Journal
Moments, written down
Short reads on paintings, workshops and the Dordogne.
The Landscape Within
The grandmother, the café and the valley behind my paintings.
Where my way of seeing began, and the one lesson that can change how you look too.
3-minute read
“My grandmother never told me what to see.”
The Colors of the Lot: A Painter’s Inner Palette
The palette that valley left in my hands.
The white, ochre and charcoal on my palette were on the cave walls of the Lot more than 17,000 years ago.
2-minute read
“The Lot rises through my hands.”
The REAL Mark Method for Slow Viewing
Five steps to stay with one painting, and to carry it with you.
Half of museum visitors give a masterpiece 17 seconds or less. Your curled hand can change that.
3-minute read
“The restlessness is a doorway, not a signal to look away.”
Attention as Generosity: Lessons from the Truffle Hunter
What the truffle hunter knows about looking.
On why the moments that matter rarely announce themselves.
3-minute read
“Some things only grow in the time between the question and the answer.”
The Richest Color: Gray, and the Empty Spaces of a Painting
Why so much of my palette is gray.
The eye can tell apart some 500 shades of gray. Paul Klee called it the richest color.
2-minute read
“Boredom might be a gateway, not an enemy.”
Waiting Well: Patience as a Creative Force
Why a painting dries on its own clock.
Patient poverty: what medieval monks called staying present when you might receive nothing at all.
2-minute read
“Some things can’t be seized, only received.”