Dear Artist, Last week I conducted a short workshop with seven students on an antique boat amid spectacular West Coast scenery. Apart from the possible benefit to students, I like these encounters because they give me an opportunity to try…
Dear Artist, Yesterday, Wendy Ximena Ordonez Hurtado, formerly of Cali, Colombia, now of Miami, Florida, wrote, “I’m 24 years old and about to graduate with a Masters in Art Education. I’m not married, although it is soon possible. Along the…
Dear Artist, Yesterday, Stephanie Quinn of Dallas, Texas wrote, “Athletes are taught to visualize winning and to set goals. Often, when I visualize my finished product and set out to work on a piece, it doesn’t turn out as well…
Dear Artist, The other day I got into a Brain Measuring Machine and was asked to do nothing in particular. “You’re older,” said the technician, “so you may have trouble turning off. Younger people seem to be able to switch…
Dear Artist, When three people in one day ask the same question, it’s time to pay attention, don’t you think? “What can I do about painter’s block?” they asked. First, you have to try to figure out which species of…
Dear Artist, Yesterday, Linda Flaherty of Fort Dodge, Iowa, wrote, “Recently, I found myself weeping before a self-portrait I was working on. Suddenly it was as if I actually saw myself. It was like looking at a portrait of someone…
Dear Artist, A few days ago a young bicycle courier brought his first five paintings around to my studio. “I’m not trying to get good,” he said. “I just want to enjoy myself in my evenings after I get off…
Dear Artist, During the last while there have been a few letters relating art to various belief systems in which little or no evidence exists to prove or disprove their magic. To try to make our readers’ positions clear, a…
Dear Artist, At the request of some friends and relatives I’ve changed all the names in this delicate story. George and I exhibited in the same gallery in a provincial town. Coming and going, we met on occasion, and once…