Sunday Art Day

An exhibition and a signing This week, I'll share info about two events I'm participating in--and I'll tell you a story about each. First, about the piece I shared last week, "Renaissance Rabbit"... I painted this for the 35th annual Celebration of the Arts exhibition to raise money for the Ryman Arts Foundation. Herb Ryman was one of the first artists to work with Walt Disney on the design of Disneyland, and the non-profit art school named after him serves 1,500 students annually throughout...

What's not to love? Everyone loves my Disney work. It’s sort of a given. There was a time when I put it front and center just to get a positive reaction—and hid my own work until I knew the viewer might be receptive. I understand, though. Disney makes people happy. It’s impossible not to grin when I come into my studio and see something like this on the easel: Mrs. Beakley as Carlota Joaquina But it's not all I do. For most of my career, I've balanced the cheerful, popular art with paintings...

Online Workshop this Wednesday This Wednesday, April 23rd from noon-2 pst, I'm offering an online workshop titled "Uncover Your Purpose As An Artist." This is perfect if you are interested in deepening your creative exploration and uncovering what drives your work--so that you can focus your energies more productively. I held an in-person version of the class last Saturday, and the students said it was eye-opening and helpful in ways they hadn't expected. Register In this workshop, we’re...

On creative inspiration Who or what is your Muse? Do you have a source of creative inspiration? Does it come in a steady flow, or an intermittent flood between droughts? Simply put, what inspires you to create? A 1987 ink drawing of a character in my head, after Suzanne Vega's song "Solitude Standing." The ancient Greeks came up with as many as nine different Muses who inspired literature, science, and the arts. They originated from matings between the gods and memory (or mother earth,...

Series tell stories As artists, we pursue themes in our work. Even if we’re painting a field of red, or a jumble of scribbles, we’re searching for something. Whether or not the work succeeds aesthetically, we’ve learned something. The internal has become external. We’ve created a story. 3 images from the "Transgender Superhero" series, 1997-2002, watercolor on paper I’ve always preferred painting in series. It’s how I explore a theme so thoroughly that I extract every gift from the journey....

Pretty much everything... From the beauty of Nature to the turmoil within, to the horrors of war and the human drive to connect with Spirit/God/Creator, the subjects that inspire artists are endless. "Listen!" oil on board, part of my Hummingbird series, which I painted after a baby hummingbird I was trying to save died in its nest. For much of my life, the primary reason for painting has been to find a way out of psychic pain. I kept my own painting practice very separate from the work I did...

Hello! First of all, I just migrated my email service from Mailchimp to Kit—so it would help me so much if you could simply reply to this email with a simple “I got it” to make sure it went through. I appreciate your help! Now to today's topic: the healing power of art. It's one of my favorite subjects. Many of you know that I wrote a book titled “A Creator’s Guide to Stopping Self-Harm,” which describes how I used creative exercises to resolve a behavior that troubled me for decades. I had...