Cold Days, Hot Studio: Winter as the Artist’s Most Productive Season

Winter is the perfect time to advance in art. The warmer months bring so many distractions that it’s hard to focus on my work. The cold days, with their muted light, are my ideal backdrop for studio time. It also should be your busiest time as an Artist. I thought I’d take a moment to share what’s currently happening in my studio, as well as what will keep me occupied over the next six months.

Love a good studio shot.

2024 was an incredible year for me, both personally and artistically. Growth in both areas is essential. As an artist, I’m proud of how my work has progressed, but I’m even more thrilled with how my life has evolved. I’m lucky to have partnered for life with someone who constantly supports me and brings out the best in me—Art included. So, without further delay, here’s what’s going on in the Del Ray studio.

Love a little studio chaos.

Right now, I’m in the fawning stage with two long-awaited portraits. These two paintings may very well be my finest work. If I get approval from the client, I’ll share photos of them, but for now, they’re visible only in my studio. It’s tough not to share my best work publicly, but these portraits have been on my easels for months, and I need to let them breathe a little longer. By the way, "fawning" is a late-stage phase most of my paintings go through. It’s the part where I love what I've painted, but I hold onto the work as though some major change is still possible—though it rarely happens. The longer a painting sits in this holding pattern, unchanged, the better the painting usually becomes.

Sargent in his magnificent studio.

This brings me to one of the most frequently asked questions: How long did it take to paint that? I often feel like those who ask this question are thinking like engineers. The answer isn’t simple, as I tend to have five paintings in various stages of progress at once. At the moment, I have two portraits in the fawning stage, two fresh landscapes (one very large), two portraits in the study phase, a charcoal portrait, a posthumous portrait, and of course, I can’t forget about my magnum opus portrait of Maria from my very first Alexandria Stylebook article. (Ironically, that article was about procrastination.)

Lucian Freud would smear his leftover palette paint on his studio walls. Love the big piles of bedsheets used for rags!

This is just the current setup, as I’m preparing for one of my major summer shows at Artemis Gallery in Northeast Harbor, Maine. In addition to everything already in progress, there are another 20+ works that need to be completed for the show by early July.

Winter is the time to kick some ass, or get your ass kicked in the summer. ❤️

SEE ALSO: The Art of Curating Your Home: How to Display Art Like a Gallery