This is a question I receive as much as any other question. I do NOT varnish my paintings. When I first began painting acrylic abstracts on canvas I did varnish all of the paintings because that is what I heard you should do. I experimented with all of the various finishes and was not happy with any of them. For me they make the surface of my paintings too homogeneous.

We spend so much time thinking about what to place on the front surface of our paper or canvas, we forget about the back. So what should go on the back of your paintings?

I believe in using the largest palette possible for arranging and mixing your colors. I have a large glass palette in my studio, but I am sometimes too lazy (or busy) to clean it. What I like to use instead is wax paper. Yes, you heard me correctly, wax paper. It is inexpensive, light to carry when traveling and you can roll out as many pieces as you need to make a large palette area.

f you want built-in color harmony in your paintings, use a color wheel to select your color combinations. Someone centuries ago developed the color wheel and now we can reap the benefits - all we have to do is use it.The color combinations on the wheel, if used, will provide color harmony that many artist's work lacks.

Dear Friends,
In continued appreciation for your support this year, and as a continuation of last month's newsletter (A Random Thank You), I have some very special news for you.

I began this painting with an underpainting mixed from Buff Titanium and Neutral Grey 6. I used plenty of water so that it was thin and dripped down the canvas. After the underpainting dried, I began painting large dark shapes with Payne's Grey. I applied these randomly with no pre-planning.

I just want to thank all of you my friends, for your continued support and belief in me!

Next week will be the 35th anniversary of the day that I injured my dominant hand so badly I didn't even know if I'd be able to hold a pencil again. I told the doctor on call that day that I was an artist. It is still a very painful memory, and it was the low point of my life. Four years later I graduated #1 in my class in architecture school (it sounds fancy but there were only 13 of us!). I had no idea that I would go on to become an award winning architect, and now a professional artist.