Adam Kenney

Art is a loaded word. Is it pretentious by default? Or do you picture crafts and crayons and kid stuff? Or old person stuff? It probably depends on your experience with art. Personally, I think of art in terms of emotion, but not in a lofty way that raises it up above the “common man”,…

Idea guy. Problem solver. Abstract thinker. Lacking action. Procrastinator. Unrealistic idealist. These are me. My ideas can often just stay ideas.  What is the difference between a person who just sets out and completes something and a person who struggles to follow through? Perfectionism? Fear? Laziness? Over-ambition? I can relate to all of these reasons…

Life has seasons. We don’t really see many of them coming and often they can whirl around and overlap, change quickly, and mix together. Sometimes an afternoon can feel like a different emotional or spiritual season than the rest of the day. Personally, I can sometimes fixate on the idea that things used to be…

How often in life has your gut feeling betrayed you? Think it through. I think circumstances can change; things can go from good to bad, bad to worse, and worse to better, but in spite of it all a gut feeling is something to be trusted or at least carefully considered. You might make a…

I’m really beginning to find that the key to successful painting (or perhaps the key to success in anything) is the accumulating of experience. As a caveat, I think the value of experience will vary depending on important factors that are in the control of the individual. Here are my tips to get the most…

We’re only given a short amount of time on this earth, so occasionally take stock of your life. What are you giving too much of your time to and what are you ignoring that would feed your soul? Do others need your time more than some of your favorite distractions need it? Give yourself some…

If you don’t already know, white has a tendency to lower the vibrancy of hues. Most amateur artists use it to lighten colors, but it can create an overall deadening effect because it can suck the life out of your painting. Three tips: – Titanium white is cool in hue and dominates colors. – Zinc…

If you haven’t felt inspired in a long time, maybe it’s because you’re rushing around too much. Find one of the things that speaks to you, rejuvenates you, something you feel you’ve needed for some time and have chosen not to do, maybe because it doesn’t always sound as appealing as something easier and more…

Writing a blurb is challenging. I guess it’s appropriate that this is my first entry in this series, because it’s the one that brings both the least pressure and the most pressure, causing me to second-guess what thoughts I announce to the world and how I present them. I’ve run through quite a few ideas:…

One of the challenges of creating content on the internet is that excitement can peter out pretty quickly, either from the creator or from the audience. Expectations, time, interruptions, and so on can all derail a project or series that was conceived and initiated with the best of intentions. Personally, one of the most difficult…