Blowing in the Wind colour pencil on Stonehenge 30” x 44” C. Ascher   It’s the big buzz these days: Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature this year. Imagine that! Speculation and controversy have of course resulted – imagine, popular culture getting the nod from an exclusive organization often accused of...Read More

  If They Can Do It clay, underglazes, glazes approx 14” circumference C. Ascher     I have returned to the clay studio after nearly seven and some months off from a shoulder break. My right arm still doesn’t work well, but I can’t wait any longer. iI’s almost the end of August, I have...Read More

  Proud colour pencil on paper 44”x30” C. Ascher   I had this faith, see. As a kid, I believed that artists were people with exceptional courage, creativity, passion, compassion and the kind of focus nature has, a focus fuelled by purpose. This is because they had vision that sees behind, beneath and beyond even...Read More

  The Professor low-fire clay 8″x12″x4″ C. Ascher     Here we go again. Every year it’s the same story.   It’s certainly a proud moment when a student completes an assigned work or an amateur puts the finishing touches on a copy or borrowed composition. A teacher or, in my case, a curator, can...Read More

Bambi’s Dream acrylic on pannel 12″x16″x1.5″ I lost my darling Bambi today. The sweetheart was at the end of her energy – she’d not eaten much the last couple of weeks and nothing since yesterday. She lost a good six pounds in four months, which for a 19 pound, 11 year-old miniature schnauzer… I’m afraid...Read More

Looking colour pencil on paper 30”x22” C.Ascher What keeps many artists motivated? A strong connection to feeling and emotion that drives their creative process. I teach adults to make objects with art-making media. That’s the simple description of what goes on in the class. The complexity is teaching them how to make those objects be...Read More

  Starring Role colour pencil on paper relief   C. Ascher   For a number of years, I agreed as a special favour to an artist friend and fellow teacher to be a guest speaker in her class. Besides teaching at the art centre where I am also a curator and an administrator, she teaches...Read More

  Empty Promises photo collage c.ascher How many parents have reacted with restrained horror upon hearing their child announce “I want to be an artist”? You, reader, might well be one of them. Perhaps you stood there, or maybe you will soon stand there, momentarily regretting having asked your son or daughter, “What do you...Read More