Members Interview
Take a step inside the working studio of painter Marcella Granick, where canvases sit in every stage and ideas move from quick notes to full figures at their own pace. Marcella talks through her setup, her habits, and the small details that shape her process, giving a close look at how she works in a room that feels lived-in, honest, and full of slow, steady movement.
Visibility sounds like the dream, right? You picture your art being seen, shared, maybe even sold. But in the real world, “being visible” is not as simple as getting likes on a post or landing a single feature. Visibility is layered, tricky, and often misunderstood. Many artists chase numbers, not realizing that not all visibility moves their career forward. Some exposure brings genuine growth, while other kinds just burn time and energy with little return. What visibility really means is alignment, not volume. It’s the difference between being seen by thousands…
Cecelia Wilken found her way back to art after a medical separation from military service and becoming a mother, using painting as a path to heal and reclaim her identity. Her work explores impermanence, transformation, and the beauty in decay, often confronting themes many shy away from, including death and grief. Through surreal imagery and emotional storytelling, she balances discomfort with tenderness, inviting viewers to reflect and feel deeply. Cecelia creates for herself first, embracing imperfection and trusting intuition over market trends. Bold choices, like painting dead birds, become symbolic explorations…
A digital portfolio can make or break you in seconds. Someone clicks, scrolls, and decides in less than a minute whether they want to keep looking or move on. That tiny window is brutal, but it’s also your best chance to stand out. The truth is, professionalism isn’t about fancy web design or paying for premium hosting. It’s the small, almost invisible things that quietly tell people you take your art seriously. We’ve all seen portfolios that look “fine” but somehow feel off. Maybe the images are beautiful, but the layout…
This feature brings together five women whose mosaic practices have been shaped by patience, material knowledge and years of steady work. Each of them builds with fragments, yet the results are strikingly different one artist shaping quiet, atmospheric surfaces, another working with discarded crockery, another turning stained glass into scenes drawn from mid-century comics, and others following the movement of light or the slow rhythm of stone and marble. Together they show how mosaic continues to grow through thoughtful hands and attentive watching. Their stories offer a close look at how…
Ever notice how two artists can have equally strong work, yet one portfolio instantly feels more compelling? That difference often comes down to order, the quiet science behind how you arrange your pieces. A strong portfolio isn’t just a pile of your best work; it’s a story told in the right rhythm. The way your pieces flow affects how curators, jurors, and collectors experience your art before they even read a single word about you. Think of your portfolio like a playlist. You wouldn’t open with your loudest song, follow it…
Albert Bierstadt (1830–1902) was a German-American painter best known for his sweeping, luminous landscapes of the American West. He was part of the Hudson River School tradition, but his work often goes even grander, with panoramic mountain scenes, dramatic skies, and a kind of romantic awe. Born in Solingen, Prussia, Bierstadt moved with his family to New Bedford, Massachusetts, when he was very young. In his early career, he returned to Europe to study painting in Düsseldorf, where he trained under artists linked to the Düsseldorf School. His real turning point…
Building a career in the arts has a funny way of teaching you something no one mentions early on, community does not automatically equal access. You can be surrounded by supportive people who genuinely love your work, cheer for every win, and still feel like you are standing outside the doors where real decisions happen. That gap can feel confusing until you realize that access works differently than popularity. A lot of artists collect contacts the way people collect pretty notebooks, nice to have, but not actually used for anything meaningful.…
Spend a moment with Texas painter and teacher Lesa Shaw as she talks about how a sketch on her phone, a few color notes, and a curious mindset become paintings filled with life and imagination. In this interview, she shares how she balances planning with instinct, why she enjoys switching between oil, acrylic, and alcohol ink, and how her students keep her thinking fresh.
Michele Leung bridges the structured worlds of engineering and finance with the expressive depth of oil painting, transforming discipline into creativity. Her work balances precision and emotion, building compositions with patience, intentionality, and layered brushwork that captures the quiet strength of her subjects. Pieces like The Unyielding Gaze reveal resilience that is internal and reflective, not performative. In her Hong Kong studio, classical music guides her process, helping her surrender to the rhythm of creation and focus deeply on each layer. Michele’s practice has taught her that meaning unfolds slowly, that…