Roaming the metaphysical spaces between dreams and reality, Eli McMullen draws on the familiarity of suburban and wooded landscapes to bid us into dreamlike worlds. Plumbing the interplay of perception and imagination, his acrylic paintings invite us into moments of wonder and transcendence.
The Richmond, Virginia-based artist’s forthcoming solo exhibition, Sleep Walk at Thinkspace Projects, explores relationships between nostalgia, spirituality, nature, and psychological phenomena. He celebrates “fleeting moments that feel suspended in time, glimmers that quietly urge to be searched,” the gallery says.
Sleep Walk welcomes viewers into nighttime forest scenes that glow with geometric light forms, altar-like architecture, and prismatic reflections. Titles like “Desire Path Finder,” “Liminal Bridge,” and “Kismet Gateway” highlight the essence of links, portals, metamorphoses, and in-between spaces.
The show runs May 3 to 24 in Los Angeles. See more on McMullen’s website and Instagram.
“Dream Weaver” (2025), acrylic on panel, 20 × 24 inches“Embers Rest” (2025), acrylic on panel, 18 × 24 inches“Draped Shrine” (2025), acrylic on panel, 11 × 14 inches“Liminal Bridge” (2025), acrylic on panel, 16 × 20 inches“Fractal Grove” (2025), acrylic on panel, 11 × 14 inches“Kismet Gateway” (2025), acrylic on panel, 16 × 20 inches
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4 Best Brands of Colored Pencils: are they worth the splurge?
Are you an artist looking for the best quality colored pencils? In this episode (that’s also available in a video format on YouTube), I reveal the top 4 brands that are worth the splurge. Plus, I’ll tell you about the most expensive colored pencils on the market! Whether you’re an artist, a student, or simply love to color, this video will help you choose the best colored pencils for your needs. If you’re tired of low-quality colored pencils and want to invest in the best, then this podcast episode is for you. I’ll compare each brand’s price, softness, and overall quality to help you make the most informed decision for your art supplies. Don’t miss out on seeing the best colored pencils for your next masterpiece! Warning. The episode is highly informative review of the top colored pencil brands!
Juliet Macleod makes wheel thrown porcelain decorated with slip. Juliet’s work imparts an evocative exploration of the Scottish coast. Juliet repurposes shoreline waste such as metal, plastic, and rope into handmade tools for abstract mark-making. These tools are used to generate painterly, unique marks which reference coastal landscapes and the effects of changing weather and light.
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When you are trying to be abstract how to you find a color or form to represent? What is the hook you are trying to look for as the artist?
That is incredibly difficult to answer because I think abstract artists work in so many different ways. For me it often starts with what you call a hook. It’s something that I am trying to express, a particular memory, a particular place, and that could be a fence or a shape that I have seen somewhere, a view that I have seen, a texture. I am very interested in textures and mark making. And I will go through a process of sketching those ideas. Sometimes I make tiles just to try different mark making. I try different tools and just do expressive marks. Quite often to start with there may be no agenda as to what the image is going to be so I will just loosely make some brushstrokes. It is kind of a process of discovery and at some point in the experimental phase I will see things that spark my memories. I think abstract art or abstract expressionism is just that, expressing those memories and shapes and textures in whatever way suites you.
Do you find then that a sketchbook is critical for you pots?
Yes, absolutely. I have sketchbooks. I spend a lot of the summer when I am not at shows, for example this summer I am going up to a beautiful, tiny little island called Berneray. It’s a very beautiful part of the world and I am spending a month there this summer and I did this last year as well and I will just paint and photograph and sketch and immerse myself in the landscape and it’s a wonderful, wonderful thing.
When you are working on a final design does the idea less is more come into play when you decide what to keep and what to release?
Yes, I suppose it does to a certain extent as a graphic designer it is very much what is simplest is best and trying to pare things back. Whereas as an artist sometimes you want to do the opposite. You want to have lots of textures and layers. The graphic designer in me likes white space. If you speak to any graphic designer you learn about the joy of white space, having areas that are undecorated. It gives freedom to the designs you are making to breath. So to me it is important to pare things back a bit.
Are all of your surfaces trying to tell a story?
Pretty much. Pretty much, I mean some of the one off pieces may be less location specific and more expressive. But the regular designs that I use are very much telling a story.
Is feedback from your audience an important part for you? You said you used to sell in galleries and now you like to sell at shows? Does the feedback have anything to do with that?
Yes, I think that sense of connection basically is a big part of it. The opportunity to discuss how things are made. People are really interested in why and how things are made and I love those conversations and I love the mutual education that goes on in the conversations.
You mentioned that your husband encouraged you to do this when your children were quite young and here you are now. When your husband describes you and your work what does he say?
Oh my goodness. That’s very difficult, I should have asked him. I think probably quite driven, very committed. We are very different, the two of us, but also very similar and we are a really good pair. He’s a scientist, I am an artist. He is practical and I’m , but he’s a tremendous sounding. I have absolutely no idea how he would describe me other than slightly bonkers, arty wife who loves making pots in the shed in the garden. (laugher)
Art, creativity & commercial success: the infamous fate of some famous artists
In this episode I discuss the birth of the 19th-century art movements, some famous artists and their career success. I share one of my personal life’s lessons in the arts and what you need to pay attention to working on your art and career as an artist. You can see the art and read here: https://veronicasart.com/the-infamous-fate-of-some-famous-artists/
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Welcome to America’s largest clay focused art show. It happens every year in Portland Oregon. And thousands of people show up to check it out and buy pots. I got to be there as an “Artist’s Assistant” to Jennifer Blais and Jessica Joner in booth 60. And it was awesome! I also got to walk around and talk to other participants of the show. Amazing people like emerging artists, first year participants, international artists, the chair of the organization, and more. This was my trip to Ceramic Showcase… Oh, and did I say that the event is put on by the Oregon Potters Association?
“Barry McGee lives in San Francisco—he was born there and he lives there,” critic and curator Richard Leydier opens in an essay accompanying the artist’s current solo exhibition, I’m Listening, at Perrotin. “This fact is important because his art would be profoundly different had he chosen to move to another American city.”
McGee draws inspiration from the West Coast subculture he grew up within, surrounded by skaters, surfers, and street artists. He has long been interested in marginalized communities, societal outcasts, and those seen as subversive.
The artist is a key figure of the Mission School, which emerged in the early 1990s through the work of a number of artists who were connected to the now-defunct San Francisco Art Institute. Other influential artists include Margaret Kilgallen (1967-2001), Ruby Neri, Claire Rojas, and more, all of whom explore the intersections between urban realism, graffiti, American folk art, and “lowbrow” aesthetics undergirded by social activism.
McGee adopted monikers like “Twist” and “Lydia Fong” in his own graffiti writing and also explored painting and printmaking, which he still taps into in his expansive, multidisciplinary practice. He explores “dynamic panel assemblages, complex patterns reminiscent of op art, and immersive installations that explore the human condition,” the gallery says.
I’m Listening erupts with color, pattern, and texture through a bounty of sculptures, paintings, prints, and assemblages that reimagine everyday objects. Surfboards are cloaked in optical geometric patterns in acrylic paint, and McGee’s signature grimacing, cartoonish faces appear on collages or in place of labels on glass bottles.
“I focus on everything that is shitty on our little planet right now,” McGee says. Expressions of disgust or surprise are paired with playfulness, though. He adds, “I also celebrate all these incredible things that humans invent to stay positive and healthy.” I’m Listening continues through May 24 in Paris.
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If you’ve tried painting, you know how hard it is to find a good set of brushes. Many of them are flimsy or too soft to spread the oil paint around. Cheap brushes can shed hairs like a cat. They don’t keep the fine point necessary to paint the details in oil painting. I went through many artist brushes trying to find something that works in my oil painting process. Here you’ll find information on how to pick a good brush for oil and acrylic painting, how to clean the brushes, and what brands you can try to purchase the brushes from for your art studio practice.
Painting brushes differ in size, shape, and type of bristles
Size
The higher the number written on a brush, the larger the brush you get. For example, #0000-0 brushes are for super fine detail, # 2-4 brushes are for small work, # 6-10+ are designed for a general application of paint.
Shape
There are rounds, flats, liners, chisel tips, filberts, and fans. The shape of a brush determines the stroke you can make with it. The rounds have a fine point and are good for small, detailed application of paint, flats are for a large coverage of paint or to make a wide stroke; fans are good for gentle blending of the edges and for creation of some textures like tree foliage. My favorites are the filberts because they give me a variety of strokes. Depending on the rotation of my brush, it can give me either a flat stroke or a thin, fine line that’s great for defining and maintaining straight edges.
How to pick a perfect brush for oil & acrylic painting
Types of brushes
In general, watercolor brushes are very soft and are not suitable for oil painting. They are too soft to maintain a point filled with oil paint. However, small, round Kolinsky brushes are very good for painting details, and watercolor 1″ flats are great for blending large areas of paint right after a painting session to soften the entire picture.
There are three kinds of oil/acrylic brushes: the bristle ones, the synthetic ones, and a blend of synthetic and sable hairs. Both the bristle and the synthetic ones are necessary for oil or acrylic painting.
First layer of painting: the bristle brushes
Use stiffer, synthetic brushes for your underpainting because the first layer doesn’t brush over smoothly. Many artists help the oil paint flow by using some solvent ( Gamsol) mixed into the paint. Both the solvent and the canvas surface wear out fine brushes when using them at this step!
The bristle brushes are used in a first, rough layer of painting to put the paint on canvas and to mass out shapes. It’s difficult to paint the first layer with the synthetic ones on canvas, because they are too soft for this step and don’t spread the paint around easily. I find that major manufacturers produce similar bristle brushes that don’t differ much in quality. I would avoid the cheapest ones because they shed hair a lot, which gets embedded into the wet paint if you don’t take them out of your artwork during painting. However, if you paint on panels and not canvas, the bristle brushes may be too hard to paint with.
When you paint with oils over the underpainting, it glides over the first layer much better, but often needs just a little bit of medium to have the flow. This is the stage when you switch from stiffer brushes to the synthetic ones. I find that “Simply Simmons” brushes are cheap, over-the-counter brushes sold at Michael’s that are quite durable and have a nice point when painting. Craft, unbranded brushes are a waste of money because they don’t hold the paint and have no stiffness necessary to move the paint around or to make clean edges and details.
With each layer, your painting becomes more refined in color and detail, and so do the brushes. I use Robert Simmons oil brushes that are cheap, durable, and hold the point well. I paint with #2 round and #2-4 filbert for most work. I also have #6-8 to paint larger areas. The Robert Simmons brushes’ quality is OK for its price. They don’t last for a year, but they perform quite well in comparison to other, more expensive brushes I’ve tried so far. I also buy them separately, if I need a particular size or a tip. Another brand I recommend is Rosemary and Cofor the majority of oil painting.
To complete big chunks of painting I like using a variety of filberts. The W&N Galeria set of brushes are great. They are quite soft but work well with oil paint.
Third layer of painting: synthetic and sable brushes
For a super detailed work, I love to use: 1. the Kolibri, artisan Kolinsky 3/0 sold at Natural Pigments 2. A variety of 3/0 or 5/0 Rosemary & Co oil painting brushes sold on their site, which I prefer using the most. 3. I also use a #0 liner “scepter gold II”, a sable/synthetic blend by Windsor & Newton, to paint fine details. 4. Recently, I found the Princeton, round, 18/0 to paint the tiny details as well but it didn’t last as long as the Kolibri one.
What about the brush handle?
I find that the brush handle length makes no difference in painting. If you do realistic painting with lots of detailed work, you want to minimize your hand movements to remain precise. I don’t see how long handles help artists do that.
I keep a wide, super soft watercolor brush (3/4 or 1″) for blending large areas to soften everything before I quit painting for a day. It doesn’t matter what brand it is as long as it’s a super soft brush like the watercolor brushes are.
If you want your brushes to keep their shape, it’s not only the quality of the hairs to pay attention to, but also how you wash them.
Thomas Gainsborough The Honourable Mrs Graham (1757 – 1792) 1775 , painting detail
How to clean the oil painting brushes
If you want your brushes to last, take good care of them. Squeeze all the unused paint out of your brush, using a paper towel. I Usually, I deep them in linseed oil first and then take the paint out with a paper towel.
Then you can use a solvent like Gamsol to swish them around in a glass jar, and then wash them out with a bar soap and warm water. I skip the solvent step most of the time because of the two reasons. One reason is a plain health precaution and another one is care for my brush hairs. The solvent dilutes the paint and damages the hairs. I find that cleaning with linseed oil and a bar soap works great and makes the brushes last longer.
To sum up, I take the paint off the brush with a paper towel and use the oil to take most of the paint off. I use a soap bar to clean them after every painting session. I wipe the water off of every brush, and rest them flat on a paper towel, so the excess water doesn’t run underneath the ferrules, damaging them.
One more thing. Brushes wear out a lot faster working on textured canvases. Use lightly textured panels or linen canvases to keep your brushes like new.
Presto!
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Andrew McCullough is a studio potter based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. After taking some time away from pottery to further his education–and work in New Brunswick politics–he appeared as a competitor on The Great Canadian Pottery Throw Down’s first season. He is now opening a community pottery studio in downtown Fredericton to make pottery more accessible in his area.
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The people on the show The Great Canadian Pottery Throwdown seemed very kind and without nastiness. What the show really kind?
The show was just as kind as what you would imagine from watching it. All the relationships that we had were super genuine and we truly wanted every person to do as best as they could.
Did you feel prepared?
I definitely felt rusty going into the show. I was one of the only people in the cast who wasn’t doing it close to full-time before hand. However I was confident of my ability on the wheel so I said if I can shine there I’ll be happy.
Were you given an opportunity to practice the things that are being presented for you to do that day?
Yeah, we had some of the challenges given to us in advance, so we could plan and prepare at home. While we were in Vancouver we also had one time a week where we could go to a place called Mud Lab studio in Vancouver to practice whatever we wanted in preparation for the show.
When the show aired how did that impact your life?
The biggest impact the show had for me was giving me a chance to step back into the pottery world on my own terms. Like I said, I had been out of the world and now with myself being reintroduced to Canada nationally I can take the opportunity to do what ever I want which is to open a community pottery studio.
Do you feel like your business is going to be stronger as a result of being on the show?
I absolutely feel that being on the show will help my business and the studio that we are creating here. Getting that sort of national attention can only be helpful. Now what matters is what we do with that little bit of extra platform.
What is one thing that you would do differently if you were on the show again?
That’s a really good question. My answer is not going to be what happened on the show but I would have wanted to spend even more time with my fellow contestants outside of filming. We spent all of our free time together I wish the times I stayed home in the hotel room I would have actually stayed out with them because they are all amazing people.
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