I have always been drawn to works of art with great visual and tactile texture; the kind of work that beckons to be touched, calls for my fingers to glide across the canvas feeling all the little bumps and ridges of the surface.

This is a story about thinking outside of the box. Sometimes the best way to think outside of the box is to know how you ended up there in the first place.

How often does a visit to museum or art show inspire us to greater heights of creativity? It sometimes happens as we wander among the works of great artists, some pieces making us stop…in awe.

Improvement. This one word is so true of creative longevity.  Honestly, it may be the key to longevity period.  You know you pretty well.

As I write this, it is a chilly rainy evening in Zundert, Netherlands and 43 degrees, although I’m sure it feels much colder. One can imagine the weather may have been similar as Anna Van Gogh prepared for the arrival of her second son to be named Vincent, only one short year after enduring the still birth of her first son bearing the same name.

If you don’t know the answer to this and many other questions, (in regard to your art) it’s time to figure it out.  Are you trying to ignite a discussion, depict mores in today’s world, show reality in its raw beauty or shameful ugliness, make people smile, or reflect?

Sheila Ralph’s quest began in a setting rivaling Lord of the Rings. Misty, sharp-edged mountains soared five thousand feet above the icy fjord. At their base, on a narrow strip of flatland rimmed by water, perched the tiny hamlet of Skagway, Alaska.

Finding people, "your tribe" can make all the difference in the world for a solitary painter. Years ago I was setting up a Pinterest account for the first time and noticed an artist posted my favorite pins -- Sheri Trepina. Then, much to my surprise, I noticed, she was no more than five miles from me!

Whether you are a painter, an illustrator, or any other form of artist or craftsman, you need a space to create… a place that you carve out of your existing surroundings and call your own.

What does art have to do with golf? . . .

For the best results you have to relax and swing.  I took my one and only, my first, golf lesson early in 2018. I have been visiting this lovely golf course community in southern California, and I thought “If not now, when? & “If not here, where?”

Creative types sometimes stumble around in the dark looking for themselves. Their path less defined than most. Early man looked only for the basic needs of survival. Food, shelter, water, not being eaten by something, and of course, procreation. Modern man’s journey is a bit safer, while still following those same underpinnings. But I think modern creative types also see procreation as a broader sense of creativity. The birth of an idea. An artistic one, a calling inner voice of self expression. Trust me, you may think this is eccentric, but honestly, it’s no more so than the ownership of almost anything.

Not Today, Creative Rut . . . Not Today! 

Feeling a bit like Belle from Beauty and the Beast? “...everyday, like the one before...” Or perhaps it’s more of a Bill Murray from Groundhog Day kind of routine. What once fueled your desire to pick up that paint brush or camera just isn’t doing it for you, and so you decide to skip studio time and opt instead to make a coffee and catch up on a show you like.

Art bridges the language barrier. Whatever the medium, whether painting or sculpture or music or dance.  Art speaks to many people, regardless of age, race, social circles, or other demographics. I see Art as a universal language: It speaks for itself. 

We all find our way to art in our own way. The exploratory depth can be vastly different.  Some might be raised in a home filled with wonderful paintings, while others may have experienced museums filled with art with a parent or on a field trip, from a very young age. Still others may have been whisked away on family trips abroad, on adventures with the European masters. I have to say, past a little here and there in our home growing up, and at my Grandmother’s house, memories of my early visits to see and appreciate actual paintings in museums are fairly vague. 

In my life there are certain things that feed my soul, inspire me and make me feel connected to Time itself…visiting art museums and galleries when I visit a new city, holding an ancient (although worthless) coin I have and tracing the raised bronze outlines, and using gold leaf in my art. 

H is for HONORING your time and HUNKERING down to “just do it.” Create, paint, whatever your passion or priorities are, put them HIGH on your agenda. When one starts the day with social media, often the next thing one knows, the time has slipped away. (Ask me how I know this fact!)  Instead, schedule your work so you can get the most challenging things done first.