Dear Artist, Out in the golden stubble, under a prairie sky, there’s no one in sight — just Airedale Dorothy and a few summer crickets. This evening the universe is nearly silent — save for a distant train calling its…
Dear Artist, On Tuesday, Debra Lawson of Winnipeg, Canada wrote, “I’m curious to know how factors such as lead, turpentine, pigments, poor ventilation, and other carcinogens have contributed to or caused the mental and physical conditions and health ailments of…
Dear Artist, Every so often some researcher will publish fresh info on the mental or physical problems of creative folks. The general implication of some of this stuff is that you have to be just a wee bit sick in…
Dear Artist, Yesterday, Jeanne Long of Selby, MN, USA wrote, “In judging an art fair this weekend, I found myself utterly affected by the input of a fellow juror. Suddenly my picks seemed wooden and overworked. He was looking for…
Dear Artist, Yesterday, Marilyn Juda-Orlandi, of Monte Porzio Catone, Italy, wrote, “Now that it’s summer I often spend a day at the beach. It’s an opportunity to have a lot of scantily dressed free models! All shapes and sizes, from…
Dear Artist, Writing on the value and importance of drawing, more than one thousand artists have so far responded to my last letter. Many, like drawing teacher Sue Cowan of Coquitlam, BC, Canada, asked, “Why is it most people don’t…
Dear Artist, Did you know that between 1820 and 1860 there were more than 145,000 “How to Draw” books published in the USA? In those pre-camera days, gentlemen and ladies kept memories alive by drawing them. A book by J.…
Dear Artist, It was getting too dark for photos. I was on a narrow road within a menacing forest. Dorothy growled into the gloom. Then, like a ghost, a solitary coyote emerged toward us. After sizing us up, it turned…