Posts by rsamiljan
Summer Inspiration
I recently visited the Chicago Botanic Gardens knowing I would find visual inspiration. The colors of gorgeous velvety red roses in the Rose Garden, to the perfectly manicured bonsai and pine trees in the Japanese Garden, were a gift. In the English Walled Garden, I watched as wedding vows were exchanged, the scene felt like…
Read More3 down … 2 to go!
I am in the midst of summer art festival season and now have a three week break before my next exhibition in Evanston. I already started work on new miniature paintings, (they were a big hit at my last show on Michigan Avenue). I also plan on painting more Buddhas in order to completely fill…
Read MoreMeditations & PR
May is the month when I finalize my plans for upcoming summer festival season. I confirm I have enough work to fill my 10″x10″ tent space, and I usually try to create new marketing materials to promote the shows. This year I created a poster featuring the Face of Buddha in addition to my usual…
Read MoreSummer Festival Season
March is the month most summer festivals send notification of acceptances. It’s actually quite competitive and I usually apply to one or two shows as backups in case I don’t get into my first choices. I’m pleased to share that I have been accepted and will be participating in the shows that were at the…
Read MoreNew Oil Paintings
I continue to be inspired by my visit to the Burren in County Clare, Ireland last September. A new body of work is slowly starting to emerge in my studio, and I am in the midst of it all. One of the challenges for this series has been my desire to incorporate a variety of…
Read MoreTeacher as Student
This winter I decided to take an oil painting class with Nina Weiss at the Evanston Art Center. Oil paints are a medium I have avoided for my entire adult creative life! The reason I want to learn now is to be able to incorporate them with the encaustic medium. I also hope to combine…
Read MoreThe Forces of Nature
It’s the holiday season and last month I received a commission gift request, to paint Mt Etna erupting! The couple met while studying abroad at the University of Catania in Sicily. I have never been to Sicily, but have been to Italy several times, and had to relate to the landscape of this Italian island…
Read MoreOvercoming the Fear of Painting Portraits
Finally, after at least a decade (or two) of apprehension, I decided to take a workshop to learn how to paint portraits. Lora Murphy is an Irish artist I met a few years ago, and in September I attended the “Art and Soul Journey”, a 10 day trip to Ireland to learn about the people, places,…
Read MoreThe Learning Curve
I found the image above on a literary site, and relate to it on so many levels. This is just my second blog post since switching from blogspot.com and I am still clicking around behind the scenes trying to figure out the structure, codes, which buttons lead to which results… technology is definitely not my…
Read MoreHoliday Shows
All three of my submitted paintings (below) were accepted into “Imagine Denmark”, November 10 – 25, 2017, Kunstvaerket Galleri, Vitapark, Odder, Denmark. This is Denmark’s first International Encaustic show! “Night Shadows” (below) is on display in Denver at the Knoll Gallery “Wax Stories II”, November 3 – January 6, 2018. The Copley Society of Art annual Small Works Holiday Show…
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