Inspiration Articles

A Flicker of Time  – Dancing Fireflies

A Flicker of Time – Dancing Fireflies

  "Even if time is just a flicker of light" - Neil Finn A Flicker of Time is a large oil painting, 36 x 48 inches available at Hughes Gallery. Many of my paintings begin life as words and memories. Word pictures alight from passages in books, overheard conversations...

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Her Grace Shimmers and Shines

Her Grace Shimmers and Shines

  Her Grace is one of seven small egg tempera paintings on my easel right now. See on Instagram. In a previous post, The Light Keepers, I asked for your earliest memory. It was heartening to read your emails and comments sharing your own memories. Thank you. Your...

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Evening Magic

Evening Magic

A haunting blue evokes my muse... an elusive blue that moans in memories halls, summoning images from the liminal regions of my imagination, sparkling like fireflies over a southern marsh. To begin an egg tempera painting like Evening Magic, I need to tap into...

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A Blue Day in August

A Blue Day in August

  I aimed to leave for Maine on the 8th of August. The car packed and the studio clean. I had a long road ahead of me. The day came, and I wandered over to the beach with my coffee and sat in the sand to steep in the sunrise. Intent on trying to decipher the...

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The Story of the Painting Fireflies at Dusk

The Story of the Painting Fireflies at Dusk

The story of this egg tempera painting Fireflies at Dusk, began as inspiration long forgotten. Fourteen years later, this painting of fireflies floating over a field of grass, manifested from restlessness. Maybe it’s wanderlust or perhaps the hot summer breeze. Could...

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Lunabelle

Lunabelle

  "Inspiration. Is this what you're looking for?" My muse inquires. High above an aqua ocean, three white birds coast south through curling clouds, wispy like smoke. The moon a day from being full, floats above palms and sea grapes in an ageless sky. The setting...

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Spring Visitor: A Painting About Respect

Spring Visitor: A Painting About Respect

When I was twenty-four, I built a house. And though I didn’t know it then, when I landscaped the yard, I was also planting inspiration seeds for this enchanting egg tempera painting, Spring Visitor. Around that house I planted trees, shrubs and flowers; maples, sweet...

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Morning Whispers

Morning Whispers

"I like it quiet in the mornings." This, I am certain I heard her whisper. Black coffee or green tea steaming in a favored mug. The nectar of inspiration. Listening for morning whispers. Tell me you love pale light veiling over misty sea, water gently teasing bare...

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The Kiss of Life

The Kiss of Life

Last January, my daughter called at twilight wanting to know the name of a bright star. Venus, I replied. The evening star. I was in the process of reworking a painting with Venus in it that I wrote about in Before I Sleep. Our conversation brought to mind an egg...

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