The Stendhal Syndrome
I am familiar with the great French author Stendhal’s novels–The Red and the Black, and The Charterhouse of Parma–having read them some years ago, but until I read an article in the…
Visiting the Republican National Convention
Living in NE Ohio, I had to the visit the RNC. I spent two hours yesterday in downtown Cleveland. I took a lot of photos but I was still surprised…
Winter rain
It’s unusual to get rain showers in February in NE Ohio. Normally, the only precipitation we experience this time of year is snow–a lot of it. But the warm weather, 70+, was accompanied…
Turpentine diaries 4/1/18 Easter
This is a photo of two paintings I started today. That is, I started applying paint to the canvases today; drawing started several days ago. So, this shows the underpainting…
Baseline yourself
Regardless of where you are in your career, you will do well to establish a baseline for your oil-painting toolkit. The baseline provides a powerful framework that you can use…
Afghanistan forever and ever
I was too optimistic when I recently applauded President Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal announcement. I failed to mention that President Trump had scheduled the withdrawal from Afganistan for May. Biden actually…
Delicious copal jelly
I haven’t been a fan of gelling paint mediums since my early interest in maroger, a gelling medium made from mastic. But I like to experiment with mediums, sometimes to…
“Why?” (do you visit the museum so often)
A professional from Guadalajara visiting Cleveland for the first time was enthusing about the city’s many attractions, especially the art museum. “It’s magnificent–world class,” she exclaimed! “The Rubens, the Velasquez, the…