Len Chmiel has no interest in merely copying what he sees. He says that he allows his "intuition to speak.” His intention is to expand the boundaries of realism rather than merely painting a facsimile. While many artists lament having artist’s block or a lack of inspirational ideas, Len is not one of them. He is keenly interested in all that is around him and the possibilities that they present. He says there is more than a life-time of ideas awaiting his easel. He does not let others dictate wh...
Aug 27, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 42
TJ Cunningham grew up in Vermont in an area that was also a favorite place for Aldro Hibbard and Emile Gruppé to paint. If you have ever visited that part of Vermont as my wife and I did a few years ago, you probably call to mind the beautiful hills, mountains, woods, and streams. And nestled snuggly in that beautiful setting are the small farms graced with red barns and cozy homes that beckon to a simpler time. Just as Hibbard and Gruppé found inspiration among this landscape, so does TJ Cunnin...
Aug 16, 2020•1 hr 32 min•Ep. 41
John Pototschnik is a fine art painter who resides in Wylie, Texas. As a young boy, his parents instilled in him a strong work ethic. Doing chores, selling his mother’s cookies door-to-door, and having a newspaper route – all these experiences would lay the foundation for how John approaches the work of being a professional artist today. He began his professional career as an illustrator. The discipline of meeting deadlines, and being attuned to a client’s needs further honed his creative skills...
Aug 06, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 40
DK Palecek is a painter who embraces her left-brain-centric worldview. Starting with degrees in both Math and Finance, she worked as a mathematician, served as an investment banker, became a venture capitalist, and is a serial entrepreneur. In that career trajectory, painting fine art was the farthest thing from her logical, left-brain mind. And yet, she was smitten by the beauty of fine art. About ten years ago she began painting outside and in the studio. It wasn’t long until she was on the pl...
Jul 24, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 39
Bryan Mark Taylor is no stranger to many outdoor painters. He’s the inventor of the outdoor painting system STRADA Easel. He’s a remarkably versatile painter adept at painting landscapes, urban and architectural scenes, the still life, and highly imaginative scenes with a science fiction flare. Bryan’s deep love of travel moves him to paint evocative images full of mystery, awe, and reverence for the people and landscapes he experiences and carefully observes. Bryan had a chance encounter with a...
Jul 02, 2020•57 min•Ep. 38
Amanda Lovett says she "grew up in a family of storytellers; people who could take a moment in time and make it come to life using words.” She says, "It didn't take me long to realize that this trait is a part of my genetic code as well. I too tell stories, only I use paint, light and shape to bring them to life. It's about being in the moment, breaking down what I see and giving my brush a chance to speak.” When you closely observe Amanda's paintings, each one appears to tell a story - one that...
Jun 25, 2020•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 37
Crista Pisano was born and raised in northern New Jersey and began painting in oils in 1989 under the instruction of John Phillip Osborne at the Ridgewood Art Institute in Ridgewood, NJ. Her career as a painter almost didn’t happen because as a young child she had her heart set on being a ballet dancer. At twelve years of age she nixed that idea and decided it wasn’t for her. Crista's mother suggested that she take a look at Bob Ross, you know, the painter on TV. Finding joy in painting, she pur...
Jun 18, 2020•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 36
Kathleen Hudson's paintings capture fleeting moments of light and atmosphere. She says, "My paintings represent specific places and moments in time: the brief point during a sunrise when the sun fills the air with an ethereal golden glow; a break in a storm where light pierces through heavy clouds; or the sight of glacial runoff sending waterfalls down the side of a mountain wreathed in fog.” Kathy artfully creates rare moments of beauty where light and atmospheric movement become sublime. When ...
Jun 04, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 35
Jill Steenhuis is an American Impressionist painter – originally from Atlanta, Georgia, who now lives in Aix-en-Provence, France. It’s been her home for over three decades. Her unexpected journey there is a fascinating story. When she was just eight years old, her mother died. Her mother’s death left an enormous void in her life. Being creative helped fill part of that void. When Jill turned sixteen, her father gave her a book of the paintings of Paul Cézanne. At first, she was disappointed in g...
May 26, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 34
John P. Lasater IV is a representational painter whose works are a synthesis of nature, perception, and deep roots in art history. And by deep roots, I mean, he’s not fixated on the 19th century triumvirate of Sargent, Sorolla, and Zorn. Though he appreciates what each of them have accomplished, John seeks to study other artists who practiced their craft over the centuries. By not limiting himself to the influence and lessons of a just a few 19th century representational artists, John’s approach...
May 20, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 33
Cynthia Rosen would rather paint outdoors working on location. Her paintings radiate an exuberant celebration of sparkling light, brilliant colors, and a world in motion. Cynthia’s marks are made boldly, with confidence, using a palette knife to apply luscious thick blocks of colors. Though she went to school to study art when she was younger, Cynthia put on pause painting while teaching and raising a family. In time, her burning desire to paint full-time was rekindled. She self-studied – learni...
May 11, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 32
Suzie Baker’s paintings are full of light, color, and texture. Her paintings fill the viewer with questions, with the whole story not revealed. She seeks to evoke a response from the viewer by not filling in all the blanks. Her technique is loose, painterly, and impressionistic. Yet, she does not let one technique or style constrain her art - she experiments and pushes boundaries. The result is continuing improvement as an artist. Just as one who seeks to not only learn a new language, but also ...
Apr 30, 2020•59 min•Ep. 31
Kyle Ma is an extraordinary artist and a student of geology. His keen observation skills are honed by his geoscience training at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. Whether he paints the figure, the landscape, or florals, his confident brush work and solid drawing skills expertly express his emotional response to what he sees. Kyle believes inspiration can truly be pulled from anything or anywhere. In this inspiring conversation with Kyle, I was profoundly impressed with his humility. He h...
Apr 26, 2020•51 min•Ep. 30
Jonathan McPhillips’ paintings shimmer with atmosphere and sparkle with light. Each painting he creates he views as a welcome problem to solve, a delightful puzzle to piece together, and a celebration of his surroundings. Working equally in the studio and on location, his work includes the harbors, beaches, vessels, and architecture of the coastal marine environment of New England including his home in Rhode Island. Chasing the ever changing light and air drives Jonathan to paint. The perception...
Apr 20, 2020•1 hr 31 min•Ep. 29
Nancy Tankersly approaches painting with experimentation and curiosity. The results are impressionistic paintings that are not so much about the subject as it is about shapes. Her fascination with shapes perhaps began when she excelled in geometry in school. She began her painting career as a portrait painter. However, Nancy's inquisitive and experimental nature compelled her to branch out. Today she finds beautiful shapes to paint in the landscape, figure, and still life. She uses non-tradition...
Apr 18, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 28
Patrick Saunders’ paintings have won many awards and received much recognition. His studio works earned him membership in notable painting organizations, including becoming a signature member of Oil Painters of America. When Patrick began plein air painting in 2013, he won awards from numerous nationally recognized events and organizations. However, whether he paints indoors or outdoors, he does not want to be known by where he paints. He doesn’t want to be known as a plein air painter nor as a ...
Apr 12, 2020•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 27
Matt Ryder is an award-winning British artist living and working in Dubai of the United Arab Emirates. Matt finds inspiration in the wild beauty of the natural world – whether it’s land, sea, or sky. It’s astonishing that there are still wild places left in the world that have not been painted. That’s the unique situation Matt finds himself in where he lives in the Middle East. Matt takes advantage of the cooler seasons to paint outdoors among the majestic mountains where few people live. Inspir...
Apr 10, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 26
Michael Chamberlain says that if Vincent Van Gogh were alive today, he would be a vlogger on YouTube. Van Gogh was a prolific letter writer to an audience of one - his brother Theo. However, as a vlogger on YouTube van Gogh’s message would likely reach hundreds of thousands of fans. As a 21st century California-based impressionist, Michael inspires an audience on YouTube of well over 160,000 subscribers. In his videos, he tries to show the mistakes he makes. He candidly admits that none of the p...
Apr 06, 2020•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 25
George Van Hook is a painter adept in both oil and watercolor. What he paints is a visual response to the subject before him – whether it’s the landscape, a figure, or still life. The rich textures, harmonious colors, and design of Van Hook’s paintings are the ultimate expression of two converging forces – the external beauty of the world around him and his deep internal emotional response to what he sees. George Van Hook lives in Cambridge, New York – a beautiful nineteenth-century village in t...
Apr 01, 2020•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 24
Jim McVicker imbues atmosphere and light into his paintings that stir the heart. Whether it’s an expansive view of the Pacific coast near his home in Humboldt County, California, or an intimate interior still life set within his studio – his paintings are filled with a sense of solace and peace. Jim began painting full time in the mid-1970s. His early education as a painter began when working closely with artists Curtis Otto, James B. Moore, and George Van Hook. Painting nearly every day togethe...
Feb 18, 2020•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 23
Victoria Taylor-Gore's surrealistic, luminous paintings are imaginary places at the boundary of twilight and dreams. Seemingly devoid of people, her paintings pull you into their quiet mystery. Her paintings fill your mind with questions: Who opened the motel room door? Who left the suitcase by the neatly made bed? Who is in the car whose lit headlamp spills light through the open door of the motel? Where is this lonely motel? Where did the people go? Have they just arrived? Or, are they getting...
Feb 11, 2020•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 22
Skip Whitcomb says the subject of a painting is the painting, not the subject itself! He reasons that the viewer will never see the actual subject. Therefore, we must make that painting as captivating and poetic as possible. It’s nothing more than paint on a canvas. This is what we attempt in its purest form. Skip states: “Once you internalize the language of painting, you never see the world the same way. It never leaves you. The veil of rational order is lifted and what hangs in the air are se...
Jan 30, 2020•2 hr 4 min•Ep. 21
John Budicin is a painter taught by nature. He lives in California – his home since he moved from Italy when he was eleven years old. His painter’s eye, heart, and mind is filled with the lessons and experiences of his many years of painting outdoors. John is drawn to the golden hours of the setting sun, and the subtle colors of the rolling California hills muted by atmospheric haze as they recede into the distant horizon. It is the dance of light and shadow of the warm glow of a late afternoon ...
Jan 23, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 20
Anne Blair Brown describes herself as a contemporary impressionist. She is drawn to impressionism because it is an interpretation of a moment in time. Light is the subject of her paintings. The light that imbues her paintings radiates a feeling of warmth. Light glows in an open doorway, shadows accentuate warm afternoon sunlight, and, dapples of light dance upon a picnic table in the summer shade of an old oak tree. Anne's play of light is found in her rural and urban landscapes, her figurative ...
Jan 13, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 19
Bill Farnsworth, a fine art artist and illustrator residing in Venice, Florida, likes to start a story in his paintings, and let the viewer finish it. Imagine this scene: Your feet are tired from walking the beautiful streets of the Mediterranean island of Elba. Your palette is thirsty. Just ahead you see bright umbrellas signal the presence of a small street cafe. You decide it’s time to enjoy a refreshing drink under the cool shade of the cafe umbrellas while you rest your feet. As you approac...
Dec 27, 2019•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 18
Phil Starke's goal as a painter is to suggest light. In this episode, he explains how he achieves this goal through simplification. When you view Phil’s paintings you see that they glow with light, atmosphere, and texture. He explains that if you can focus on what is important you can paint with a stick and it should work. Phil’s interest in painting began in his youth in Germany where his father was stationed while serving in the military. Regular field trips to the great museums of Europe expo...
Dec 18, 2019•1 hr•Ep. 17
Michelle Jung – methodical and keenly observant – creates expressive oil and mixed-media paintings that speak to the heart. When you first walk into a room with her paintings displayed on a wall you may see an expansive seascape, an intimate floral scene, or a quiet landscape. As you move in closer to her paintings, what was once clearly in focus begins to melt and break apart into gorgeous abstraction. Her painting process begins with thoughtful slowness. She then moves in quickly with her brus...
Dec 04, 2019•1 hr 49 min•Ep. 16
Virgil Elliott is one of only 24 artists worldwide to be certified by the American Portrait Society. He is a highly sought fine artist, portraitist, teacher, lecturer, art show judge, and writer. Virgil has spent his career at the forefront of the revival of representational art. His atelier is located in Penngrove, California. Virgil’s education in the arts began at a very early age under the guidance of his mother – a school teacher and an amateur artist. His training continued with the now sa...
Nov 26, 2019•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 15
Kathie Odom lives in Knoxville, Tennessee – not far from the beautiful Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I first met Kathie and her husband Buddy almost two years ago at the Plein Air Painters of America workshop hosted by the Booth Museum in Cartersville, Georgia. She is an exuberant painter and enthusiastic student. Her paintings are filled with light and texture that capture the nostalgia and beauty of homes, buildings, farms, and landscapes scattered along smaller, less-traveled roads bypa...
Nov 05, 2019•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 14
David Boyd, Jr. is a Georgia-based artist who is compelled to paint Southern Impressionism. Boyd lives in the small rural town of Newnan, Georgia–located several miles south-east of Atlanta. Not only is Boyd a fine art painter, he helps run his family-owned and operated art gallery located in the beautiful, old downtown square of Newnan. A very young David Boyd decided early on that he wanted to be a hired assassin, and if that did not work out–a race car driver. Fortunately, Boyd came from a fa...
Jun 26, 2019•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 13
