Different from an artist statement, which is a written description in support of your work for the purpose of a deeper understanding of it, a mission statement can be one sentence that summarizes your purpose, values or goals. You may feel this kind of thing is obvious or that art is simply a form of breathing, but it can also be fun to try to encapsulate a raison d’être — even if just as an exercise for clarity, in this moment, for your work and life.
Dear Artist, I’ve always been suspect of historical painter’s palettes. One reason is that a…
Dear Artist, This week, 500 women, mostly artists, teachers and art professionals, met online to…
Dear Artist, Yesterday, Diana Miller-Pierce of Fort Wayne, Indiana wrote, “As a professional artist and…
“You are an idea-driven artist,” my Dad told me. “I am a subject-driven one.” Each year, with the support of my Mum, he took a trip for “material gathering.” Over the course of his life, he amassed innumerable drawings, studies and plein air work, as well as a collection of over 20,000 slides, catalogued by subject and housed in flat sheets above a large light table in the corner of his studio. Like a rainy day bank, the slide library offered a million possibilities for painting subjects, with notations for reference, location, names and dates, if needed. Like a diary of experience, my Dad believed that reference should be personally felt and collected — upholding the authenticity of his authorship and honouring a beloved process and tradition.
Dear Artist, My friend Jack Hambleton and I were in the town of Sao Bras…
Canadian artist Justin Beckett wrote, “I have been thinking of making some prints of my work lately, due to these unusual times — to make a more affordable option for people, and to give a bit more income to myself. I was thinking of making some smaller prints to get my work out there a bit more, and also making some medium sized prints on high quality paper. I would only make some of my work available as prints. I have seen more artists doing this these days, even artists with gallery representation that are fairly well known, but there are others that are not doing it.
Dear Artist, Recently, Jil Ashton-Leigh of Steveston, BC, Canada told me about a wise Chinese…
Dear Artist, An old friend asked if she could schedule a quick zoom painting lesson…
It’s one of those open-air workshops on a crisp spring day. The fields and wood-groves are studded with painters, right down to the water’s edge. Here and there, respecting each other’s space — men with big hats and French easels; women, in pairs, hunched down in the grass. Some are very much alone and aloof. A woman gives me a frown as I approach.