A farm scene painted from observation and memory, blending a Berkshires barn with my childhood experience growing up on a New York farm.

Learn how to analyze a painting while you’re still making it using distance, squinting, design elements, value, composition, and focused questions.

What is a nocturne? Join me as I explore the meaning of nocturne painting, from Frederic Remington’s evocative night scenes to the challenges of painting darkness and atmosphere.

Explore three new winter painting classes: Cozy Winter Painting, Painting Figures in Real Spaces, and Painting Nocturnes.

Learn to draw what you actually see instead of what you know. This simple drawing exercise uses abstract shapes to train observation and improve accurate drawing.

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You don’t need more art supplies to become a better painter. Painting practice, seeing, drawing, design, and good instruction matter more than another new brush or tube of paint.

Juried art shows and art sales are full of surprises. Discover why rejection and unsold paintings don’t define your success as an artist, and how to keep painting honestly despite fickle jurors and buyers.

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Learn the ten commandments of painting, from seeing accurately and understanding value to painting from life, developing process, and finding your own voice.

Learn how to handle artist rejection, criticism, and social media attacks without taking the bait or losing your perspective.

Learn why artists need to like their own paintings before seeking sales, awards or approval—and how self-critique can build confidence in your art.

Discover why quality art materials matter for beginners, where to spend money on paint, brushes, and paper, and where you can safely cut corners.

Why has beauty become suspect in contemporary art? Explore why serious art doesn’t have to be depressing—and why beauty, joy, and optimism still matter.

Discover why adult art education requires the courage to fail, and how painting can restore curiosity, confidence, and the joy of learning.

Discover how plein air painting workshops accelerate your learning curve through shared ideas, group energy, new scenery and learning from other painters.

How does fast fashion influence art? Explore consumer culture, originality, and why lasting art offers a powerful alternative to our disposable culture.

Discover how a workshop can transform your creative process, from seeing differently to finding the motivation, confidence, and skills to keep painting.

Learn how to analyze art by moving from ‘I feel’ to ‘I think’—using your eyes, emotions, and the elements of design to understand why a painting works.

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Learn how to sell original art without apologizing for your prices. Explore art pricing, communicating value, understanding buyers, and selling paintings with confidence.

Why do painters value loose brushwork in painting? Explore how Impressionism, plein air painting, Modernism and photography all changed the way we think.

Plein air painting creates more waste than you might expect. Learn how to manage painting trash and leave no trace in the landscape.

What can experienced painters learn from beginners? Fresh eyes, adult learning, color, composition, and the freedom to explore.

Confused by painting solvents, mediums, oils, gels and retarders? Learn what they actually do, and when you really need them for oil, watercolor and acrylic.

Instead of asking, “How do I paint what I see?” ask what attracted you to this scene in the first place. That’s the basis of landscape painting.

I’m cautious but not paranoid about ticks. I am not going to let them steal my love of painting outdoors.

There are many types of learners drawn to painting workshops. Take this quiz to find out which one you are.

Painting is all about organizing a beautiful chaos into a coherent design, so the viewer experiences what moved us to paint that scene in the first place.

New students are afraid there will be better painters at hand and they’ll feel judged. But even the best painters are busy wrestling with their own painting problems.

Stand anywhere outdoors and you’re flooded with information. You try to capture all this, and you quickly get lost, but it's actually worse when painting from photos.

St. Swithin predicts the month of August will be great for plein air. Does that auger well for a workshop to transform your landscape painting practice?

Great technique is the twin-turbocharged V-8 that drives your painting. But your destination is your authentic voice.

Learn why sketching improves composition, value, observation and confidence before painting, saving time and strengthening every artwork.

New England comprises many distinct regions, each with its own light, geology, atmosphere and visual language.

The Berkshires are full of natural beauty, luminous light and New England history, and they’re just a few hours from New York and Boston.

Water and nocturnes are both just a little mysterious. They're also two of the most rewarding subjects to learn to paint.

If you're an artist, I hope this show reminds you that lifelong learning isn't a sign of weakness, it's a hallmark of professionalism. And if you simply enjoy fine art, I hope you'll stop by.

“I will not judge another show where artists are allowed to submit signed work,” a juror told me. Judges are human, and signatures are basically spoilers.

As with almost everything in oil painting, there isn't one perfect choice for a ground. There is only the surface that best supports your process.

Students often ask how to avoid bad paintings. That's the wrong question. The goal should be to avoid safety and mediocrity.

Before we can create anything with staying power, we need to learn to relax and have a little fun.

“How you choose what to paint on when working with oil: canvas, linen or board, and what is the right degree of smoothness?" a reader asks.

Every successful painting is a partnership between artist and viewer. The painter provides the clues. The viewer’s brain responds.

Art determines what reality looks like in our collective imagination. For example, how much do movies and television shape what you think you know about the world?

Change one thing in your painting process and it can feel as if you've forgotten everything you know. The trick is to not panic.

Urgency is built into life. When we pass on, the world we created and lived in and all the possibilities we entertained are gone forever.

Cave art tells us that prehistoric man thought about something beyond their material existence. Does our art have meaning that transcends our culture?

The camera is an extraordinary tool, but it has no imagination. Stop treating photographs as masters and start treating them as servants.