View Available Paintings Several years ago, my wife, Lindsey, and I visited a relative whose late husband was a struggling, though respected, Abstract Expressionist in New York. Although his paintings had been in galleries, museums, and private collections, he died without reaching the higher levels of the art market. Our relative had remained in their…

Whenever I give a painting away, I always encourage the recipient to frame it. Almost all Impressionist-style paintings look better that way—you never see museum pictures without (usually ornate) frames. The only exceptions that come to mind are Monet’s water lilies at the Musée l’Orangerie in Paris. To that effect, I wouldn’t frame my triptychs.…

Lindsey and I recently got some sad and disappointing news about a relative. After moping around for a day, we each processed the sorrow in our own creative ways. I heard her downstairs at the piano playing the blues, while I chose an old Morro Bay sunset photo I had in my “maybe” album. Coincidentally,…

Today, I threw a dozen of my old paintings in the trash—some I’d had in storage for over 40 years. I took a stack of canvases from the attic, photographed them, and included some on the “Early Works” page of my redesigned website. They clearly show my bumbling around trying to teach myself how to…