I've been thinking a lot lately about beginnings. Not the polished, finished kind — but the raw, uncertain, quietly electric kind. The kind that happen before anyone else is watching. That's what underpainting is to me. If you're not familiar with the term, underpainting is the initial layer of a portrait — typically worked in a single color or limited tones — where the artist establishes value, shadow, and form before any color is introduced. It's foundational work. Structur

Does Every Painting Need a Story? I Used to Say No. I Still Might. I've asked this question before and I'll probably ask it again. Why does every piece of art need a story? Why can't a painting simply exist — in all its color and light and quiet beauty — without being pressed for meaning? Without someone standing in front of it waiting for it to explain itself? Some of my favorite pieces have no narrative agenda whatsoever. They're just beautiful. They're just there . And I'

There's something I've been sitting with lately, and I have a feeling I'm not the only one. I paint. I sketch. I write — under multiple pen names, across multiple genres. I run my own small press. I publish. I show up every single day and do the work. Nobody handed me any of it. Not one piece of it came easy or free. It came from early mornings and late nights and the kind of stubborn persistence that doesn't make for glamorous storytelling but gets the job done anyway. And y

How we painted her into being—together. Fall and winter own me. That's just the truth of running an imprint. Deadlines stack up like dirty dishes. Editorial work bleeds into release schedules. Everything needs doing yesterday, and rest becomes that thing other people get to enjoy. I'm fueled by coffee and sheer stubbornness at this point, and honestly? I can barely remember what a full night's sleep feels like. So guess what gets sacrificed first? My art. Every single time. T

Western icons with a contemporary pulse Modern Western art still holds the images we know and love. The weathered cowboys under endless...

How one Western art organization bridges geography and builds genuine community. There are moments in your artistic journey when you...

The Art of Listening to Characters There’s a point when a story, or a face, settles into your mind and refuses to leave. As an author and...

Painting what resilience really looks like There are a lot of reasons a person picks up a brush. Some chase light, some love form, some...

An invitation to feel, not figure out. Not everything needs an explanation.Not every brushstroke needs a backstory. In my opinion, some...

Art has always been a conversation between the creator and the observer. But for me, it's not a conversation filled with explanations or...