I just learned a new Latin phrase that often plays on repeat in my internal observer monologue: annus mirabilis. Year of wonder. Newton coined the phrase in 1666, the year he sketched out gravity, optics, and calculus while Cambridge was shut down for the plague. Quarantined in a farmhouse with nothing but his imagination and curiosity, Newton looked up at an apple tree and asked, “Why?” I love that the greatest scientific leap of the seventeenth century started with a man wh

John Henry Newman had a theory about learning: it doesn't finish when the lecture ends. It finishes at a table afterward (restaurant, pub, friend’s house), and it happens in the arguing, the clarifying, the laughing, the "wait, what did you make of that part?" He believed real understanding needed a second act: conversation with someone who'd sat through the same lecture, movie, experience and seen it slightly differently. The Greeks had a word for this — dialogos. Meaning "t

My kitchen floor is a disaster right now. New subfloor replacing the old, rotten one and retro checkerboard tile going in — the appliances are still homeless under a tarp on the patio— and already I can see cracks in the new tile, a chip here, a gap there. My first instinct was to be annoyed at the workmen. But honestly? They did their best. The truth is, my house is over a hundred years old, and it was built from a Sears kit and has never had a single 90-degree angle in its

Ever wish you could sleep with a 1500-page tome under your pillow and with the power not unlike osmosis, awake refreshed and a whole lot smarter than when you went to sleep the night before? I do. And the first book I would place under my pillow would be Dr. Iain McGilchrist’s The Matter with Things . I need to know everything that man has ever written and enjoy listening to his podcast episodes, interviews, and lectures. In fact, I wish everyone would pay attention to this

As autumn settles over the world like a pale orange, burnt sienna and cream cashmere blanket, there's a particular kind of magic in the afternoon light—that golden hour seems to linger just a bit longer, as if the season itself is savoring each moment before winter arrives. It is this time of year that I want to live outside, relish the cooler weather and turning leaves, mosey down dirt paths with friends to discover birds, flowers, mushrooms, and furry critters, and when the

There's something achingly romantic about fountain pens—selecting the color or creating your own color of ink to fill the reservoir, the...

Ugh!! I slam down my paintbrush. What’s next? Beat a fist against my forehead? Tug at my hair? Dig around in the cabinet for remnants of...

L - "Ecce Homo" (Behold the Man) painted in 1930 by Elías García Martínez R - "Ecce Homo 2.0" 2012 "restored" by Cecilia Giménez, 85, an...

Nearing the end of the calendar year, it is my custom to review the year that has past, noting areas of success as well as those that...

Ages ago as a young girl I took piano lessons once a week, and I remember playing a song called Love is Blue. I never really understood...

Which Square is darker, A or B? And yes, it's a trick question. Color and Value are simply an impression made on the optic nerve...

How did Monet do it? See all that light. And it's reflections. And it's transitions from hour to hour, minute to minute. I'm both...

At some point, I plan to write a book chronicling my road to becoming a self-employed artist, but until then I'm happy to share bits and...

Are you a HCP? Just this morning I was watching a BrainyDose video on the traits of highly creative people (HCP) when the narrator said,...

I love gardening because I love flowers, and I love to paint flowers. It's only natural to extend that painting Bridal Bouquet Portraits...

The one question I'm asked more than any other is, "What painting supplies do you recommend?" The Answer: The ones you will use,...

I love color. Bright, beautiful color. Even soft, muted color. And of all the colors,it's hard to pick a favorite, yet one resonates more...

The primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. The primary colors, plus black and white, are the essential ingredients for mixing all the...

Artists are different. Artists are in a perpetual search for inspiration... for beauty, joy, light, magic. Artists are inventive,...

I've become fascinated with the American Impressionists, specifically the tonalist who lived and painted and planted gardens in Old Lyme, CT