The Mindful Artist

Worst Mistake Acrylic Painters Make

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After one of my acrylics talks a few years ago, an artist pulled me aside and said,
“Now, I finally understand why my paintings are falling apart! I wish I had known what you just taught me 10 years ago!”

My heart went out to her. I’ve made more technical mistakes with my art over the years than I care to recount. That’s why I’m so passionate about sharing with artists how to build a sound and stable paint film.

I don’t want to hinder anyone’s creative process. That’s the last thing I want! That’s why I offer some sound alternatives here to get the same look without harming the paint film.

Please, please share this info with all your painter friends, artists groups, classes, professors, etc. I’ve found in the 15 years I’ve been teaching this to artists of all levels from those with 40 years experience and paintings in museums to the absolute beginner, only about 5% have ever heard of underbinding. Let’s make sure no more artists have their paintings fall apart by something that could easily be avoided.

These are the materials I mentioned in the video above:
Liquitex airbrush medium
Liquitex gloss medium
Liquitex acrylic gesso 32oz.

Saving Acrylic Paint on Your Palette

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Isn’t it frustrating (and expensive!) to waste paint? I’ve got a video for you with my favorite tips on how to save acrylic paint on your palette after your painting session. Please feel free to post your comments or suggestions!


Metal butcher tray
Glad Press n’ Seal

Adding Texture to Your Paintings Using Ceramic Stucco & Flexible Modeling Paste

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When I first switched over from oils to acrylics years ago – I was always trying to get away from the “plastic-y” look they had.

Then I discovered the array of gels and pastes that could take the standard paint texture from creamy to stiff to sandy to matte.

The two I show you in this video are still in my all-time favorites list.

Hope you enjoy it and let me know your thoughts! Have you used these before? What are your favorite acrylic gels? Any techniques you’d like to share?

Have you ever gotten paint on your clothes?

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Ever gotten paint on a favorite item of clothing, carpet of piece of furniture?

This is hands-down my most popular video on youtube:

This method works for the toughest dried on acrylic paints and mediums as well as oil paints AND it’s a non-toxic, biodegradable product.

Another tip – my husband and I have restored 3 different hundred + year-old homes and I have used this product to safely soak layers and layers of the paint off of intricate hardware.

Andrew Lenz owner of Lenz Arts in Santa Cruz claims it “saved his marriage” after he tracked tar in the house and nothing else he tried would remove it from the carpet.

Hope this helps!

Inspirational quote-of-the-month – something savory and nutritional for your creative self…

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Boredom is very important. Boredom is the origin of any good idea.

– Francesco Clemente

Interview with Charlie Rose August 20, 2008

I have so many ideas and so much creative energy I cannot remember the last time I experienced boredom. On the advice of one of my mentors, I’ve decided this year to focus on a single body of work (Well, I need to complete some other projects first, but believe me, I have completely stowed away some works-in-progress because my tendency is to go off in a million directions!) I’m actually kind of excited to see if I experience some boredom in the studio and I’m wondering where it will lead me.

What do you think? Does boredom help you or hinder you? Please share your thoughts below. I’m curious to know.

Using acrylic mediums to created mixed media foil sheets

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A couple of years ago, I was invited by curator Chandra Cerrito to create a piece for the exhibition she was curating at the di Rosa called Altered States: The Collection in Context of artworks related to the mystical, the transcendent and the transformative.

Sea of Connections

I was given a large wall in the gallery space overlooking a small lake. Inspired by a meditative state I had been studying and experiencing call the Sea of Connections, I decided to make a link between this state, the lake outside and the piece.

My intention was to create a piece that would reflect light, shimmer and glow. Based on my in-depth knowledge of acrylic mediums, I innovated a brand new material using acrylics over aluminum foil.

The finished pieced measured was over 6 ½ feet tall by 11 feet wide (198 cm x 348 cm).

Here’s I video I made for you showing exactly how I made the sheets:

And here is a video showing how I connected all those sheets to make the whole piece.