Art by you, some reminders to help you stay in the zone.

​We all want to “do it right,” to achieve our visions in and for our painting print out these points and put them somewhere near your easel.  Reading them from time to time may help to keep all of us on course ........ ​




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• Put away self-doubt, as far as the east is from the west.
  Accept from the outset that you will not do this perfectly.
• Learn the Basics. Take time to learn from a mentor, to save you wasted hours in the ignorance of tried-and-true practices.
• Examine your use of time, and set aside time consistently to paint—and DRAW!
• Say no sometimes to that coffee meet up, lunch out, logging on to the computer or picking up the phone.
• Say yes to painting all of the time!
• Make a plan to achieve your goal. Write down the steps; make a calendar.
• Be organized, in your work space, on your palette, in your life.
• Put in the time to try; and KEEP trying!
• In your painting, don’t do as much, and as many un-related things.
• Don’t equate speed, or activity, with efficiency.
• Don’t include the world in your paintings. Listen to Matt Smith when he says” If you think your painting needs something, leave something out.”
• Do put down your brushstrokes and leave them there (all of them!)
• Approach each painting in humility. Leave the world behind. Start anew, above and beyond old baggage.
• Above all: Play. Appreciate. Wonder. Enjoy.

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