The Book of Kells – Part 2

While taking photos of The Book of Kells is forbidden (photos are not even allowed in the room where the book is displayed), it was an amazing experience, even if there is no photographic evidence, as is required for life in the 21st century.  That said, this museum nerd confirms that the exhibition space was […]

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The Book of Kells – Part 1

Another item at the very top of my “Must See in Ireland” list was The Book of Kells.  The Book of Kells is a Gospel Book, which means it contains the first four books of the New Testament of the Christian Bible.  These four books were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John (followers of […]

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Knowth

Not far from the Newgrange site is another passage tomb – Knowth.  The Knowth site is interesting in that it is one large mound surrounded by a number of smaller mounds.  We were allowed to go inside the large, central mound, but only so far as the innermost chambers and the passage itself is beginning […]

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Daubigny’s Garden

We all know how much Vincent loved color – that goes without saying.  Lately, I have noticed that when I set out to study one of his works, I tend to lean into the color even more than Vincent does.  With the sunflowers, I worked hard to get as close as possible to matching Vincent’s […]

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Starry Night

“I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day.” -Vincent van Gogh. As an academic, I love studying Van Gogh because he gave us quite a gift – not just 800+ paintings, but hundred and hundreds of letters.  Shout out to his sister-in-law, Jo, who had the foresight […]

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Irises

I had a lot of fun painting this iris.  Vincent is known for his many sunflower paintings, but when he moved to Saint-Remy to check himself into the asylum, we begin to see more irises and cypresses in his work.  Of course, there could be a number of reasons for this: perhaps, irises and cypress […]

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Magritte in Mount Dora!

I am so pleased to share with you that The Wandering Art Historian is returning to Mount Dora!  I am partnering with Modernism Museum Mount Dora for two special presentations of my lecture This is Not Reality: The Art of Rene Magritte in mid-October.  Hosted by 1921 by Norman Van Aken, this lecture will be […]

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Sunflower Study #2

This is the second of two sunflower studies I painted in order to prepare for my Vincent van Gogh-themed wine box for my 4th Annual Wine Box Art Show submission. I always knew Vincent loved the color yellow, but after attempting to recreate one of his most iconic sunflower paintings, I realized something.  I noticed […]

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Sunflower Study #1

In preparation for my submission to the 4th Annual Wine Box Art Show, I decided to work on some preliminary studies.  I wanted my wine box to be inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s sunflower paintings, so I knew I had to take a closer look at his work and try my hand at recreating his […]

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Body Snatchers

I am pleased to share my most recent article for ArtScene Press! The Cornell Fine Arts Museum on the campus of Rollins College has a number of art exhibits concurrently on view in different galleries throughout the museum.  I chose to focus on a small, but powerful exhibition – Body Snatchers: Death in Culture – […]

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