Category Archives: Commentary

Today I bore witness to a friend being placed in the earth. It was a Jewish funeral service. I’ve attended several over the years, but this one included traditions I had never seen before. Yes, there were prayers in Hebrew … Continue reading →

A Practical Guide to Prisma and Sketchbook Filtering isn’t just about making an image “better.” It’s about exploring possibility—moving sideways, not upward. In this tutorial, I’ll walk through how I use Prisma and Sketchbook together to create layered, painterly tribute … Continue reading →

Some roads have thoughts. They remember us. Our choices are pressed into their surface like faint scars — each corner holding the weight of what could have been. Every return is a negotiation between memory and motion. I know this … Continue reading →

Why have I never seen his work? I’m not exactly uninformed, I paid attention in Art Appreciation, after all, I taught it for 10 years. I suppose I wasn’t ready to appreciate him in my youth, or even middle age. … Continue reading →

Ha! Soon I will have a procedure to address my Afib, an irregular heartbeat. I will not be conscious, I am told my heartbeat will be stopped, then shocked back into a correct rhythm. Dead then alive. At least one … Continue reading →

It’s 2:30 a.m., and the house is quiet. This house is quiet— not like the last one. The old house always had noise. Subtle, yes, but constant— a language of creaks and sighs, branches tapping glass, timber pressing against timber, … Continue reading →

I am pondering the bones of an idea. While watching videos of artists working in graphite, I often see the same beginning: a skull. As if the foundation of every portrait must begin in death. Like forensic experts, the artist … Continue reading →

One of my favorite Da Vinci paintings is The Lady with an Ermine. It’s housed in a museum in Kraków, but it’s been widely published and researched for years. Painted around 1490, it depicts Cecilia Gallerani—a young woman of intelligence … Continue reading →

A long-time friend wrote a few pages about his years in the High Sierra. The following is a summary of his late evening thoughts before the next day of hiking. Fears Beyond the edge of wonderment there’s always a wisp … Continue reading →

You move it with your spiritual hands to the ground beside you. Though it stays heavy, you are free to walk away. Forgiveness isn’t magic. It doesn’t erase what happened. It doesn’t wave a wand and make the weight disappear. … Continue reading →