Walk the Arts' Blog
Living Through the Arts
Art and Neurosciences
When a subject becomes familiar, the brain activity shuts down like when viewing a lovely chickadee painting…
Can we talk about the neuroscience of art? This is the question that French neurobiologist Jean-Pierre Changeux addresses in his beautiful book The Beauty in the Brain or La Beauté dans le Cerveau (Odile Jacob, 2016). Prof. Changeux describes how the human brain behaves when making or contemplating a work of art. To make a long story short, he argues that the neural bases of aesthetic pleasure are the product of the link between cognitive and emotional brain functions, in other words, the harmony between reason and emotion. Moreover, he gives some tips on how artists can maximize the impact of their works on their audience.

Evolving in art is just a matter of faith; only believe!
We refrain from teaching painting techniques easily found on the Net. We prefer taking the necessary time (36 hours) to fully involve the participant in reflecting on her or his art — including all levels, all media […]
Rest assured that having attended one of our online classes, you will be more confident in taming the landscape in your own way while on a plein-air painting workshop.

Traveling after COVID-19.
At Walk the Arts we aim to surpass easily-found knowledge on YouTube such as how “to mix your greens”, even “how to paint an Italian landscape”; and if you can learn the latter in a video, why attending a painting workshop in Tuscany? This reality has encouraged us to become a conduit of art knowledge, not a mere repeater of it.

Radical-polemicist-radical or capitalist-strategist?
In conclusion, it is our fundamental nature that is responsible for this preponderance of bad news in the media. It is up to us to make a conscious effort to try to arrive at a more balanced discourse while keeping a critical mind. Our stress level would certainly decrease.

The bastard of Marcel Duchamp: Contemporary Art
In short, I could go on and on to recount Madame Sourgins’ whiny whims, but it is time to conclude. She is accurate to write that the pleasures of culture are “delayed joys” which require cultural awareness and some knowledge. Visual arts, like all cultural expressions, reflect the society and the times in which we live. Walk the Arts’ artists are aware of what is being done in the field of contemporary art, good or bad. It is up to them to choose whether or not to venture into the contemporary department. But it is important to acknowledge that there is no turning back. Contemporary art is here to stay.

COVID-19 and Your Art
Let’s see this pandemic as a propitious time to quit this whirlwind of vanity and consumerism. […] In our studio, at our easel or our desk, the time is right for deepening personal truths, so essential for future artistic endeavors. The time is favorable for revamping our own publications including our artistic statements and websites. The time is appropriate to devote ourselves to serious art readings. In brief, a time to search, a time to find a new equilibrium.

Art, You and 2020
How can I become a better artist in 2020? How can I take my art up a notch, only a single notch? It may be landscape painting, abstraction, modern or contemporary art.[…] How can I increase my artistic knowledge during 2020, so my art becomes more particular, more distinguishable, more authentic, more profound? For 2020, I will try my best to accomplish the following list…

May I see the instructor’s works?
So why do we attend a painting workshop In Tuscany, Provence or South America? We attend a workshop to learn from each other, to share our passion, to live an art experience and to enjoy the power of knowledge through creation. This is what we offer at Walk the Arts.

The Post-Coitus Works of Art
We agree that a completed work can bring a great sense of boredom, even disappointment, or a sense of euphoria that encourages pursuing a career as an artist. We have a choice; “Well done! What do I paint now as my next subject? Or “WOW! How can I push this canvas so it becomes better and more complex in the reflection of my time and my life?”

Plein Air Painting = Trapping the Moment
Here’s a curious paradox: stopping time by painting quickly. Can one set a trap to catch the moment’s impression? Can the artist’s canvas trap the beauty and the wonder of observed events which melt all too quickly in the flow of time? Can time be halted? Yes, says Michael Findlay, obviously, this is what artists do…
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info@walkthearts.com
Since 1997 Walk the Arts (icscis inc.) has been offering top quality painting workshops, art classes, and art history tours in Italy, France, Colombia, Spain, and the United States.
© 2021 Walk the Arts
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