BrushStrokes of Being

I have been thinking a great deal about something deceptively simple:What does it actually mean to see, to read, to listen, to know?That thinking became Episode 121 of Brushstrokes of Being.I begin with books.Not simply the information they contain, but the books themselves: paper, typography, binding, annotations, evidence of use. A book is a human artefact, carrying more than the words printed inside it.From there, I move into neuroscience and literary reading, and the remarkable way the brain transforms symbols into imagined worlds.Reading is a form of seeing without looking.Then music enters the conversation.Music can make us experience things that aren’t physically present.And painting can make us see what cannot necessarily be photographed.I think about Dr Jason Arday and his descriptions of observing human interaction before language became available to him. I think about my own experience as an artist and musician, where perception often comes before explanation.And eventually I arrive at something that has been central to my teaching for years:Recognition is not observation.We recognise something, name it, place it into a category, and often stop looking.But genuine observation asks us to remain present.To notice relationships.Posture.Gesture.Light.Movement.Space.Difference.The things we don’t yet have words for.That is why today is also the launch of the first two courses in my Foundational Series:Learn to See Like an ArtistThis is not a drawing course.It is an investigation into observation: learning to suspend recognition long enough to actually see.https://onlineartseducation.co.uk/course/learn-to-see-like-an-artist-the-discipline-of-seeing-observation-as-an-artistic-practice/Seeing With Your EarsA deeper exploration of perception and attention, beginning with music and extending to how we construct meaning through what we hear, see, and experience.These courses are the beginning of the Observational Art Academy — an approach to art education built on something I consider fundamental:Before expression comes perception.You cannot meaningfully transform what you have never truly learned to perceive.https://onlineartseducation.co.uk/course/seeing-with-your-ears/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brushstrokesofbeing.substack.com

What happens when we stop simply recognising what we see?Every morning, I sit in my garden with my coffee and watch the bees, birds, flowers, shadows and wind. At first, I see a garden. But when I remain there long enough, something changes. I begin to perceive relationships: between bee and flower, movement and stillness, light and shadow, parent and offspring, colour and space.Nothing in the garden has changed.My perception has.This is where observation begins.In this episode of Brushstrokes of Being, I explore the difference between recognition and observation, and why sustained observation is one of the foundations of what I call visual intelligence.Visual intelligence is not simply seeing more. It is the ability to perceive relationships, understand them, and eventually make deliberate choices with them.And this matters far beyond drawing and painting.We live in a culture of rapid recognition, categorisation and judgement. We are constantly encouraged to decide what something is, whether we like it, whether we agree with it, and which category it belongs to.The arts are not immune to this.We categorise artists as traditional or contemporary, realist or abstract, painter or conceptual artist. We can then move almost instantly from category to preference:I like it.I don’t like it.I’m drawn to it.But these are responses; not yet critical observations.So what happens when we slow down enough to ask different questions?What are the relationships within the work? How does composition function? How does the eye move? How do colour, value, rhythm, gesture, scale and space interact? Does a concept actually become embodied in the visual language of the work?And perhaps most importantly: what makes something good art?I also explore why observation and conceptual thinking are not opposing approaches. In my own series Exceptional Female Musicians, the conceptual proposition determines what I observe, what I select, what I emphasise and how I construct the relationship between the performer and the viewer.Concept does not eliminate the need for observation. It increases it.Because observation gives us something to transform. Visual intelligence allows us to understand what we are seeing. Concept allows us to decide what we want to communicate.And art emerges through the transformation.In September, I will be taking this thinking into my Art Academy with the launch of the first of the foundational four courses, Learn to See Like an Artist.Because learning to see is not simply preparation for becoming an artist. It is a way of encountering reality.Maybe tomorrow morning, sit somewhere quietly for a few minutes and see what you notice when you stop trying to name everything.Subscribe to Brushstrokes of Being so you don’t miss the Art Academy launch. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brushstrokesofbeing.substack.com

What happens when we remove art and music from education, or expect artists to produce before they have had time to develop?In this episode of Brushstrokes of Being, I explore why artistic education is about far more than creating future painters and musicians.Research increasingly suggests that sustained engagement with music and observational art develops attention, memory, pattern recognition, discipline, perception, and flexible thinking. These are not simply artistic skills; they are deeply human capacities that shape how we learn, interpret the world, and relate to one another.Drawing on the reflections of pianist Maria João Pires and cellist Pablo Casals, I examine how contemporary culture increasingly rewards speed, visibility, and marketability over patient cultivation and artistic maturity.What happens when we stop asking whether a student has learned to observe, listen, and exercise judgement, and instead ask only whether they can produce quickly, explain their concept, or market themselves?This episode argues that classical training is not about preserving old traditions for their own sake. It is about acquiring a language that allows genuine expression to emerge.Because perhaps the greatest loss is not that we produce fewer professional artists.It is that we gradually forget how to pay attention.In this episode:* Why music and art education matter long before professional training begins.* What neuroscience suggests about music, learning, and attention.* Why observational drawing teaches more than technical skill.* Maria João Pires on competition and artistic development.* Pablo Casals on the disappearance of technique.* The difference between training, education, performance, and presence.* Why slowing down may be one of the most important cultural acts of our time. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brushstrokesofbeing.substack.com

If Diego Velázquez applied to a gallery today, it’s not certain he would be accepted.Not because of a lack of skill, but because of what is now required of artists before the work is even seen.Today, artists are often evaluated through questions of concept, brand, and recognisability. The painting itself arrives late in the conversation.Somewhere in this shift, observation has been displaced by positioning.Even technical mastery is frequently translated into style labels: “so Sargent-like,” “so Velázquez-like.” Yet these painters were not defined by style alone. They were defined by attention — by their ability to see people and reality as they are, not as they are expected to be.Observation is not replication. It is interpretive intelligence in real time.And when painting becomes too dependent on repetition, identity, and recognisable output, something subtle is lost: the capacity to encounter the world freshly through seeing.This is not only an art-world issue. It is cultural.We are becoming highly efficient at recognising images, but less practiced in actually seeing.At its core, art is still a discipline of attention.And attention is becoming rare.Subscribe to Brushstrokes of Beinghttps://brushstrokesofbeing.substack.com/embed" width="480" height="320" style="border: 1px solid #EEE; background: white" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"> This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brushstrokesofbeing.substack.com

The first episode of 2026 begins not with acceleration, but with attention on the power of mastery.While painting Janine Jansen, immersed in the music of Jean Sibelius, there was a moment in which the work aligned. Technique, listening, and observation converged. The distinction between musician and instrument dissolved. What remained was embodiment.This episode reflects on mastery as a lived condition, not as rigidity, but as liberation.Across cultures and genres, disciplined practice has always enabled artistic freedom. The deep internalisation of craft allows interpretation to move without obstruction. When technique becomes embodied, imagination is no longer anxious; it becomes precise.The lives and practices of John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, and Michael Jacksonremind us that mastery does not belong to one institution, one tradition, or one culture. Even where access was denied, discipline and imagination forged new paths.In the studio, this same principle holds. Silence, repetition, and containment are not isolation; they are integration. The visible work rests upon long unseen immersion.As we enter 2026, this episode invites a reorientation:To honour skill.To protect depth.To stay with practice long enough for freedom to emerge.For those wishing to strengthen their own foundation in drawing and painting, the course Mastering Light and Shadow offers a structured path into tonal depth and visual vitality, with lifetime access and personal feedback options.https://onlineartseducation.co.ukMay this year be grounded, attentive, and generative.Contact meSubstack This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brushstrokesofbeing.substack.com

Mahalia, Rising Star places a contemporary Black British vocalist at the centre of a visual language historically complicit in marginalisation. Drawing on Pre-Raphaelite aesthetics while actively interrupting their gaze, the painting confronts questions of mastery, presence, and cultural memory.Created in resistance to spectacle, speed, and aesthetic flattening, this work insists on discipline, subjecthood, and the dignity of becoming. It asks the viewer not to consume, but to remain.Watch on YouTubeContact Me This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brushstrokesofbeing.substack.com

In this new instalment of Letters from the Studio, I open the door to the beginnings of my portrait of Sol Gabetta, a work that listens before it speaks. The first layer meets the canvas through music: the arc of movement, the breath between phrases, the subtle pauses that reveal the life within the performer.Rooted in four hundred years of artistic lineage, this painting grows from a way of seeing shaped by time, silence, and careful observation. Here, the aim is not likeness alone, but the interior world that precedes it, the emotion before the note, the recognition before the gesture.I share why every composition is drawn by hand, how sketches give form to fleeting expressions, and how the music itself becomes a collaborator in the process. The episode also touches on Mastering Light & Shadow™, a course created for artists seeking to overcome flatness and reconnect with the discipline of seeing.Mastering Light & ShadowTMYouTubeContact Me This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brushstrokesofbeing.substack.com

This episode offers a reflection on The Story of Art Without Men by Katy Hessel. While the book powerfully restores many women to the narrative of art history, from Renaissance pioneers to modern visionaries, its final chapters reveal a gap that continues to shape our understanding of women’s contributions today.The women who uphold and advance the classical craft of painting from life, artists working with discipline, sensitivity, and a profound commitment to the human presence, remain largely unacknowledged. Their omission underscores a persistent hierarchy in contemporary art discourse, one that prizes conceptual innovation while overlooking the mastery that once allowed earlier women artists to claim their place.Here I examine this paradox and argue for a more complete history: one that embraces the full spectrum of women’s artistic practices across five centuries, including the living lineage of classical realism.watch also on YouTubeBuy the bookFollow me on InstagramContact me This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brushstrokesofbeing.substack.com

In this episode of Brushstrokes of Being, I examine the lost ground of mastery and the spiritual essence of art. Moving beyond theory, I reveal how true art arises where craft and consciousness meet.Through philosophy, neuroscience, and lived experience, Karin invites listeners to rediscover art as a sacred act of perception, a portal, not a product.For artists, thinkers, and collectors seeking depth, this is a journey into the soul of creation itself.Watch this episode on youtubeFollow me on InstagramContact me This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brushstrokesofbeing.substack.com

Welcome back to Brushstrokes of Being, where art meets soul and thought becomes colour. In this episode, ‘Art as Portal or Mirror’, I’m joined by Karen van Hoey Smith (mentor, art director, educator, and curator), whose journey through the art world bridges vision, compassion, and transformation. Together, we explore the shifting tides of the contemporary art market, the deeper meanings behind creation, and the evolving role of the artist. Karen shares her experience in Hungary, where she curated a poignant exhibition for a charity supporting orphaned children; a project in which art becomes both healing and an offering. We reflect on a timeless question: Is art truly art, or is it a portal, a token through which the viewer meets themselves? And finally, we ask: Can art ever really “speak for itself”? You can tune in for an intimate conversation on authenticity, purpose, and the invisible threads that connect the artist, the work, and the world. The charity auction opens on November 13 at 6 PM at the Lena & Roselli Gallery (https://lenaroselligallery.com), where Art Becomes Act and Beauty Meets Meaning. Follow Karen https://www.instagram.com/kvhs_creative/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/karen-van-hoey-smith-96001a26/ Follow me https://instagram.com/karinmerxfineartContact me https://karinmerx.co.uk/contact This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit brushstrokesofbeing.substack.com