Blog

July 3, 2026

A Portrait Series from Someone who Never Painted Portraits

I took some online lessons with MarinaTvBArt, a lovely artist from Europe. She taught lessons on painting the portrait; her style is to first paint a dynamic, activated, often textured background and to have a portion of that revealed in the portrait. I painted a whole series, which is shown on the Home page and in the New Work part of my Portfolio. This one is called "Mired in Thought." I also did a Van Gogh portrait, prompted by seeing his exhibit last year at the MFA in Boston. I painted one of Frida Kahlo, which is close to my heart as we visited her home and studio recently in Mexico City. And several others. I'm smitten with all of them. Marina also teaches how to paint the face, and I discovered it merely takes a lot of astute observation to paint a face.

July 3, 2026

Finding a Title for a New Painting

I consulted with Claude AI to remind me of the name of that inflatable children's toy that is the height of a young child. You would punch it and since it was weighted on the bottom, it popped right back up. It was called Bop Bag. The painting I thought of naming Bop Bag reminded me of that toy. Not only did Claude know the name of the toy but also asked me a series of pertinent questions to help me understand my "intent" in painting this. I don't have any intent, I said, it just evolves. Claude also wrote me several pages of ideas from different vantage points to encourage me to consider different titles for this piece. I know that loving AI is not politically correct, but here I am. I haven't even mentioned my "relationship" with Airo AI Builder who has been patiently helping me update and redesign this website. I told my husband to be on his toes :-)

January 2023

Edges

"Edges" focuses on development of the edge of the painting. Often a painting has its focal point in or a little off the middle. In this painting, I wanted to show the middle of the piece melting into a strong statement at the very outer edges of the canvas. It serves to focus one's eyes around the whole painting, which is usually a goal of any painter.

March 2023

The Thinker, or Le Penseur

I recently visited a Rodin exhibit where, of course, The Thinker was included. It is always arresting to me to view this sculpture in vivo. The great Rodin, even though he may have had a staff of apprentices at his disposal, will always be admired and emulated. For me as a 2-dimensional artist, creating a piece that is mine completely, but that echoes the sentiment of Rodin, is a challenge. Since I love color and distorted figures, I interpreted Le Penseur in this way. A "thinker" is often depicted as a serious and thoughtful individual, but the brilliant colors of my thinker challenge the serious nature of that moniker.

June 2022

Three Close Friends

These three poses of a single model are depicted here as separate entities, entwined around one another. They made me think of how close friends can sometimes appear enmeshed in each others' lives. That's a term I used as a psychotherapist, when family members are in each others' business more than is healthy. I didn't feel that way about these 3 "friends." Maybe the painting identified various aspects of parts of one individual, all expressing herself a little differently. Since each part has the capacity to move around, she will be able to change and become more like the other.

December 2022

Boy With His Bird

As an animal lover, I appreciate the spectacular colors that some birds might show. It's telling that in the bird category, often it is the male bird that has the flamboyant colors to attract a female. How different for the human species. What if the roles were reversed? This painting depicts a young boy with his (presumably) pet bird. We assume it is a female bird, as it's drab. In contrast, the boy is full of brilliant color, none of which is realistic, but rather expressionistic. As a painter, I colored him as I felt, not as he would look.