A consistency of art style – or not

paintings by artist Mark McKinney

These are the last two paintings using acrylic on canvas that I’ve made, and I think you’d agree with me that the styles are quite different. The first one, titled “A Knowing Glance,” is a cubist-styled portrait, and the second one, titled “A Memory in search of Part 2 (Brant Lake),” is a landscape painting, … Read more

Commission request artist scam on Instagram

elements of an scam directed towards artists on Instagram

More than once I’ve encountered an artist scam on Instagram, with the more common ones including people who insist they want to buy my art as NFTs (and refuse to buy the originals), even though I don’t make NFTs, as well as a PayPal scam where they insist on getting my PayPal info to send … Read more

A Mondrian Desk for kids

Mondrian desk for kids seen in an antiques store in Hastings-on-Hudson

As I was exploring Hastings-on-Hudson over the weekend, I saw this colorful desk in the store window at “Suburban Renewal,” an antiques store on Main Street. It’s clearly sized for little kids, and the Mondrian design and color scheme seems perfect to inspire young artists, don’t you think? My kids are grown now, so I … Read more

The Cippus of Horus, a magical stone

Cippus of Horus magical stone

I was visiting the Albany Institute of History and Art recently when I happened upon this piece in the section of ancient Egyptian art. At first it didn’t seem like anything special, a stone fragment with some hieroglyphics carved into it, but then I read the descriptive label, and was intrigued. It’s a “Cippus of … Read more

Rooftopping and Urban Exploration

Woman rooftopping, an image created with AI

I was reading an article in the New York Times about “Urbex,” which is shorthand for “urban exploration,” which by their definition was the trespassing in abandoned properties. It grabbed my attention because I’ve certainly done some of that, although I can’t say that I was always trespassing, but there certainly is an element of … Read more