Art Happens... Here

I stumbled upon this really inspirational show called "Art Happens Here with John Lithgow" (Check out the trailer here).

Picture this: John Lithgow (yeah, the dude from 3rd Rock From the Sun and a gazillion other things) willingly subjects himself to the horrors and joys of going back to school.

And what's the catch? He's there to prove a point about the magic of arts education. From dance to ceramics, silk-screen printing to vocal jazz ensemble, Lithgow dives headfirst into it all, showcasing how creativity can be the ultimate life hack

In his own words, Lithgow states:

"The arts give young people all sorts of tools to move on in life, even in the other areas of academia...They teach them discipline and hard work and patience and collaboration and cooperation and civility. They give young people an early sense of empathy....Hi everybody I'm John Lithgow. Come along and watch me go back to school. Printmaking, ceramics, vocal jazz ensemble, and dance. And celebrate arts in education with a bunch of incredible kids. It's called Art Happens Here."

Now, let's talk about you…

You are never too old to learn or grow. (and I'm not just saying that because I keep getting older...)

It's easy to get stagnant. Complacent. Comfortable.

When was the last time you tried something new? Perhaps something you really suck at? (we don't like that part. We want to be immediately great out of the gate!)

But hey, that's where the magic happens. It's about breaking through those self-imposed ceilings and embracing the chaos of learning something new. (yes, messy)

So, here's the challenge: sign up for a class in a completely alien (yes, a nice call back to 3rd Rock show.. wink, wink) creative discipline. Watch how it shakes up your world, how it breathes new life into your tired routine. And if you're feeling a bit lonely on this journey, fear not! Join us at the Daily Creative Habit Membership for some much-needed company.

In the end, just remember: age is just a number, and learning is a lifelong adventure.

Whatever you do, just be sure to never stop learning and growing. Your creativity depends on it!

3 Life Changing Insights the Tribe Conference Revealed

I had the privilege of attending this years Tribe Conference hosted by Jeff Goins. 

Now, I've been to my fair share of conferences, but this one lives up to it's name, literally. It is more than speakers on a stage turning on a firehose of information. It's a community, a real "tribe". 

The whole conference is an environment of encouragement, that I believe that stems directly from Jeff. He hasn't set up a conference to sell you more courses and books (although they are made available if you desire them). It's designed to be a real help for the attendees to take their next step in their journey as an author (or artist). 

Besides the incredible opportunity I had to live sketch this event as it unfolded (for more information about my event sketching service click here) I had 3 big take aways:

1. Embrace struggle.

Jeff posed a question to the audience in the beginning of an interview with Natalie Brenner (who just released her first incredible book). He asked "Why doesn't your definition of success include struggle?" I have to be honest, that stopped me in my tracks. So often I feel the struggle of my own journey so deeply. I long for those places of breakthrough (and relief). It never occurred to me that my successes were not being held back by struggle, but perhaps struggle was the vehicle to help me get there.

2. Make your mess your message.

Ishita Gupta shared this from the stage in her talk. And it resinated immediately. I am messy. I finally embraced this in my artistic style years ago. Now, I'm challenged to embrace it in how I live out my life before others. In a world of curated Instagram feeds, it's tough to reveal your mess. But that just might be the very thing someone needs from you. The thing that makes you more approachable and human. 

3. Tell more stories. 

Through my sketching and interactions with the speakers and fellow attendees, I realized I need to tell even more stories with my art. I need to make more art where I invite others in, so my art isn't just about me, but it becomes a place for community and connection. This rings true to my core and my "why". I'm looking forward to how that expression will take shape in new art I create. 

What about you? Are you chewing on any insights lately that are altering the course of your work and life? Id love to hear them! 

Live Sketch during Jeff's interview of Natalie Brenner.

Making messy art while listening to Ishita's message.

Inside Look: Uniform Pets - Girl Scout - Chihuahua

First a quick catch up: for the next several posts, I’m going to be giving you an inside look into my new series “Uniform Pets”. I’ll be sharing the insights and inspiration behind each piece.


The series as a whole came about as I was thinking about how we identify and categorize, specifically, dress code pertaining to jobs/organizations, as well as breeds of pets. We know a police officer in a crowd of people because we’ve identified their uniform. We’ve come to expect a certain dress code associated with our doctor’s visits. If he or she were dressed in a tie dyed t-shirt and shorts, we would question their abilities and professionalism. Yet, this same doctor might be dressed that way on their “off hours”. We don’t have the same feelings towards a Chihuahua and a Pit bull.  One has become an icon of the Hollywood elite and the other has been mired in PR issues with news reports spreading incidents of their aggressiveness.

Most of the time, we don’t think about these connections. They are part of the operating system that runs below the surface. In this series, I hope to make viewers stop and think more about these connections and assumptions.

For this post I’m sharing about the inspiration behind the Girl Scout - Chihuahua.

This one reaches back to some of my earliest memories. I have a sister who is 3 years older than me. All through elementary school, she was a part of the Brownies and Girl Scouts. My mother also helped in her troop, so I would be taken along.

I remember craft projects, the uniforms, the badges and achievements. I remember sitting in the cafeteria of St. Rita’s Catholic school (where we both attended) after school hours with the smell of mop water still hanging in the air. And the cookies. Oh, the cookies. That’s probably the biggest marketing promotion for the Girl Scouts ever. Even to this day, I doubt people associate much else with the Girl Scouts beyond the cookies. But there is indeed MUCH more.

Consider their oath, while raising three fingers (long before a Hunger Games salute was even a thought): "A Girl Scout is ready to help out wherever she is needed. Willingness to serve is not enough; you must know how to do the job well, even in an emergency."

Later on, I did my own, albeit short, stint in the cub scouts. And even though it was short lived, I’m glad I did it. I have fond memories of pinewood derbies (but I always lost), playing “steal the bacon” with our bright yellow scarfs, and learning a little about some tools from our a neighborhood friends father who was our den leader.

This is dedicated to the scouts and leaders who at the heart of it all, looked to the needs of others rather than themselves.

Close up detail of the Girl Scout Chihuahua 

And my choice of the Chihuahua just seemed appropriate for the sweet innocent look of this breed. A few friends and family members think I modeled this Chihuahua after my own, Cooper, but it’s not him (honestly!). Regardless, there’s something about those eyes that beckon you to buy cookies. Or an art print :)

This piece was digitally painted using my iPad Pro, and app called Procreate and Photoshop on my Macbook Pro.

It's available in 3 options:

Deluxe Matted 8x10 giclée art print (final size 11x14) -  $65
Gallery Wrapped 16x20 Canvas -  $320
Gallery Wrapped 24x30 Canvas (Limited Edition - 250) - $720

Do you know someone who would love this? Share it with them. Or better yet, why not get one as a gift to show your appreciation!

Inside Look: Uniform Pets - Police Officer - German Shepherd

For the next several posts, I’m going to be giving you an inside look into my new series “Uniform Pets”. I’ll be sharing the insights and inspiration behind each piece.

The series as a whole came about as I was thinking about how we identify and categorize, specifically, dress code pertaining to jobs/organizations, as well as breeds of pets. We know a police officer in a crowd of people because we’ve identified their uniform. We’ve come to expect a certain dress code associated with our doctor’s visits. If he or she were dressed in a tie dyed t-shirt and shorts, we would question their abilities and professionalism. Yet, this same doctor might be dressed that way on their “off hours”. We don’t have the same feelings towards a Chihuahua and a Pit bull.  One has become an icon of the Hollywood elite and the other has been mired in PR issues with news reports spreading incidents of their aggressiveness.

Most of the time, we don’t think about these connections. They are part of the operating system that runs below the surface. In this series, I hope to make viewers stop and think more about these connections and assumptions.

I’d like to begin with “Police Officer - German Shepherd”.

In today’s day and age, the public opinion of the police has been tarnished, especially where incidents of police brutality and misuse of power fills the news. While most artists, who are more activist in nature, might spend their efforts creating art around these injustices,  I want to honor those who do their job with integrity.

My father was a NYC police officer, a detective in fact. I grew up respecting the police. I got an inside look at what officers had to go through, the sacrifice, risk, and a level of stress that few of us will ever know.

Artists and the Police are often at odds, and that was a bit true in our household as well. My father used to teach at the police academy in NYC that overlooked one of the buildings of the School of Visual Arts. Legend has it that he and other officers would often shake their heads at the strange artists (after all, I’m sure there were a fair share of artists who had trouble with the law). As the story goes, he was quoted as saying, “None of my kids will ever go to such a place.” Ironically, probably a good 10 years later, that was indeed the very art school I attended. He might not have understood art, but he was supportive of mine.

As a tribute to my dad (who passed away a few years ago) I used his badge and shield number in this piece. The name tag cites "Shepherd", not only references the German Shepherd breed but also the role of a shepherd (to serve, protect, help bring order and guidance.)

For the dog breed, I chose a German Shepherd, the breed most associated with K9 units. They are known for their high intelligence, loyalty, ability to be aggressive and ease of training.

Close up detail of "Police Officer - German Shepherd" Painting.

This piece was digitally painted using my iPad Pro, and app called Procreate and Photoshop on my Macbook Pro.

It's available in 3 options:

Deluxe Matted 8x10 giclée art print (final size 11x14) -  $65

Gallery Wrapped 16x20 Canvas -  $320

Gallery Wrapped 24x30 Canvas (Limited Edition - 250) - $720

Do you know someone who would love this? Share it with them. Or better yet, why not get one as a gift to show your appreciation!

Passion and Puropse

I had the opportunity to speak to about 45-50 high school kids at a retreat a few weekends ago.

It’s been a long while since I’ve been in an environment like that. Once upon a time, into my late twenties, I spent 10 years in youth ministry with my local church’s youth group.

To add to my sense of nostalgia, it was hosted at a retreat center where I spent many formative years myself attending youth retreats and camps. It’s a place of life change for me. Although the grounds and buildings have been updated, I can still reminisce at every turn.

My topic for this informal talk was was “Passion and Purpose”.

I opened by asking a few questions.

“How many of you know what they were passionate about?”

Lots of hands went up with answers like - dancing, photography, sports, baking, fixing things, and so on.

“How many of you aren’t sure” A few hand shot up.

“How many of you wish I would stop asking people to raise their hands?” A brave snarky few raised their hands.  “You, my friends”, I countered, “might just have the gift of critical thinking.”

When I asked how many people knew their purpose, two hands went up. And I’d say that’s probably pretty spot on. Purpose is more slippery especially in our high school years. After all, we're still trying to figure out who we are. (Let’s be honest, many adults are still wrestling with these issues as well.)

So many times students hear the word potential.

“You have potential to be great at this. Keep it up.”

“One day, you’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”

But my challenge to them on this day was to identify something they considered a passion, and pair it with helping someone. Forget someday potential. You can do something TODAY. RIght where you are, with what you have.

Passionate about baking? Perhaps there’s a family near you that can’t even begin to think about food due to a new baby, or an illness in the family that keeps them busy with hospital visits.

Passionate about fixing things? Find that elderly neighbor who might need assistance with some household items that need fixing.

When we our passions collide with serving people, bringing them value, we can find a greater purpose. We get to use our gifts and talents, and other people get to be blessed by them. Everyone wins.

The thing is, it takes intentionality. We have to look beyond our own issues, hangups, hurts – all the self-centered things that can keep us preoccupied so that we don’t even notice the needs of those around us, let alone try to creatively serve them.

My hope is that if even a few of those students walked out of there with a different perspective, perhaps there could be a huge impact on their lives, and the ones they serve. A ripple effect of passion and purpose.

What about you? What are you passionate about? Do you have a sense of purpose?

Are there things that are causing you to not see the needs of the people around you? Who could you serve with your talents and passions?

'Tis the Season... For Sadness and Hope

"Undone" Acrylic on 20x20 canvas. Original painting available for purchase.

I was planning on posting something different today, but I'm following my heart on this one. 

I posted the following on Facebook earlier today and it seems to have resinated with a lot of people, so I'm reposting it here. Someone (maybe you) might need to read this today.

I'm in Starbucks. One woman greets another as they pass. One of the women breaks down crying, delivering sad news to her friend.

I'm reminded once again.

As we walk around this Christmas season, there are people who are doing their best to hold it all together. Every so often, the smiling exterior cracks, as they break down to cry.
It's right there behind their eyes. You might be reading this, tearing up because I just described you. You are carrying the hurt with you always, and can feel invisible.

I see you. You are loved. And not to get all "churchy" - but this season is for you - Christmas. The season when God came to Earth in the form of a little baby. Immanuel means "God with us". He's with you in your brokenness, in your pain, in your sorrow. You are not alone.

Most days I'm just as guilty as anyone of rushing around, not dialed in to those around me. There's stuff to get done. Hurry pushes me along. And I miss those who are hurting right in front of me. And the Christmas season usually just amps things up even more. 

What if we were more intentional about looking and seeing the people right in front of us?

We might just be the answer to someone's prayer. A shoulder to cry on. A helping hand. Even a moment of acknowledging someone else's pain. Entering it for a few moments in time. It just might make all the difference.  

The thing is, we all know that when we've been in that dark hurting place, what a lifeline it was when people around us cared for us. Really cared. What happens to those who don't have close friends or family? Or those who stuff their emotions because they were taught that you just don't share them with others. The silent suffering.

I found myself praying today "God, give me eyes to see those who are hurting. And if you want, use me to bring some hope, even if it's just for a moment."

Even if you're not the praying kind, may I challenge you to take a moment out and look around you for someone who is hurting?