I write a blog post every second Wednesday on my creative process and sources of inspiration. Subscribe to stay tuned.
A Visit to the Art Institute of Chicago
In early December, before travelling to Canada for the holidays, I visited the city of Chicago. I’d never been but had heard quite a lot about the Art Institute. I remembered having seen slides of famous artworks during my art history classes, many with the familiar small print beneath noting that the work was part of the Art Institute of Chicago collections. In this post, I write about my visit and the works that moved me. Unlike my enthusiastic partner, I (equally enthusiastic) didn’t do much research before our visit. I prefer to show up and see what is there. […]
Then and Now: December 2021, January 2022.
December is the month to wrap up projects and to take stock of the year gone by. While looking back, December, in my family, is also when we come together and make new memories, in the present. This intersection of past-present-future infuses the month with an air of contemplation. As Proust taught us, memory-making and recalling are very much tied to our senses. In Canada, December brings fresh, crisp snowfall, the smell of cloves and fir trees, the crackling of a fire, the twinkle of lights against a dark night sky. For me, December means a bottomless pot of hot […]
Art Fair Preparations: My Holiday Workshop!
Looking around me today, I feel that I am in my own little Santa’s workshop: brown paper packages (not yet tied up with string), cards, prints, watercolour paper, paints, and a variety of tools surround me. I’m getting ready! Yes, for Christmas, but first I’m getting ready to participate in the upcoming art fair pop up at The Arches of St. George Street in Moncton, New Brunswick (Canada) on Saturday, December 18th! Here’s what I’m working on and what you can expect to find on offer from me! The holiday season is, for me, the season of writing cards. It’s […]
Skills Corner: Learning To Mat Artwork
It’s always a good feeling to add any skill – big or small – to your repertoire. Since following a watercolor course at the Ann Arbor Art Center this semester, I’ve made some pieces I’m quite pleased with and wanted to offer for sale. With these finished pieces, the practical question I was facing was how to professionally mat these works. In this blog post, I share what I’ve recently learned about matting artwork and the tools that helped me get a sleek and polished result for my recent watercolour artwork. Since I most often work with acrylic paint on […]
Multitasking: Refreshing or Distracting?
Since September, my working method has changed. Back in Belgium, I worked on one project at a time. No matter if I was working small or large, I enjoyed the process of working consistently from start to finish. Since arriving in Michigan, my working method has shifted and these days I am working on multiple things at once. The biggest change is the amount of time I am allocating to experimentation. This results in pieces I may not like or keep as well as new ideas that I incorporate into my work. Such lightbulb moments and times of frustration necessarily […]
Continuing Education: Portrait Painting
During the first class of Portrait Painting at the Ann Arbor Art Center, we were asked by teacher Tricia Hampo to introduce ourselves and share what brought us to the course. Back in the summer, while researching the courses offered during the Fall semester, I had surprised myself by making a little star next to Portrait Painting on my list of potential courses to follow. My initial intention in following courses was twofold: improving my own style as a landscape painter and meeting new people with similar interests in the area. When my heart skipped a beat upon seeing that […]
Experimenting With Watercolour: A New-To-Me Medium
I can remember playing with oil paints as a teenager and my impatience while waiting for the layers to dry. I’ve dabbled in pastel and various other drawing tools, like pencil and charcoal. But, for as long as I have been painting, acrylic paints have been my medium of choice. Acrylics were the medium used in the painting courses I followed at university, and they afforded me the possibility to work with vibrant colours and layer quickly and thickly. While I’ve always appreciated the delicacy of watercolour, I had never gotten into it—until this Fall. In this blogpost, I write […]
Art Supplies: Stocking Up, Material Lists, and Budgeting
My favourite part of any day is painting. For me, this means sitting at my easel or desk and doing the work of creating: playing with colour and getting lost in the image I’m working on. But before I can settle in, I have to make sure that I am well set up and have everything I need to get to work. An essential part of getting started on any artistic project is having the right supplies on hand. This post is about how I make choices when it comes to what materials I use, how I balance budget and […]
Painter On The Road: My Temporary Studios!
This summer, I was able to have a long visit—six weeks!—with my family and friends in Canada. The reunion was fantastic especially given the length of time between this visit and our last (pre-pandemic). Because of the length of this stay, I tried to balance visiting and traveling with a little working. My parents generously made a bright room in their home available to me for my painting practice during the summer. Since I only took my brushes with me across the pond, I visited The Art Shack in Moncton. At the art supply store, I stocked up on some […]
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