Travel is a beautiful and funny thing. Full of movement and newness, it’s a near-undeniable jolt of excitement in your life. However, also with its fair share of discomfort and challenge, it’s a near-inevitable fast track to personal growth.

In this second part of a series relating to Artist Elaine Weiner-Reed’s annual trip to California for an Art Workshop, Elaine explains how the workshop recharges her mind, body, and muse and jump-starts her productivity, serving as her launchpad for a creative year. Elaine gives a first-hand account of the workshop experience, shares insights into how she assesses her personal art growth and recommends tips for arming ourselves with the right mindset when facing the unknown. For all that and more, keep reading… and be among the first to glimpse some of her new artwork. 

In today’s overly connected world, not only self-employed artists but anyone offering goods and services, have double duty to deal with all of the time. No, I take that back, triple duty. You are what you are as someone in business, which means, you are an artist, a plumber, a retailer, or a coffee shop owner, etc.

Back in the day, when my biggest responsibility was being a kid, I remember I used to say quite often, “I’m bored!”

(Although, I would actually say it more like, “I’m boooooored!”)

To this, my mom would reply, “I wish I was bored!”

“Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.” Artists, makers and other creative types eagerly follow the Dalai Lama’s advice. They sketch in Tuscany, paint afloat cruise ships, and sculpt in Japan. Hemmingway went to Spain and France; Gauguin, to Samoa; and Robert Louis Stevenson, Tahiti. For centuries, artists have gloried in exotic locales. 

CAVU" is Navy Airman's' acronym revealed to us during George HW Bush's eulogy given by the former Prime Minister of Canada.

I am inspired by the point of view represented in these four little letters and how, if applied to art from preliminary sketch to clients' home it is like a refreshing breeze on a still, sweltering summer day, or a warm coat on a winter day.

Every now and again it’s good to shake things up; in life and in your art practice. Recently I did just that when I traveled to Solomons, Maryland to participate in an Artists in Action program with the Annmarie Sculpture Garden and Arts Center.

Can you think of any positive angles of flying these days? Find out what Artist Elaine Weiner-Reed does every January to get her creative juices going for the year ahead. See how this artist finds something positive in “getting there…”

Take a look at the picture. Study it very carefully. There is a lot of beauty, perspective, and wisdom to glean from this photo. A peaceful creature living the life he was meant to live. Doing exactly what he is supposed to do.

This, my friends, is an ever-so-lovely sloth.

Scientists are just now cottoning onto what the Hippies understood a half-century ago: flowers have power. Florists have been thrilled to tout Rutgers University’s research findings. Jeannette Haviland-Jones, psychology professor, working with her genetics professor husband, Terry R. McGuire, was amazed.

As artists, we have to have an arsenal of art to reach our intended target, the customer. Art collectors come in many different varieties; those with money to spend on art (we love that kind) and those who love art but don’t have much money to spend on collecting it (we love that kind, too). As a professional artist, the goal is to not become a collector of your own art! One of the ways to reach more potential buyers is to diversify your offerings.

I have a simple message for this new year. I want each and every one of you to be healthy and happy. News that puts us all in a tailspin is ever changing. But government shutdowns, looming economic woes, and Trump did this-or-that, all aside, I want you to focus on being healthy and happy, and that is what I’m going to do as well.

The end of the old year and beginning of the new is a natural time to pause and reflect on your practice as an artist and ask yourself a few questions. Are you excited about what you’re doing? Are you motivated to get in your studio and create?

In this article, Visual Artist Elaine Weiner-Reed discusses the role of music in her life and how its connection to her Art evolved in a new and exciting and VISIBLE way following her 2018 solo exhibition “Masks and Mirrors – Explorations of Identity.” During that exhibition, she officially launched her creative collaboration platform “Every Painting is a Song,” partnering with D.C.-based performing arts collaborative. In this artist’s life, everything is connected and finds its way into her art. Keep reading to see how Elaine not only “found” her voice, but is now (in her own words) “amplifying” that voice.

I lived in Nashville, TN for a long time. It’s a special town, full of dreams, talent, and hard work. Some of the very finest musicians and writers call Nashville home, stimulating a pervasive musical energy and setting a high bar for quality.

Michael Jackson changed his face more than his music throughout his 50-year long career, and his music changed a lot! Ditto that of Madonna. This should be the life of all artists.