I'm sad to be leaving RHS today, but I had a wonderful time teaching a whole bunch of studio art courses.  I'm leaving with a lot of great memories and new friends.  I'm especially grateful to my awesome acrylic painting class (shown below).  Stay in touch and keep painting!

  Come on Friday night, May 4th for the 66th Annual RAI Sponsor Show!  If you're in the area, stop by before 8PM for the live drawing.
 I have two pet portrait samples in the show (gallery numbers 55 + 57) so if you pick my works, then I'll do a custom pet portrait for you!  One of my samples is for a full oil painting and the other is for a pencil and white charcoal on toned paper drawing.  I'm excited to see who picks my works!

  I recently re-read this wonderful book that I wanted to share with everyone.  It's called the Book of Five Rings, or The Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi.  The book was written around 1645 by the famous swordsman and philosopher, Musashi.
  I had read it once before when I was in college and was excited to re-read it at this stage in my life.  It's really easy to find and the copy I got is illustrated, which is cool, but not necessary.  The beauty of this book is that the ideas don't only apply to being a swordsman; the book is really about larger philosophical ideas.  I read it from an artistic point of view and learned a ton.  Musashi was also interested in all the arts and even did some painting and calligraphy.
  The final part of the whole book has the biggest impact on me.  It's a list of around 21 precepts translated as "The Path Walked Alone" that Musashi lays out in a bullet point type format.  It's a beautiful list and acts as a simple guide to living well.
 I encourage everyone to read this book at some point and share it with as many people as possible.

Anyone interested in more information can check out:
 http://www.musashi-miyamoto.com

  These past few days, I had the wonderful opportunity to assist with a class at the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art.  The class was taught by Mr. David Genther, who is an expert in classical Beaux-Arts wash rendering techniques.  I learned a ton of amazing information and met a lot of fantastic artists.  Anyone interested in classical arts courses should check out the course schedule at the ICAA!