impressionism captures the fleeting beauty of the external world, while Van Gogh’s Post-Impressionism dives into the artist’s internal world. Together, they showcase the diverse possibilities of art as a medium of expression, each bringing their unique vision and passion to life on the canvas.

How to find Inspiration for your art

Finding inspiration for your art can sometimes be challenging, but there are many ways to rekindle your creativity and keep the ideas flowing. Here are some strategies to help you discover your artistic muse. I don’t know if they’ll work for you, but they definitely help me when I feel “stuck”.

1. Immerse Yourself in Nature

Nature is an endless source of inspiration. Take a stroll in the park, hike a scenic trail, or relax in your garden. Observe the colors, shapes, and patterns around you. The serenity of nature can help clear your mind and spark new ideas.

2. Visit Art Exhibitions

Seeing the work of other artists can be incredibly motivating. Visit local galleries and museums to explore a variety of styles and mediums. Notice what resonates with you and think about how you can incorporate similar elements into your own creations.

3. Join Art Communities

Engage with online art communities or local art groups. Sharing your work and seeing what others are creating can provide fresh perspectives and ideas. Platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and DeviantArt are great places to connect with fellow artists and find inspiration.

4. Maintain an Idea Journal

Keep a sketchbook or journal with you at all times. Jot down ideas, doodles, and thoughts as they come to you. This habit can help you capture fleeting moments of inspiration that you might otherwise forget.

5. Experiment with New Mediums

Trying out new materials and techniques can open up new avenues for creativity. If you usually paint, try sculpting or digital art. Experimenting with different mediums can help you break out of a creative rut and discover new passions.

6. Find Beauty in the Everyday

Look for inspiration in the mundane. Everyday objects, people, and scenes can be transformed into compelling art. Pay attention to the details of your daily life and consider how they can be reimagined in your artwork.

7. Take Breaks and Reflect

Sometimes, stepping away from your work can be the best way to find inspiration. Take breaks, meditate, or engage in other hobbies. Giving your mind a rest can lead to unexpected bursts of creativity when you return to your art.

These are my “go to” strategies for finding inspiration. What works for you?

Question 9: "How do you manage the business side of your art business?"

When someone uses their artistic talent as a hobby or for therapy, that is a beautiful thing. Making art is just really good for you. But when art is a hobby, you don’t have to worry at all about the whole business side of it. In fact, just the suggestion of discussing the “business side” of an art career will get a lot of cow-eyed stares from artists. “But I just want to paint and sell my paintings. That’s it. That’s all I want to do”.

“But I just want to paint…”

Okay, brilliant. However, it’s time for that hard talk. Attending to the business side of an art career is like a track and field athlete investing into top notch running shoes. Yes, you can run barefoot but you can go a lot farther with the proper tools (shoes in this case). Without serious thought regarding the business side of an art career, that art career won’t last long. You have to get answers to some very basic questions and then decide which answers will lead to wise practices. Here are some questions I would suggest a “would be professional artist” ask a full time professional artist regarding the business of running an art career:

• Where do you have your art supplies?

• How do you keep track of inventory so you always have what you need?

• How do you keep track of sales tax?

• Do you accept credit cards? What’s involved with that?

Let’s handle these questions one at a time. Regarding art supplies…

Gathering art supplies for your particular craft can take a lot of time and expense. I’m a painter, so my advice won’t be worth much to a ceramic artist or wood sculpture. But if you’re a painter, yes, you can go to Michaels or Hobby Lobby, but don’t go before checking for coupons. Always keep your eye out for a sale. Sign up on art suppliers websites and get all those irritating emails that end up in your promotional email folder. But then LOOK AT THEM and use all the coupons you can. You can save big with coupons. As far as websites on line, my favorites and Cheap Joe’s and Jerry’s Artarama, but there are lots of them.

Regarding inventory…we check once a week on our stock. What I don’t want to happen is to run out of something and then have to WAIT to get more back in stock. Some things I order come from California so I could be waiting several days. For all the main things I use, I always have a duplicate in my studio. When I am done with one paint brush and toss it, I have another just like it and A) begin using it and then immediately (B) order another so I always, always have the next one waiting for me. Think ahead.

Regarding keeping track of sales, we use Quickbooks. And by “we”, I mean my wife Joy uses Quickbooks. We’d be in jail by now if my financial status depended on my math skills. Quickbooks is great because each quarter when it’s time to do sales tax, we just give the files to our accountant and BAM! They do their accounting magic and then tell us what we owe the state of North Carolina.

And lastly, regarding accepting credit cards…Absolutely yes. Hardly anyone uses checks anymore, so I try to make selling artwork as easy as I can for a potential client. There are many, many options for you when you want to enable your clients to use a credit card for a sale. Right now, we use Card Point, but you can use Square and many other credit card readers. Just do some research and ask questions at your favorite stores. Questions like, “How do you like using Square?” or “What credit card software do you use, and how do you like it?” You can also just go the easy route and use PayPal. You can log onto PayPal, write up an invoice, email it to your client and then they pay you all on line through PayPal. That works when you’re making a sale and can your your computer (even if you don’t have a credit card reader) but if you’re selling to someone on the spot, you’d want Square or an alternative.

Sometimes, important things to know are boring. Sorry. This is all info you need to think about though if you want to run full speed into the world of being a full time artist. Good luck!

Percolating Creativity

I love it when this happens. I’m consumed with this new concept for artwork. I’ve now got all my “ingredients” together to fabricate three prototypes and then…if…it…works, I’ll release them into the world. Pardon the drama. I’m excited.

Two blog posts ago, I mentioned that I was thinking about a new concept for artwork…a “sail” shape that would billow out from the wall. I’ve figured out how to make it secure and stay in place and hold the shape I dictate, so that’s good (see my last post “So then” for more info on that). But what’s blowing my brain is that there is so much I could potentially DO with this. I’m thinking of boring holes in the sail shapes, creating voids. I’m thinking of playing with strips with or instead of (in some cases) the sail shapes and bending them around each other (like a bent wood sculpture does). But the surface of all component sheets would be texturized with a flexible agent, covered with my metallic leaf, paint and one layer of resin. These shapes will be luminous and not contained to a single plain.

The next step will happen after the holidays, and that’s the fabrication of the first prototype. If that works (and per my experimentation, I’m pretty sure it will work now), my next post will include photos of all the prototypes.

In my Asheville art studio, I will probably always paint mostly landscape paintings (and that’s because I love painting landscapes!) but I do really enjoy creating abstract art as well. These would in a sense be abstract. The colors will be simple, but because the surface will be reflecting light through my paint, AND because as the surface bends and each inch of the surface catches light differently than the next, I’m thinking the result will be something visually rich, graceful and dynamic.

Well, that’s the plan. :)

We’ll see what happens. Stay tuned!

Forsyth Park Fountain

I love it when an Asheville visitor wanders into my art studio and asks if I do commissions. YES! I love commissions. Some commissions I get are awesome. Then there are some that are extraordinary. This request for a painting was in that second category. In Savannah, Georgia, there is really beautiful fountain in Forsyth Park. So rather than retell the story, I'll cut and paste it from the original email I received that began the commission: 

• My wife and I met on line a little over 8 years ago and our first date / meeting was at the fountain in Forsyth park. She drove from Atlanta and I from Florida. 
• We met late afternoon. 
• Probably from the vantage point in the picture you sent, a wedding was taking place.
• We stopped a watched for awhile.
• We went to dinner and came back to the park after dark.
• Impulsively we climbed the fence surrounding the fountain and proceeded to the center.
• We sat at the base enjoying each other's company while becoming thoroughly drenched.
• We have been together ever since and hold fond memories of the fountain and our first meeting.
• My wife thinks that if you consider the different view points that hundreds of online photos can provide, you will capture the essence of what it means to us.

Cool story, huh? I love that! This was a challenge though because (obviously) these people know and love this fountain. I had to get it right! I hope this piece does that magical moment justice. Gosh, I love my job. 

Angsty or Terrified?

So last week, as I said in an earlier entry, a husband and wife breezed through my Asheville art studio/gallery without saying a word to me and then left, sitting down on the chairs right outside my door (which was open -- with me working just inside said door). At that point, the man said (loud enough for me to hear) "well I know, but it's ridiculous! I wouldn't pay half what he's asking for that!"

To that man, I would like to say "thank you for your rudeness. You gave me something  to write about in my blog!" Because of that encounter, I began thinking about how best to respond to critique and I am taking this platform to share my thoughts to anyone interested. I have already addressed what I call the "angsty" artist who doesn't care WHAT anyone thinks about their craft (whether it's painting, writing, music or whatever). They do not digest criticism because they immediately deflect it.

The other type of artist I know is not angsty at all. They are frightened and completely insecure, not wanting ANYONE to see their artwork.  Putting their art out there for people to actually see absolutely terrifies them. I tried to teach art students who were the "terrified" type, but found them just as difficult to teach as the arrogant students who would not listen to my advice or instruction. I remember a young woman that was in the class I was teaching. She was working hard on a painting, but when I walked over to her desk to see how it was coming along, she swept it up and hid it from me. "Please don't look! It's a mess! Yours is so much better!" If you can relate to this woman,  may I gently suggest that the "terrified" artist is not that much different from the "angsty" artist? See, neither the angsty or terrified person them allows any criticism or correction -- they just take different emotional roads to the very same end.  Whichever side we fall on, we can be categorized as arrogant.

"Arrogant?" I hear the terrified artist type cry. "I'm not arrogant!" (The angsty artist doesn't see themselves as arrogant either.)

Well, follow me here. The angsty type doesn't listen to any criticism and neither do you. In my opinion, whichever side we fall on, we all think far too much of ourselves. The terrified artists (I was one of you  at once point) think we have to be perfect at what we do and critique is crushing and to be avoided. The angsty artist thinks he's already perfect, and critique is pointless and unnecessary in his mind and is to be avoided. So what's the difference?

Both the angsty and terrified artist (or whatever) types need critique. We need to be okay with correction and advice. When I finish what I think was a great idea and no one pays any attention to it, I may have to conclude that the idea may be great to me, but if the people purchasing art do not agree, I won't be selling that piece. If this is repeated with all my work, then I'm out of a job.

A professional artist has to listen to critique and adjust sometimes. Hopefully as we mature, we begin to know the difference between a good critique and someone just being rude. I think we need to feel the freedom to toss what we think is bad advice. I also think we need to feel the freedom to accept advice with humility, and that's admittedly really hard to do sometimes.

Forest of Autumn Gold

Living in Asheville, North Carolina as an artist in the River Arts District, I don't see many birch trees in the woods around here. Western North Carolina has river birches and they're nice and all, but we do not have proper "paper birch" trees. Thankfully, I don't have to just paint local scenes (though I do end up celebrating the mountains and trees of the Blue Ridge and Appalachian Mountains more than anything else). This painting, "Forest of Autumn Gold" is based on my memories of a certain October thirty four years ago when Joy and I visited the state of Maine on our honeymoon. Birch trees (proper paper birch!!) were everywhere. I remember the sound of the leaves in the wind roared like a waterfall. So beautiful.

Birch and aspen trees are magnificent in art. I lump them together simply because with my somewhat impressionistic style, I paint both birch and aspen trees in a similar manor. They are graphically perfect! Black on white. What a great design!! And they stand out against the foliage perfectly in any season. Seriously, in winter, spring, summer or (especially autumn), the tree trunks of the birch or aspen trees always stands out against the color of the leaves. Think about it...what other tree trunk steals the thunder of it's leafy canopy like birch or aspen? Okay, the Sequoia Gigantia in California probably wins but that's the only other tree that does. 

So I celebrate the beauty of autumn in Maine (or Colorado, depending on whether you see these as paper birch or aspens). Either answer is correct. Cheers!

Autumn River Song

"Autumn River Song". This was a fun one. A while back, I had a gentleman visit my art studio in Asheville's River Arts District and he spent a good deal of time wandering around studying my artwork. We had a really nice conversation and then he left, taking a card.  This was not that unusual. Visitors to the art studio take a LOT of business cards and that's cool. That's what they're there for. But this guy called back a few days later and said he wanted to surprise his girlfriend with a painting of mine. That made my day. I love commissions!

He got on my website and found an older painting of mine that he liked, but wanted a few things changed. Here's the original painting:

He asked that some of the rocks be removed from the right side and replace the foreground rocks with new moss-covered rocks. And he wanted autumn colors rather than summer greens. I love commissions! And I love it when a client feels the freedom to get involved (he actually spent a good deal of time hunting for the foreground rocks he wanted).

I love revisting a painting I enjoyed the first time, and tweaking it, creating a brand new and unique piece of art. It's like taking leftovers of a great leg of lamb and potato dinner and making stew out of it,  you know? It's like and unlike the original "go-round". I once heard that there really is nothing unique, just unique ways of re-combining preexisting elements, and I think that's right. How many ways can just four elements (ADTP for instance) be combined and recombined to create over 7,000,000 unique individual people? I think this really does apply to art. How many times did Monet paint waterlilies or St.Paul's cathedral? Countless. But each one is unique and he obviously revisted the idea because it gave him joy. That's how creativity works.

And when I see this new piece that combined old and new ideas, it gives me a great deal of joy. That's why I paint. So if you're considering commissioning a unique oil painting, let's talk! It's a blast.

Mystic Summer Morning

"Mystic Summer Morning" (30" x 24") is a summer version of an autumn scene I've done before, and it's reminiscent of most summer mornings here in Asheville. Oftentimes because of thunderstorms the afternoon before, mornings can be rather foggy. That fog burns off usually by 10:00 or shortly thereafter, and then it's clear for just a bit. That fog then gathers into cumulous clouds and then becomes an another afternoon thunderstorm. But in the morning, that fog softens everything and dampens all sound.

I make it a habit of walking the 3 miles to my art studio in Asheville's River Arts District every morning (and then back again at night) but on foggy, cooler summer mornings, there's a longer route I can take that eventually leads right along the French Broad River. It's a very quite walk and when I need some extra rejuvenating and the weather is right, I walk the extra miles. It's so worth it. Before that trail gets to the river, it goes through quite woods and on foggy mornings, it's mystical. It's really beautiful that time of day. I love Asheville!

When the Sun Went Dark

What an amazing day yesterday in Andrews, NC right under the very center of the area of totality. So many interesting things about the eclipse...1) the temperature dropped from 87F to 63F in about an hour. 2) cumulus clouds that had been building in the heat and humidity dissipated. 3) the sun, even at just a sliver uncovered kept us nicely lit and then...the sun was covered completely, thousands cheered and it was like someone switched the light off. Instantly, stars appeared and streetlights went on. The event itself is impossible to describe -- the terrible beauty of the black hole in the sky surrounded by streaming tendrils of light. Absolutely incredible. And 4) it brought new friends together! We noticed Daryl walking around with his two adorable little girls (Layla and Jasmine) and we invited them to join us on our picnic blanket. Joy jumped right in and pumped the girls with cookies and we had a really great time getting to know each other. What fun! I love random friendships like this!

The energy and elation at witnessing 2 minutes, 38 seconds of this spectacle has deeply affected me and will I'm sure affect my work at the art studio in Asheville. I doubt I'll start painting eclipses, but experiencing that level of absolute awe can't help but move you and inspire you. Let's see where this goes!