Painting in the Details

Have you seen the posts about Issac Newton developing calculus in quarantine and Shakespeare writing King Lear? Or maybe you've seen this one: If you don’t come out of this quarantine with either:  1.) a new skill  2.) starting what you’ve been putting off like a new business  3.) more knowledge  You didn’t ever lack the time, you lacked the discipline. Did either of them actually fire up your motivation? If they did, that's awesome, and I'm sincerely happy for you.  For the rest of us who spent each day wondering what happened to our creativity, our motivation, our passion for the projects we were working on, I'd like to share the following posts by @alexisrockley,  a psychology-certified coach on Twitter: I don't personally know her, but her message was exactly what I needed to hear to take that first step to overcoming this unwelcome inertia. I'm sharing it in hopes that it may help you, as well. As I'm sure is true w

"First Shoes" - 6"x6" acrylic on canvas "First Shoes" is my latest small painting, and one of my pieces currently in an Austin gallery group show that runs through January 5, 2020. When I was dropping off my paintings for the show, a couple of people asked me, "Why shoes?" It's not the first time I've been asked, so I thought it would be a good topic to address in a blog post. My shoe portraits are less about the shoes themselves and more about the wearer of the shoes - or, more accurately, the memories, sentiments and stories tied to the owners of the shoes. Perhaps they were the pair a child took their first steps in, or a child's favorite pair they insisted on wearing daily until they no longer fit or were worn through. Maybe they are a pair that represent something their owner is passionate about - dance, athletics, fashion. Perhaps they are connected to a profession such as service in the military. They could be assoc

My kids and I have a pact to see all 50 states together. During the time we lived just north of Atlanta, Georgia, making day trips to other states was easy. Then we moved back to Texas seven years ago - and not somewhere along the state lines, but central Texas. While I love my hometown of Austin, living here means "day trips" to other states are out of the question, unless you just want to turn around right after you cross a state line and head back home. You're looking at an average of 6 hours in any direction to get to another state. With that in mind, it's easy to understand why our list of states we'd seen together had been stuck at 11 for the past four years. This summer, I was determined we were going to add more states to the list - specifically, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. Technically, I had been through New Mexico on a trip to Colorado when I had just graduated high school, so this was a chance for my kids to catch up on states I had already

Where Are You Going my Little One - Acrylic on upholstery by Alisha K. Ard I mentioned previously that, should I ever win the lottery, I would purchase one of every item in an art supply store. I would also own a library, comparable to the one the Beast gives Belle , and finally realize my life dream of being a philanthropist. (Dream BIG, right?) Unfortunately, this would require me to actually play the lottery. So, the best I have to offer right now are words of encouragement, clothing donations to shelters, a couple of hours here and there of my time volunteering, and donations I can make with my art. The most rewarding pieces I create are those that give back to causes I believe in, such as the painted chair pictured with this post. This piece was created a few years ago for a charity auction fundraiser to help raise money to buy beds for children. I had so much fun coming up with the concept for the design and then painting this piece. The title, “Where Are

3 Sisters, 1 Pair - Acrylic on canvas by Alisha K. Ard Art has always been an important part of my life. As a child, when my grandmother would read books to me at bedtime, I was as enchanted by the details of every illustration as I was by the stories. When I would visit my mother in the summer, she would entertain me with art projects. I was absolutely thrilled to get newsprint drawing pads and pencils as gifts. In High School, I took a single semester of Art class my Junior year, but with the “starving artist” stigma, I did not consider art as a serious career option, so I started college in pursuit of a Chemical Engineering degree rather than a formal art education. Fast forward to late 2006, and I was a stay-at-home mom to a 6 year old son in Kindergarten and a 1 year old baby girl. I read blogs and articles about the Daily Painters movement — artists painting one small painting every day as an exercise to hone their skills. These small works were then poste