Dear Artist, About a year ago my daughter, Sara, insisted that I install a water cooler in my studio. She has one in hers. She’s the pure pure type who believes in fruit blenders and doesn’t eat anything with eyelashes.…
Dear Artist, My friend Joe Blodgett came into the studio yesterday. He took a look around, studied a 20 x 24 for a minute, and then said, “Bloody incompetent, this one.” As a matter of fact I had been watching…
Dear Artist, The recent letter Hothouse effect generated some curiosity about the Wyeths: “What kind of role model was N. C. Wyeth?” “What secrets were behind all the creativity in that family?” Here are a few indications: Newell Convers Wyeth…
Dear Artist, There’s something to be said for families and extended families who live and work together in a creative hothouse. Think of Robert and Clara Schumann — they took in a boarder, Johannes Brahms, who managed to fall in…
Dear Artist, There are places of the heart where one can go a thousand times and not tire of them. We all have them and it’s good to remember to go again — they reinforce our feelings and give us…
Dear Artist, Something strange happened last Wednesday. About noon I decided to get out of the studio and take an hour’s cruise in the Alexander Mackenzie. She’s the flat-bottomed floating studio that Sara and I took down the Mackenzie River…
Dear Artist, Every once in a while I get a letter like this one from John Evans: “You drive a Bentley? How can you preach to starving artists when obviously you must come from old money.” This is what I…
Dear Artist, My last letter triggered responses from artists who said that they needed regimentation in order to produce. To many of us “regimented artist” is an oxymoron. We prefer to float through our lives and our creativity. I’ve found…
Dear Artist, Last night Krysta Stahl wrote, “I’m one of those painters who really has to make an effort. I spent all day Saturday in my studio… and ended up with 3 colossal failures. Nothing was working the way I…
Dear Artist, Good karma is a creative tool. By contrast, bad karma can interfere with your work, slow your progress and spoil your fun. Your words and deeds are your honour and your glory. Future power is needlessly given away…