I had a beautiful time painting today at the Van Vleck House & Gardens in Montclair, N.J.  This plein air event was arranged by Ms. Karen Meneghin of Zane Grey Plein Air.  It was great to talk with the other painters and I'll be returning next Monday to continue painting.

  Great closeups and commentary on this beautiful painting.

  Over the past few months, I have been a mentee in the East Oaks Studio mentorship program under the mentorship of Mr. Louis Carr.  As a final step of the experience I have written a testimonial for the program; this testimonial encapsulates my experience.  Big thanks again to EOS and especially Louis.
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"As a painter and teacher, I've spent a lot of time searching for answers to my own artistic questions.  These questions concern techniques, materials and methods, but there are the larger questions as well: narrative, reason, philosophy, etc.  I registered for the East Oaks Studio mentorship program to try and find more answers.  Throughout the program I met one-on-one with Mr. Louis Carr twice a month.  The sessions were always set up in advance by Ms. Kelley Farris.  Louis was always right on time and there were never any virtual hiccups.  Louis is very easy to talk to and never made me feel embarrassed to ask even a simple question.  Louis gave me projects to work on and insightful feedback to all of my questions.  Critiques were done with photoshop and gave me a direct visual perspective on where I need to improve my work.  We discussed the base questions of "technique" but also focused on larger principles of art making such as composition, value, color harmony and more.  I would recommend this program for anyone who may feel at an impasse or for anyone who wants to really push themselves to reach a higher level of representational painting and or drawing.  As with all classes or programs, you get what you put in so I pushed myself to ask more challenging questions and Louis was always there with insight and knowledge from his many years of experience.  There seems to be a myth of the artist as the lone genius, but no artist is an island and we all gain so much by being a part of a community.  I want to thank East Oaks Studio and I'm ready to embrace my artistic journey with a gained confidence."
- Eric Alexander Santoli

  Nothing better than those late nights reading Bukowski.  The Last Night of the Earth Poems is a great collection of poems if anyone is looking for something good to read.  I also recently finished reading a book: A Man Called Ove, by Frederik Backman, which left an impression on me.