Tag Archives: art

The kindness of new friends

“The rain to the wind said, You push and I’ll pelt.’ They so smote the garden bed That the flowers actually knelt, And lay lodged—though not dead. I know how the flowers felt.” ― Robert Frost The weather was raw and the wind was fierce when Brad Marshall and I set out on Friday morning for […]

A hip flask and I’m on my way

It seems silly to complain about heavy rain in New York when the Maine coast is inundated. We got 3” of rain overnight, but that is nothing in comparison. Nobody here is bailing their mudroom out, as my friend Eileen was doing in Belfast yesterday. My house-sitter checked in to tell me that my house […]

Storm flags

Just yesterday I wrote that I was looking forward to heading to NYC this weekend, where the breathing wouldn’t be as bad as it is here in the Genesee Valley. Hah! It turns out that New York is under a Tropical Storm Watch. Joaquin is approaching hurricane strength and may or may not aim for […]

Folding before a threat

Art is censored for many reasons, from politics to economics. Having been censored myself, my sympathies are with those artists who experience it. It takes months or years to create a body of work, and having it withdrawn from the public marketplace is the worst insult it can sustain. The British artist calling herself Mimsy […]

Renaissance men

The last few decades have led to a significant decline in visual arts and music being taught in public schools. That’s a pity, because historically the visual arts and music were considered an integral part of educating the well-rounded man. Many people have pointed that out, but anecdote cuts no ice in the Common Core […]

Everyone is having fun but me

In two weeks, I am meeting friends to paint together in Rye, NY at Painters on Location. This is the only time of the year when I get together with Brad Marshall and Bruce Bundock, and we’re all looking forward to having time to catch up as well as paint. Bruce has torn his kitchen […]

Day off

I’m not in Rochester to paint but to sell a house. Still, when the opportunity presents itself, I can’t resist. Patricia McDermond is the current chair of New York Plein Air Painters (NYPAP). She got a message from a Rochester-based painter asking if there was a chapter in Rochester. That’s embarrassing, because it’s where I […]

The obtuseness of the effective altruism movement

An op-ed piece in the Washington Post earlier this week suggested that the effective altruism movement could kill the arts. Effective altruism purports to apply rational decision-making to funding charities. In theory, anything that demonstrates a good bang for the buck could be effective altruism. In practice, effective altruism means alleviating world poverty, improving animal welfare, avoiding […]

The meaning of love

I have written before on how having children has historically been an impediment to women artists. Although we live in a world where child-rearing is less gender-specific than ever before, this is still true. Chrissy Spoor Pahucki is an exception, and someone I really admire. She takes her three kids in turns to plein air events with […]