This week I'm going to answer a question I received about my acrylic palette. Just click on the video above to hear about what paints and colours I use, and why.

If video's not your thing or you'd like the short version, here it is: I love to mix colours and work with a limited palette of warm and cool primaries (reds, blues & yellows) plus white and Payne's Grey. I love the cohesive look working with a small palette brings to art work.

​Thanks so much for the question. If you have a comment or question for me about my palette (or anything else) go ahead and post below.

Have a great week!

​PS Check out the August Collection and my other available paintings in my website shop here.

As an artist, I'm continually working to better communicate the value of owning my art to my collectors. To this end, I've been keeping a Pinterest folder and a folder on my phone about the value and benefits of collecting and owning art. My plan was .... and is ... to devote some time to this subject in future blog posts. However,  this morning I had the experience of buying a painting and so that seems like a fine jumping off point for the subject. 

​I was on my way to the art supply store (Endeavours) and stopped into the new Gallery (Gallery on Queen) next door. I just had time to do a quick browse around to get a taste of the works there. On my quick walkabout a small painting set behind the counter caught my eye. I kept on walking the circumference of the gallery; kept browsing, but feeling the tug of that little painting. I ended up asking if the painting was available - slightly afraid that it had been set aside because it had been sold - and it turned out to be available. It just hadn't been set out with a display tag yet. So, I asked how much it was and bought it.

​So, why did I buy it? What drew me to it? It's very hard for me to define what draws me to something. It's not a left brain thing. It's a gut thing, an intuition thing ... an emotional thing. A connection happens and it happens as quickly and forcefully as a bolt of lightning. Once I've been struck, that's it. I rarely doubt the feeling. Interestingly, price is a secondary consideration. The gut connection, the heart connection has to be there first.

​I had no thought as to where I'd hang this piece or if the colours matched anything in my house. I didn't even know who the artist was. I just instantly connected with it. Was it the subject? Was it the composition? Was it the lights and darks? Was it the frame? Was it the colours? Was it the emotion of the piece? Was it the meaning or symbolism of the piece? Was it the energy of the piece? Was it a little bit of magic? I like to think that all of that and more counted in, but I'm leaning strongly towards "the little bit of magic" as the essential element. 

Terrific artists have that little bit of magic ... and it seems to me that in these interesting times, we could all use a little bit more of that magic.
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What makes you buy a particular painting or piece of art? I'd love to hear!

Have a great week!

PS The August Collection is now available in the shop. Just click here. Thanks for all the positive feedback!

PSS Let's have another giveaway! I'm offering a set of 4 art postcards (shown below) to the winner of a random draw that will take place on Monday, August 8th at 12 noon Eastern Time. To be eligible for the draw, tell me what made you buy the last piece of art you purchased in a comment below. If for some reason I am unable to contact the winner within 24 hours of the draw, the art postcards will be awarded to a second name drawn. Good luck!
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Welcome to my first blog post! Well, my first blog post on this platform and my first in several years, at least. Today, I'm going to ... gulp ... tell you a little bit about myself and my art. Oh, and there's a giveaway at the end. (Yep, I went there.)

So ... I don't know about you, but the words "tell me a little about yourself" instill terror in my wee little heart. I mean ... seriously, how do you distill a person down to their essence in just a few words? It's not that I can't do it. I've written scores of bios, introductions and speeches for myself and others. I've a file of bios and artist statements on my computer that I can pull from on short notice.  But still, I momentarily freeze like a deer in the headlights when asked to say a few words about myself or sit myself down to revise a written bio. ​It can even be worse to have to respond to the words "tell me about your art."

How do I describe this magic thing I am and that I get to do? ​I've thought about it over my morning decaf and come up with three reasons behind my fear.

​(1) The first is that I want to describe myself and my art perfectly. I don't want it to just sound good, I want it to be bold and true ... I want the words to make me irresistible so that people applaud and share whatever I say like I'm Elizabeth Gilbert or Anne Lamott! Oh, and of course, they'll buy scores of paintings, too. So, perfection and expectations ... there's a pair, for you. If we add in comparison to others and how they describe themselves so brilliantly ... I think we've got the ego trifecta!

(2) The second reason is a matter of translation. My natural language is colour and not words. So when asked to talk about my art I'm translating from something free, made of joy and light ... and feeling and energy and newness to ... mere words, which are defined, bound by manmade rules and well accounted for in dictionaries and thesauruses. I love words, but they don't come from as deep and free a place as my art does. They are more difficult to herd, always wandering off and getting into things, going off on tangents that have to be deleted later ... or worse, just leaving you mid-sentence to stand frozen with your tongue tied.

​(3) A misunderstanding of what being a human being and an artist is is the third reason. We are not static beings. We change over time. Our work changes over time. We are forever works in progress, yet still perfectly imperfect in each moment. So as much as I strive to write the mother of all bios or artist statements, ones so fabulous I will never have to revise them again ... that's not going to happen.

​Despite these perfectly normal fears, or perhaps because of them, I keep on revising my bios and artist statements. I keep on talking about my work the best that I can ... and I tell myself that I get just a little better at it each time. I feel strongly that it is my responsibility as an artist to be seen and to use words to communicate. I can't get away with just shrugging, looking pained and saying "Oh well, my language is my art. You'll just get my paintings, eh?" Nope, 'not gonna happen.' Because, frankly, no one else is going to do it for me. No one else can. If I can't learn to describe my magic, how in the heck can someone else?

I did promise to actually tell you something about myself, so my most recent revised bio and a brief audio where I talk about my painting process - and grasp for the right pesky words! - follow.

Revised Bio

Audio (3 min): Talking About My Painting Process

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​To close this inaugural post I'm offering a set of 4 art postcards to the winner of a random draw that will take place on Monday, August 1st at 12 noon Eastern Time. The images on the cards are of some of my personal favourites available in my shop, and shown at the top of this blog post. To be eligible for the draw, just tell me a little about yourself in a comment below. If for some reason I am unable to contact the winner within 24 hours of the draw, the art postcards will be awarded to a second name drawn. Good luck!
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​If you have any questions or things you'd be interested in hearing about in future blog posts, let me know that, too.

​Until next time!

​PS I'm super excited to be bringing the August Collection of 4x24" paintings to you! The Collection will be released in the shop on my website on Tuesday, August 2nd at 12 noon Eastern Time.