Trending Articles

Friends of SOAR

For great posts about the business of art, check out The Artsy Shark HERE!
ArtistsBillofRights.org reviews competitions and appeals seeking creative content, listing those that respect your copyrights and highlighting those that don't. Art Matters! publishes calls to artists, and not all of them may be compliant with ABoR's standards. Visit their site to learn more.
We support the Embedded Metadata Manifesto.  Metadata is information such as copyright notice and contact info you can embed in your images to protect your intellectual property, save time when uploading to social sites and promote your art. Click to visit the site and learn more.

Tennis Sweater

When I was in high school, I used to borrow-steal this beloved vintage tennis (cricket?) sweater from my dad’s closet. It was and remains the perfect sweater. It’s both nostalgic and classic, a perfect memory set to the soundtrack of Footloose, Breakfast Club, Flashdance and Pretty in Pink. My paintings are nostalgic. And sometimes funny […]

Continue reading Tennis Sweater

Kindness

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” Aesop Even though times are wrought with anxiety, sadness, worry and fear, there is profound kindness happening all around us. I see it or hear about it every day. It’s the tiny to the huge. The big tip the stranger leaves for the restaurant […]

Continue reading Kindness

Peace be with you

What can I say that you haven’t read, seen, experienced or felt already? Not much. So I’m just here to say hi, send a hug from a far and staying connected in the way I know how. I’m exercising a bit. Walking outside. Puttering. Starting projects I can’t finish. Emailing, calling and texting to stay […]

Continue reading Peace be with you

Top 10 Designers to Watch in 2020!

Hello from that equally slow motion and uber revved up time warp between trade shows. It’s a time where coffee in the morning is extra luxurious and slow but orders also need to be filled pronto and the day is planned strategically. I’m between Atlanta AmericasMart and Las Vegas Gift Show and appreciating every minute. […]

Continue reading Top 10 Designers to Watch in 2020!

XO Stationery Stash

It might be less than two weeks into the new year but in the retail world…guess what is virtually tomorrow??? That’s right, Valentine’s Day! Just in case you’re the stash-that-perfect-card-away-for-the-right-occasion variety (you’re in good company), let me introduce you to a few new designs in the XO category. I’m headed off into the season of […]

Continue reading XO Stationery Stash

Shipping in time for Christmas!

Hello and happy holidays from the studio! Are you painting? Holiday cookie baking? Shopping? Making your own Christmas decorations? Yes to all of it. I’m a big fan of things or experiences made by hand or small businesses and love the personal details that often accompany it. I have a small and sweet collection of […]

Continue reading Shipping in time for Christmas!

Do you like croissants? In Paris? 💌🐩

Christina and Anna, founders of Deep Travel Workshops, have taken groups around the world on art and writing tours and are experienced travelers, guides, sense of humorians and lovely people. You are in good hands. I am your art guide. Painting, art supplies, sketching, anything at all around visually documenting this journey. We'll be using gouache and/or watercolor on this trip (easy, portable, great results perfect for all levels. No experience necessary!) Please email me if you have any art supply questions. The preview mini guide is here with details, cost, dates and more.

Carpe Diem Papers News! November at home….but April in Paris?

I hope this finds you very well and enjoying the season. It’s been a particularly beautiful autumn here in southern Oregon. Before the holiday hustle really takes hold…imagine this.

Springtime in Paris. Specifically, April 4-10 2020…in Paris. Cafés, museums, galleries, boat ride along the Seine, eclectic Parisian shops, French food, vintage book stalls, cafés , la patisserie, staying in the Marais and…painting your journey as you go. Sound merveilleux? My friends at Deep Travel Workshops are hosting this unique one week trip next April. My role in this incredible journey? Art instructor, guide, painting enthusiast, cheerleader and all round biggest fan of giving yourself this gift of art, time, creativity and community.

The itinerary is taking shape, the group is small and we are so excited to share this trip! Tell me more s’il vous plaît….?

During our week

Continue reading Do you like croissants? In Paris? 💌🐩

Bonjour (and April in Paris)

What is it about Paris? Other than everything…for most everybody…?  For me it represents history, architecture, culture, the arts, the dedication to a life lived in the small beautiful details. The people watching. The air, the color, the river, the romance, the food, the coffee, the fashion, the freedom. I’m not alone. It’s been many […]

Continue reading Bonjour (and April in Paris)

Oil v. Acrylic Part II

Hello from Atlanta, GA! I’m in the swing of trade show season but wanted to follow up on my painting experiment. First and most satisfying result: I finished the 30 paintings! No small feat when life happens, days turn into a few days into a weekend into…oh shoot, it’s Christmas! But I stuck with it, […]

Continue reading Oil v. Acrylic Part II

Oil v. Acrylic

Somewhere between now and March 3rd (which is when Madame Blog here tells me I last posted) I have been slowly, quietly, nervously experimenting with a new medium: oil paints. I decided to conduct a 30 day challenge for myself: 30 paintings in 30ish days. I didn’t quite make it, I think I got to […]

Continue reading Oil v. Acrylic