Dear Artist, In the Mackenzie Delta the great river slows down. We wind through countless channels, past silent, watching eagles. At occasional summer fish-camps there are teepees with racks of smoking whitefish. Teams of huskies bark at their stakes or…
Dear Artist, In the easel station on the bow of the “Alexander Mackenzie,” moving down-river, I’m up to my gumboots in personal trivialities. Painting, I’m thinking, is a progressive business, a parade of minor inventions. I obstinately flip through the…
Dear Artist, Miracle one: In this overcrowded world there’s an empty landscape where a vast river winds to the horizon in a land where the sun never sets. Here, there’s the lush growth of a short, exuberant summer under an…
Dear Artist, Like the kid (and the dad) in the Disneyland ad, I’m “too excited” to sleep. It’s a good feeling. Anticipation is one of the greater pleasures of love, travel, painting. Knowing that something exciting is going to happen,…
Dear Artist, “Neither an ogre nor a patsy be.” I don’t know who said it but in my books that quote just happens to be valuable. It’s not necessary to be unduly tough, nor to be weak. Furthermore, some of…
Dear Artist, Harlan Simantal wrote to say, “Lately I’ve wiped off about eight out of ten paintings I’ve started, and I’m wondering what’s going on. I’ve had periods where four out of five turn out well, and I’ve painted a…
Dear Artist, Tania Bourne wrote to ask if it’s possible to hold down a day job and build her career in art at the same time. The question keeps turning up. Here’s my take on it: There seems to be…
Dear Artist, Zo Evamy wrote to ask, “How should I structure my time in order to build momentum and keep it going?” Her complete letter is in today’s clickback. She has in mind concentrating for the summer. The fact that…
Dear Artist, I’m wandering in a magic farm called “Serendipity,” a place of fragrant gardens, hencoops, sheepfolds, shady arbors, scarecrows and a hee-hawing donkey. There’s fifty painters scattered in nooks and crannies and I’m looking over shoulders. As I see…
