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What makes a great gift? (Also: your choice, $100 off)

Toy Reindeer with double rainbow, oil on archival canvasboard, 6X8, $435 framed, includes shipping in continental US.

Use the code XMAS100 to take $100 off the price of any painting. This code is valid for any painting, from the smallest to the biggest, for a limited time.

This week, my four-year-old grandson and I have been playing with Matchbox cars and Legos. In my spare time, I’m doing a little online Christmas shopping, and listening to heavy-handed hints from the eight- and nine-year-old. That’s gotten me thinking about what would make a good gift for each person on my list.

The best gifts thoughtfully match the recipient’s personality, interests, and needs. They reflect our understanding of our loved ones and show that we put in the effort to select something meaningful.

https://www.watch-me-paint.com/product/monkey-toy-and-candy/Toy Monkey and Candy, oil on archival canvasboard, $435 framed.

A great gift is personalized. It speaks to the recipient’s tastes, hobbies, and life experiences. You wouldn’t buy a painting for someone who has no interest in fine art, but anyone with walls can aspire to more than the ‘art’ available at TJ Maxx. You might tailor a painting to the recipient’s love of cooking, boats, nature, or shoes, or in the understanding that they might laugh at the absurdity of a tin-foil hat. You know the places he or she finds special: the shore, the desert, or the Great White North. That’s a sign that you’ve both listened and remembered.

A great gift has an emotional connection. That’s why concert tickets are such a wonderful present: they share feelings. Whether that’s joy, nostalgia, or excitement, gifts that remind us of shared experiences are often the most valued gifts.

Cinnamon Fern, 9X12, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 framed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

A great gift emphasizes quality over quantity. Years ago, I saved my pennies and bought my mother her first and only strand of real pearls. She kept them until her death, and I have them now. I bought her many other gifts over the years, and I can’t remember many of them, but that strand of pearls was a winner.

A great gift is unique

One of the gifts I’ve received that gives me the most joy is a high-tech hip flask, which was my 65th birthday gift. Another is the tactical backpack which travels around the world with me. They’re not exactly the gifts most grandmothers covet, but they were both unique and very targeted.

And of course I own paintings by many of my peers, including Tom Conner, Bobbi Heath, Barbara Tapp, Bruce McMillan, Bruce Bundock, Chrissy Pahucki and others.

Paintings are one-of-a-kind, and many people get a thrill knowing they have given or received something nobody else owns.

By the way, this is why I don’t sell NFTs and no longer sell prints of my work. Paintings are one-off, tactile objects of craftsmanship, and images of them are pale imitations.

Drying Sails, 9X12, oil on canvasboard, $869 framed.

A great gift has long-term significance

My grandkids have lots of grandparents, aunts and uncles. On Christmas, I sometimes wonder if they remember what they opened five minutes earlier. The thrill at their age is in the unwrapping, not in the plastic toy.

Nothing lasts forever, but a carefully-chosen painting has value for years to come, and can be enjoyed by generations.

You can take $100 off any of my paintings

If you’d like to give a painting to a loved one (or even to yourself), you can use the discount code XMAS100 for $100 off any painting on my site. As you look through the collection, consider what resonates with you and what might resonate with the people on your list. Read the stories behind the paintings. Ask me questions, and use this opportunity to make this year especially memorable.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Monday Morning Art School: the secret to confident brushwork

I always carry a sketchbook with me when painting, and I always start with a drawing. It saves me tons of time.

People ask me how to develop confident brushwork. The answer is to get better at drawing. Yes, confident brushwork depends in part on painting technique, but it really requires that you not flail around changing things in the painting phase.

“Draw slow, paint fast,” one of my students once said, and I’ve found it as good a motto as any for developing a loose painting style.

Confident brushwork is about simplification, and you can’t simplify when the shapes aren’t right to start with.

One painter’s testimony

Pam’s sketch of her doctor’s office.

Pam Otis is a painting student who’s taken my drawing class. I asked her what her biggest obstacle was. “Silencing that voice inside my head that told me I couldn’t draw,” she said. “What finally put it to rest for me was when you talked in class about the developmental stages of drawing and how adults who say they can’t draw are really just people who got to a certain developmental stage but for a myriad of reasons didn’t take it any further.

“Once I realized that it wasn’t a matter of me lacking talent or competence, just that I hadn’t learned the skills I needed to progress, it made the whole thing less mysterious and more a concrete skill that I could get better at with practice. That was truly life-changing in terms of gaining confidence in myself and my abilities as an artist.”

Most people avoid things they find difficult. “Having the technical ability to draw something correctly makes it so much easier to execute a painting without avoiding hard things,” Pam said. Drawing gives me the space I need to ask questions like ‘What would happen if I…?’”

Drawing by Pam Otis.

Pam says the most surprising thing about drawing is that it’s so interpretive. â€œThere are so many ways that you can use line and shadow to tell a story, and what you leave out can often make for a more powerful image. 

“Drawing gives me time to reflect about my goals for a piece of art, lets me play around with the details and easily make changes. One of my sketches (above) is of a waiting room. I did it on site and it was time boxed. I learned a lot from that little sketch. I redrew the chair a couple of times because I wasn’t getting the legs quite right and I wanted the cushion to be nuanced. It was like figuring out a puzzle.

“It’s fun to spend time creating with other artists, but it’s also fun to draw out in public. This autumn we went to a busker festival and I drew some of the performers while they played and had them autograph my drawings afterwards. It was a nice ice-breaker when I was talking to them, and I had a chance to talk to some people in the audience.

Drawing by Pam Otis.

“There’s still a lot of mystique around drawing, and I like to think that by taking some of my projects on the road, maybe, just maybe that’ll be the thing that inspires someone else who thought that they couldn’t draw to maybe take another try at it with fresh eyes. I’m definitely glad I did.”

If you feel your painting skills would benefit from better drawing skills, I encourage you to take my six-week drawing class starting January 6. I can promise you that your painting skills will benefit.

The best laid plans

My assistant (or boss), Laura, who’s 31 weeks pregnant, has been bunged into the hospital for the duration. That means, sadly, that the last step of my Seven Protocols for Successful Oil Painting will not be wrapped and beribboned for Black Friday. I can’t launch it without her help. It also means I’m in Albany for some unspecified time, since someone needs to rassle the four-year-old while his dad’s at work.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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2024 holiday gift guide for artists, part 3: take a painting workshop

We all know the temptation to buy things instead of burrowing into the work of getting better at our craft. Sometimes, the last thing you need is more stuff, but an experience that shatters your ‘business as usual’ habits. That might mean new skills for the beginner, new techniques for the advanced artist, or—for anyone—the therapeutic experience of painting in one of America’s great beauty spots.  

Yves Roblin painting at Hancock Shaker Village.

What’s in it for you?

I’ve been teaching painting workshops forever, and I can promise you’ll take away one or all of the following:

  • New techniques:
  • A blossoming of your creative process;
  • A good dollop of color and design theory;
  • Keener observational skills;
  • New friends;
  • The ability to critique your own work;
  • Some beautiful finished work.

My painting workshops have been winnowed down recently to include those I absolutely love, both in the teaching and the place. Let me tell you what I treasure about each one:

Sand and Shadows (Sedona), 8X16, oil on archival linenboard, private collection

Canyon Color for the Painter, Sedona, AZ

In March, I’m really, really sick of snow. This is an opportunity for my friends and me to head west and concentrate on a completely different landscape. This is a color-theory based workshop that turns the green-blue of the east coast on its head. And the Sedona Arts Center is a fabulous support center. March 10-14, 2025.

Early Spring, Beech Hill
Early Spring, Beech Hill, 8X10, oil on canvasboard, private collection.

Advanced Plein Air Painting, Rockport, ME

I love teaching students of all levels, but this is a class designed for professional-level students to work on more complex concepts in painting. These include directing the viewer’s eye, narrative flow, serious drawing, and more. (Requires a portfolio or permission, and please don’t be offended if I suggest you take a different workshop first. It’s not about ability; it’s whether you have the process down.) July 7-11, 2025.

Becky painting at the amazing and wonderful Schoodic Point.

Sea and Sky at Acadia National Park

This is a student favorite and a personal favorite. It’s in one of the most beautiful, less-traveled parts of Acadia National Park: the Schoodic Peninsula. It’s my longest running workshop and all levels of experience seem to enjoy it. The wilderness setting seems to create a special camaraderie among students. Enjoy all-inclusive accommodation or join us as a commuter. August 3-8, 2025.

Cassie Sano’s painting of Undermountain Farm’s Victorian barn in the Berkshires.

Find Your Authentic Voice in Plein Air, Berkshires, MA

I fell in love with the Berkshires when my oldest daughter lived in Pittsfield, MA. She’s moved on, but it continues to enchant me with its historic little towns, rolling hills, and working farms. I love the verdant landscape and especially the day we get to spend at the amazing Hancock Shaker Village. All levels are welcome. August 11-15, 2025.

Autumn farm, oil on canvasboard, available.

Immersive In-Person Fall Workshop, Rockport, ME

This is a deep dive into all the special places I get to paint here in midcoast Maine. We cap it with a private guided tour in the Farnsworth Art Museum that’s tailored to my students. It’s easy to get a hotel room in this area, it’s the height of fall color, and all levels are welcome. October 6-10, 2025.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Holiday guide for artists, part 2

I’m dividing this holiday gift guide for artists into multiple parts this year, so stay tuned over the next two weeks. I’ve given you both the Dick Blick and the Amazon price where available; while the per-item price is generally lower at Blick (where shipping is free over $59), there’s the advantage of Prime-Eligible if you only want one or two things. You know how to play this game.

This gift guide is for more serious artists who’ve already bought their way into a primary medium, but are still interested in experimenting. If you need to know more about oils, watercolors, acrylics or pastels, email me your questions.

Oils and acrylic brushes

Brushes are expensive, so many artists have inferior ones or too-small ones. In 2024 I surprised myself by coming back to a trusted old favorite: Isabey. They’re bristle brushes that carry a lot of paint and stand up to hard use.

These are the big boys that we artists never seem to buy for ourselves:

Isabey Chungking Interlocking Bristle Brush – Bright, Long Handle, Size 10 $23.94

Isabey Chungking Interlocking Bristle Brush – Filbert, Long Handle, Size 8 $16.57

Isabey Chungking Interlocking Bristle Brush – Flat, Long Handle, Size 10 $, 23.94

Isabey Chungking Interlocking Bristle Brush – Round, Long Handle, Size 8 $15.84

Princeton SNAP is another reliable product. I use them for smaller oil painting brushes, where paint load isn’t as critical, and any size in acrylics. Here is a great starter kit:

Princeton Snap! Natural Bristle Brush Set – Long Handle, Set of 3 $9.05

Watercolor brushes

Despite having many expensive watercolor brushes, I reach for Princeton Neptunes first. Again, the hole in most artists’ toolkit is in the bigger brushes, so try one of these kits:

Big boys: Princeton Neptune Synthetic Squirrel Brushes – Box Set of 4. $47.85

Middlin’ boys: Princeton Neptune Synthetic Squirrel Brushes – Set of 4 $35.97

If money is no object, you can get your loved one an Escoda Reserva Kolinsky-Tajmyr Sable Brush – Charles Reid Signature Brush Set, Pocket Round, at $495.49 (although in that price range I think a workshop is a better value.)

Brush soap

My daughter makes Rowan Branch Brush Soap for me, and it’s the best brush soap I’ve ever used. Slip some in the stockings of your oil and acrylic painter friends.

Gouache

Gouache is used in art school, and for good reason. It has the immediacy of acrylics and the opacity of oils, but it cleans up with water. Artists in all media like playing with it, including me.

I like this M. Graham Artists’ Gouache Basic Set, Set of 5 colors, 15 ml tubes

Dick Blick, $54.35

Amazon: $54.35

Oil Pastels

Sennelier is the clear quality winner in oil pastels, which can be used on their own or with oil paint. This landscape starter kit will give you enough experience to know if you like them:

$55.69 at Dick Blick

$61.83 at Amazon

Hard Pastels

Hard pastels are fabulous, cost-effective drawing tools. This assorted set of 24 is professional grade at a very good price.

Dick Blick $25.74

Amazon, $25.44

I just want to try soft pastels without breaking the bank

Dick Blick offers this Unison Handmade Pastel set of 8 half sticks at an outstanding price, I assume on the theory that they’re addictive.

$17.80 at Dick Blick

Pastel paper

This UArt tablet of ten sheets of sanded paper should last as long as the soft pastels, and by the time you’re done you’ll know if you’re hooked:

$33.68 at Dick Blick

$39.60 at Amazon

Storage for the studio

I have more than one taboret cabinet but this simple one sits under my desk and holds all the art supplies I might need while teaching.

$92.45 at Amazon

For your plein air kit

These mesh bags save my backpack from becoming a swamp of materials.

$15.99 at Amazon

And, last but not least, safety

The danger of “park and paint” plein air is other bad drivers. One of the nicest gifts I ever received was a pair of safety cones. These collapsible ones are reflective, come with LED lights, and will fit easily in a car trunk. Every plein air painter should have them.

$29.90 at Amazon

This is the second in a four-part holiday gift guide. Holiday Gifts for Budding Artists is here.

And, yes, I get affiliate benefits from this gift guide for artists if you buy through one of these links. It helps keep this blog on the internet, so I do appreciate it.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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2024 holiday gift guide for artists, part 1

I’m dividing this holiday gift guide for artists into multiple parts this year, so stay tuned over the next two weeks. I’ve given you both the Dick Blick and the Amazon price; while the per-item price is generally lower at Blick (where shipping is free over $59), there’s the advantage of Prime-Eligible if you only want one or two things. You know how to play this game.

This gift guide for artists is directed towards the newbies on your list, both young and old. As a young artist, I had the benefit of good materials provided (sometimes unwillingly) by my artist father. The frustration of bad supplies often makes people quit art before they get started. Give budding artists a few good tools, rather than overload them with the junk you see on department store end-caps. That doesn’t mean spending more money; it means choosing wisely.  

For the littlest artist

I bought this easel for my grandkids years ago, and it’s still going strong. It’s tall enough to last a kid until ages 7-8, after which they can graduate to real art supplies.

$46.12 at Dick Blick

Little people and color

If you’re brave, pair the above easel with this florescent tempera paint and these chubby brushes. That’s enough paint to last them a very long time.

However, sometimes the mess drives me nuts. Then I had them these Crayola washable markers instead.

$4.62 at Dick Blick

$6.25 at Amazon

For bigger people (older kids and adults)

These are all professional-grade materials, and I’ve chosen them because they’re useful for the person just starting out.

Paper

I use this Strathmore Bristol Visual Journal myself, and give it as gifts to my kids and grandkids. It takes watercolor, pencil and ink without buckling. Bigger isn’t better when it comes to sketchbooks, and this size fits easily in a backpack or purse. Because it’s infinitely erasable, it’s the only sketchbook I use.

$8.24 at Dick Blick

$9.95 at Amazon

Pencils

I’ve got drawers full of pencils, but I keep coming back to Papermate’s #7 mechanical pencil. The biggest problem with pencils isn’t quality; it’s finding one when you need it. I find the fat grip helpful, and the lead is refillable. Mechanical pencils never need sharpening, which means there’s one less thing for me to lose.

$6.84 at Dick Blick

$5.70 at Amazon (limited time offer)

And erasing

Nobody needs a separate eraser but I enjoy this; it’s got a narrow point and makes erasure part of the drawing experience. Plus, it clips into my sketchbook just like my pencil does.

$6.09 at Dick Blick

$8.94 at Amazon

For fine lines

The Faber-Castell Ecco Pigment Pen is a reasonably-priced, lightfast and waterproof art pen. Its point holds up to use, even with rulers. I buy these in bulk for both myself and my boat workshops.

$3.13 at Dick Blick

$2.99 at Amazon but not Prime Eligible

Adding color

Any budding artist would enjoy this starter set of high-end colored pencils. They’re color-matched to all Faber-Castell systems, and are high-chroma, easily blended, break-resistant, water-resistant, and smudgeproof. This gift set comes with 20 colored pencils, four graphite pencils of differing weights, an eraser and a metal pencil sharpener.

$50.68 at Dick Blick

$50.68 at Amazon

And paint

If I were to give a new watercolor painter a cost-effective gift, it would be just three pigments: Ultramarine Blue, Nickel Azo Yellow and Quinacridone Magenta. This set, however, gives you six pigments and a mixing tray at a reasonable price. They’re what I use; they’re high-chroma, professional-quality paints.

$26.57 at Dick Blick

$26.57 at Amazon

Brushes

After years of looking for an affordable brush kit for my watercolor workshops, I stumbled on this. It’s a good starter set for pocket brushes.

$17.99 at Amazon

Watercolor Paper

Strathmore 400 is a good, all-around sheet, a good first step towards finished work in watercolor. It’s what I use to demo painting effects in my classes and workshops.

$9.96 at Dick Blick

A storage solution is a canny gift

After searching for sewing supplies in my granddaughter’s bedroom, I realize that the crafty child needs organization as much as anything. This multi-drawer craft cart will tuck in next to her dresser, and she can move it to a bigger space if she needs to.

$69.99 at Amazon

And, yes, I get affiliate benefits from this gift guide for artists if you buy through one of these links. It helps keep this blog on the internet, so I do appreciate it.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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What I painted in Sedona, Arizona

Dawn along Upper Red Rock Loop Road, Sedona, 20X24 oil on canvas, $2318 unframed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

When do you get to stop worrying about your kids? Never.

I’ve had an exhausting fortnight, as my British subjects would say. I arrived in Albany, NY from my western perambulations with just enough time to alter multiple outfits for my goddaughter’s wedding. That was in Rochester, NY, last weekend. A lovely time it was, too. When my third daughter started to complain of abdominal pain, she pounded acetaminophen rather than set aside her bridesmaid’s duties.

She wasn’t kidding that it hurt; she had an emergency stent put in on Tuesday and her gallbladder removed on Wednesday. I’m vastly relieved that as of this writing she sounds much more chipper.

Cottonwoods along the Rio Verde, 9X12, oil on archivally-prepared Baltic birch, $696 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

My work from this year’s Sedona Plein Air

I took terrible photos of my paintings from Sedona but (for some reason) it took me until yesterday to rephotograph the ones I brought home with me. Although I will make more money if you buy a painting directly from my website, I’ll be just as happy if you buy one from the Sedona Arts Center if that’s the one that trips your trigger; it’s a great organization and could use the support. To that end, I’ve separated them into two sections. Click on the image and it will take you directly through to more complete description.

As I was writing this post, I kept thinking, “That’s one of my favorite paintings.” That’s a good sign; it means I have nothing to apologize for.

On my website

Dawn, at top, and Cottonwoods along the Rio Verde, above, are both on my website. In addition, there are:

Hail hitting the Cockscomb Formation, Sedona, 8X10, oil on archivally-prepared Baltic birch, $522 includes shipping and handling in continental US.
Blue and purple, Sedona, 11X14, oil on archivally-prepared Baltic birch, $869 unframed includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Through Sedona Arts Center

The photos on the Sedona Arts Center website are dark; I’ve replaced them with my file photos where possible. If you want further pictures showing the paintings in daylight or details, contact JD Jensen.

Country Road, 14X18, oil on archival canvasboard, available through Sedona Arts Center. The color in this image is more accurate than that on the website.
The Fleeting Hand of Time, 11X14, oil on birch, available through Sedona Arts Center. This painting is lighter and brighter than the photo I have.
Peace, 8X16, available through Sedona Arts Center.
My Practice Cactus, 11X14, available through Sedona Arts Center. This painting is also lighter and brighter than the photo I have.
Poplars, 12X16, oil on archival canvasboard, available through Sedona Arts Center.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Art is not a luxury

Luristan bronze griffins, first millennium BC, Museum of Ancient Near East, Berlin courtesy Wolfgang Sauber.

The Torah describes Bezalel and his assistant, Aholiab, as having decorated the Tabernacle sometime between 1400 and 500 BCE. Polygnotus of Thasos, who worked in the mid-5th century BC, was a superstar in ancient Greece, as was his student Pheidias.

All of the original work of these men is now lost; we know nothing about it except copies and descriptions.

Before them, art was anonymous, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t made. Before homo sapiens were in Europe, their Neanderthal cousins were making art on the Iberian Peninsula. Prehistoric cave art is a human universal, found worldwide. Why?

Restored griffin fresco in the Throne Room, Palace of Knossos, Crete, original from Bronze Age. CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=179033

Enter the griffin

The griffin (or griffon) is a mythical beast with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. By the Middle Ages, it had assumed legendary status, but the oldest known depiction of a griffin is carved into slate on a cosmetics palette, c. 3300–3100 BC.

Because people in the Middle Ages could read and write, we more or less understand the medieval bestiary, including the legends of the griffin. For ancient Egyptians, Persians, Mesopotamians, Greeks, central Asians, etc., all of whom used the griffin symbol, its meaning is less clear. All cultures, apparently, saw them as supernaturally powerful. And they were thought to be real, if the accounts of ancient naturalists like Pliny the Elder and others are to be believed. The griffin lives on to this day in heraldry, logos and mascots. It meant something to an Egyptian makeup artist, to a feudal warlord, to the Victorian art theorist John Ruskin, and even to animators of Disney movies. Even concrete hasn’t lasted that long.

Medieval tapestry, Basel, c. 1450 CE.

Art tells the story of human history

The tabernacle and Polygnotus’ paintings may no longer exist, but much ancient art does. We may not know why the unnamed painters at Chauvet Cave painted animals, but there is no question that their art evokes a response in us. For one thing, it’s highly realistic, even when the animals it portrays are extinct.

I wrote on Monday that art history is the pictorial history of mankind. It is the most powerful and enduring record of human civilization, equaling the written word in recording the values, beliefs, emotions, and daily lives of people throughout history. And in general it’s more succinct.

In its narrowest sense, art is visual documentation, and we like to say that purpose has been rendered obsolete by photography. However, if you’ve ever tried to identify a plant, you know that a good botanical illustration is often more useful than a photograph.

More than that, art reflects the cultural, social, and political contexts of its time. It is rich in symbolism, experience, meaning and metaphor. Somehow those elements speak to us even when we can’t put what they say into words.

That is because art works in universal themes, such as love, grief, death, power, or vulnerability.

A statue of a griffin on the Basilica di S. Marco, Venice

Art is not a luxury

Art is no more of a luxury than civilization itself, for the two are deeply entwined. That’s why human culture has always supported art, and that’s one of the many stories the griffin tells us.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Monday Morning Art School: questions for artists

Regrowth and regeneration (Borrow Pit #4), 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $348 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

I’m finally heading home. Although I’ve been in the west for almost a month, it’s in the Hudson Valley that I’ve run into smoke from forest fires. Life can be odd at times.

I’ve been on the road for a month, which has meant lots of driving and painting punctuated by intense social situations. There are certain questions for artists that are asked at every event. Artists should know how to answer them; they’re the equivalent of our elevator pitch. Here are my answers; what are your answers to these questions for artists?

Eastern Manitoba River, 6X8, oil on archival canvasboard, $348 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

How did you become interested in art? 

I’ve been drawing and painting since I could hold a crayon. It’s hard for me to separate art as an ‘interest’. (Most people start life drawing intensively but give it up in later childhood. I don’t know why.)

Art history is really just the pictorial reflection of human history, and I spend almost as much time thinking about it as I do in creating art.

The Late Bus, oil on archival canvasboard, 6X8, $435.00 framed, includes shipping and handling in continental US.

What are your influences? 

As a young woman, I was influenced by the Northern European Renaissance, in particular, Albrecht DĂŒrer. The Italian Renaissance was based on secular, classical ideals while the northerners emphasized realism and faith.

Today I think more about the Canadian Group of Seven and Australian Impressionism. Both have a passion for place, something shared with great American regional painters like Maynard Dixon, Edgar Payne and Grant Wood, among others.

What is your preferred medium? 

Whatever tool happens to be in my hand at the time. I carry a sketchbook around with me.

What are your goals? 

To continue to paint and teach as long as the body permits.

How do you define success? 

Being able to sleep at night.

What are your most valued skills?

An almost-indefatigable work ethic.

What is your favorite and least favorite aspect of being an artist? 

An art career indulges my independent spirit, but that same trait makes me sometimes work myself to exhaustion.

I’m intrepid, but the flip side of risk is occasional insecurity.

What do you wish you’d learned in school?

How to run a business. I’ve had to teach myself, and it was much more difficult than learning to paint.

What inspires you? 

The beauty of Creation. I used to be far more interested in humanity, but now I mostly think about how much we’re all gasping for untrammeled nature.

When is your favorite time to create? 

Morning.

How do you know when a piece is finished? 

I can’t stand thinking about it anymore.

What is the hardest part of creating a piece? 

Finding uninterrupted time. It’s shocking how much of my day is taken up with the business of art. I always have more ideas than I can execute.

How has your style changed over time?

I am no longer interested in faithfully rendering reality.

What is your point of view? 

My work here, and whatever talent I have, is a gift from God, and my job is to use it to the best of my ability.

How do you handle negative criticism? 

Badly; who doesn’t?

What have you learned from criticism? 

On reflection, I often have to admit that it was at least partly justified. On the other hand, although I believe there are immutable elements of design, there’s no reason to believe that the juror de jure has ever learned them. In the end, I take my own measure.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Canyon Color painting workshop, March 2025

Snoopy in Shadow (private collection), was painted during one of Sedona’s quicksilver mood changes last month.

“Any chance you will be doing a workshop out west this coming year? Somewhere nearer Colorado?” a reader (and prior workshop student) asked.

Well, yes, Miss S. I’ll be teaching Canyon Color for the Painter in Sedona, AZ, from March 10-14, 2025. This is designed to teach you to lead with color and create a color strategy before you pick up a brush. Of course, I’ll be talking about other things too, such as light, composition and brushwork.

The light in Sedona is amazing any time of day. This was dawn.

I know I told you only four workshops in 2025. I’m sorry I lied.

“You only wanted to teach four workshops in 2025,” my marketing guru, Laura, told me in exasperation. True, but last month’s plein air festival reminded me how much I love painting in Sedona. It is set within striking red rock formations, which are a major draw for visitors and painters alike. The vibrant red sandstone cliffs and spires, such as Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock, and Courthouse Butte, range from vermillion to yellow to orange to pink. They’re the result of millions of years of geological history and provide an unparalleled subject for painters.

I’ve work with the Sedona Arts Center for several years. It’s even more venerable than Barbie, having been founded in 1958. It’s an established regional hub for arts education. Plus, its staff is very nice, and very capable.

Tree Shadows (private collection), was painted in a grove of cottonwoods. Sedona always surprises.

“Would you teach a painting workshop in __________?”

That’s a question I’m asked several times a year. I’ll always consider it, but certain conditions have to be right or it never works.

“All painting is regional,” a well-known artist told me recently. That is still somewhat true even in the Age of Zoom. Although I’ve sold paintings in many countries and taught across the US, my collectors and students are still concentrated in the northeast. Teaching outside that area only works when there’s a strong support system in place.

Every painting workshop needs a stable base. I loved teaching from Jane Chapin’s ranch in New Mexico’s Santa Fe National Forest. That went into hiatus in 2021 because of car rental problems caused by COVID. Then the area was threatened by the catastrophic Hermit’s Peak fire of 2022. Those back-to-back problems knocked it from my schedule.

Everyone loves to paint in areas of great natural beauty. However, these places are generally outside civilization, which means they sometimes lack amenities. I’ve learned that accommodations, food and restrooms may not be important to me, but they are important to my painting workshop students. That’s why Sedona is such a treasure. It’s a city with all the usual attractions. It’s also within the Coconino National Forest, it has grasslands, chaparral, piney woods, and desert, and there are nearby cliff dwellings and other archeological remnants of the Sinagua people.

Hail over Coxcomb Rock, 8X10, oil on birch.

Sedona’s weather is nearly perfect, but even there I’ve experienced some shocking sleights of hand by Mother Nature. That’s when a classroom or studio to work in is invaluable.

Institutional backup is why I work with Schoodic Institute in Acadia National Park and Sedona Arts Center. It’s not just for a studio for rainy days; there are many ways in which an organization provides support to its teachers. The staff at the arts center will help you if you have questions about where to stay, eat, or buy supplies, for example.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:

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Reflecting on my Arizona landscape paintings

Poplars, 12X16, oils on archival canvasboard, available through Sedona Arts Center.

Laura Martinez Bianco and I came independently to the same conclusion at the start of the 20th Annual Sedona Plein Air Festival: Sedona is so beautiful that it makes no sense to drive around looking for the ‘perfect’ view; there is a painting at every intersection.

The prior year, Ed Buonvecchio, Casey Cheuvront and I spent half a day edging our way up the terrible washboarding and washouts that are Schnebly Hill Road. It took so long we barely had time to paint. This year I didn’t want to spend that much time driving, especially since I’d just traveled 3000 miles from Maine.

Country Road, 14X18, oil on archival canvasboard. The color in this image is more accurate than that on the website.

With the exception of one interlude on the West Fork of Oak Creek, I stuck close to home. Since Laura was staying nearby and had made the same decision, we painted together, and had a lot more time than we would have otherwise.

Five of my paintings remain at Sedona Arts Center, where they’re available until the end of November. They’re part of a bigger show featuring work from most of the artists who participated in the plein air festival.

My Practice Cactus, 11X14, available through Sedona Arts Center.

My Arizona landscape paintings

Country Road is one of those rare paintings which perfectly pleases me. I’m happy with its simplicity and abstract shapes. Ed showed me a wetlands area, but I was underwhelmed. Instead, I focused on this dirt road with golden cottonwoods and long purple shadows.

My Practice Cactus was painted at a roadside pullout. Like all true cactuses, prickly pear cactuses are native to the Americas, but not where I live. I practice painting them every time I visit the southwest.

Peace, 8X16, available through Sedona Arts Center.

The Fleeting Hand of Time was painted over two sessions from Posse Grounds Park, so named because in the past it was a staging ground for the Sheriff’s posse. This is a conventional city park, but the views and trails are outstanding. At sundown, the shadows from Coffee Pot Rock reach across like fingers caressing their neighbors. However, they move very fast, necessitating more than one trip. The painting IRL is a bit lighter and more saturated than the photo.

Peace: My friend Bernadette told me that there were prayer flags along the trail near the Amitabha Stupa and Peace Park. Frankly, I was attracted to the bright colors fluttering among the piñons and junipers, but why not pray for peace while you’re painting in a peace park?

The Fleeting Hand of Time, 11X14, oil on birch, available through Sedona Arts Center.

Poplars and cottonwoods turn golden-yellow in the autumn, and they stand off beautifully against the red rocks and evergreens of Oak Creek Canyon. This painting interested me for its abstract qualities.

Why buy one of these paintings?

One of the most venerable arts organizations in the country, the Sedona Arts Center is committed to promoting local and regional artists, particularly Arizona landscape paintings. By purchasing art from the center, you’re supporting the creative community of Sedona and the twenty nationally-known artists who trekked to Arizona to paint.

In addition to selling art, SAC offers educational programs, workshops, and events that nurture both aspiring and established artists. Your purchase helps support these programs.

The pieces available through this show were inspired by Sedona’s famous red rock landscapes. They’re a visual narrative that holds meaning and connection to the land. And all the artists in this show are collectible, meaning that your painting will be a good long-term investment.

Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025: