Here we are, another week into social distancing. It’s a good thing I have so many stories! This week I want to tell you the story behind the very first painting in my Pittsburgh Remembered series, “Meet Me Under Kaufmann’s Clock.”  It was the start of my career as a Pittsburgh artist. In 1989, the nice people of Kustom Korners Gallery in Village Square Mall allowed me to set up my tables and pastel chalks out in front of their gallery and paint portraits. Not just “quickies,” mind you, but rich, detailed portraits.  I wanted to show more than just a face – I…

The other night, Tom and I decided to take a drive, and somehow we ended up in Market Square.  Normally it would be bustling with people and cars, but last night it was a ghost town – quite different from what I’m used to from the winter Holiday Markets and summer Night Markets.  The quiet and stillness reminded me of one of my earlier works, “Sharing the Season At Market Square,” and I thought you might enjoy hearing the story behind that painting… If you have ever yearned for a huge fish sandwich, clam chowder or crab cakes, you may have…

First and foremost, I want to humbly thank all of you who reached out to me last week after the loss of my father-in-law, as well as to express my gratitude for your kind comments about last week’s story behind “Meet Me Under Kaufmann’s Clock, Too!” As we continue our shelter-at-home lifestyle, I have another story to share with you. This one, I promise, is a bit brighter.  It’s about “Walking in the Light of the Cathedral,” the second painting in my “Pittsburgh Remembered” series. My artwork has always been about memories, and one of my very first recollections of Pittsburgh happened back in…

Today I want to share with you a special story about one of my paintings, a story that I’ve never told publicly before. One that’s been pretty much a secret until now. I feel compelled to tell this story because this week we lost my father-in-law, and he is one of the central characters in it. In 1992, I had finally finished my “Pittsburgh Remembered” series.  For years, I had been getting calls to purchase prints of my first painting in the series, “Meet Me Under Kaufmann’s Clock,” though it had long been sold out. I remember going to see Jesse Hager, a master…

Life certainly is full of surprises, isn’t it? The Friday before last, we were told the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show would be shutting down two days ahead of schedule.  Just a couple days earlier, there were no plans to close early, but no one anticipated how quickly things would change as the COVID-19 virus spread and social distancing became our new reality. As we now are taking care to limit our time outside our homes, going out only for necessities, it’s more important than ever to use other ways to connect with each other. With no shows or events…

A couple weeks ago I was shopping at Aldi, and I saw the cutest little vase with a little bulb, white roots stretching down through the clear water and a few fresh green leaves popping out of it. It was a hyacinth, my favorite springtime flower. So of course, I had to give this precious little bulb a good home, and I placed in on my kitchen windowsill. Over the last two weeks, I’ve been giving it fresh water and turning it each day so that it would grow straight as the sun – growing stronger every day – showered its…

I have exciting news! After many long hours in the studio, my new painting, “Pittsburgh’s Tunnel Vision,” is finished!  With the Big Unveiling coming up in just one week, there was no time to sit back and relax.  The very next morning after finishing the painting, I headed off to my printer’s studio to make the prints.  Alex and I worked together all through the day, making sure we got the night sky and all of the reflective colors just right.  But that wasn’t all that had to be done on a tight schedule.  There were so many moving parts that had…

Today is one of those rare winter days in Pittsburgh, beautiful and sunny.  Too bad I’m “In The Zone” – holed up here in my studio and obsessed with my new painting.  Since I last wrote to you, eating, sleeping and everyday life in general have been on hold. I’ve hardly looked up from my painting to notice the weather or anything else. For all I know, we could be in the middle of a blizzard! I call it Being In The Zone because when I’m painting, I inhabit a creative dimension where time doesn’t exist, at least until I’m reminded that…

People often ask me what an artist’s life is like… questions like where do I get my ideas?  And what does an artist do all day anyway (other than hanging out in Parisian cafes while wearing a beret)? Do I paint every day? And if so, how much? As an independent professional artist, how I spend my days depends entirely on the season.  I’m likely to spend the most time in my studio in the Spring, which is when I create a lot of my new paintings.  Summertime is my big season for outdoor events and art fairs, then September…

Sorry I’ve been off the radar for the last couple weeks – I’ve been very busy doing Artist Things!  Also, Tom and I took a much-needed four-day weekend break to recharge.  We visited Pennsylvania Dutch Country and stayed in the lovely old town of Strasburg at the historic Limestone Inn, built in 1786.  It’s almost like having a time machine! Yet as much as we appreciated the time away, I still couldn’t wait to come home and get started on my new painting.  As you may remember, I recently asked my readers for suggestions for a subject for my next…