BrushStrokes of Being

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...

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...

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 discipl...

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...

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...

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 se...

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 meaning...

Welcome to this episode of Brushstrokes of Being, Ink and Silence. The book that breathes wisdom, and I frequently turn to, as artist, but also for the wisdom is, Charlie Mackesy’s The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. This is one of those rare works that seem to exhale light with every turning page. It is a book that does not announce itself loudly; it whispers. Its sentences are small, its d...

Brushstrokes of Being, Episode 109 – The Spirit of Equine Art: Translating Emotion into Form “Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” – Edgar Degas In this illuminating roundtable, host  Karin Merx  brings together four exceptional voices in equine art and curation: Karen Osborn (Australia), Mirelle Vegers (The Netherlands), Tony O’Connor (Ireland) , and  Joyce Ter Horst , curator...

Catherine McCormack’s  Women in the Picture  profoundly reframes how we perceive women in art. From Venus to the Monstrous Woman, McCormack uncovers persistent archetypes that structure our visual culture, revealing how seemingly timeless masterpieces actually participate in shaping desire, power, and representation. As an art historian and practicing artist, this book resonated deeply with me and...

“Mastery is the slowest, hardest path in the world, and the only one worth taking.” In this episode of  Brushstrokes of Being , I reflect on what it truly means to master an art form. Why Mastery Is the Only Path Worth Taking? As both a painter and a classically trained musician, I’ve lived the reality of endless hours in the studio or at an instrument, practice, repetition, resilience, and passio...

In this episode of  Brushstrokes of Being , I sit down with  Elizabeth Markevitch , who once worked in the high-end world of Impressionist and Modern masterpieces. She left the “art box” behind to democratise access to art and created  IkonoTV https://ikonotv.art/ , a platform treating art as medicine. We explore: Why art is still “in the concert hall” while music has been democratized How streami...

In this episode of  Brushstrokes of Being , The Double Chair, I bring two voices into dialogue: the Artist, living for unity, diversity, and transformation, and the Philosopher, seeking meaning in those values. The conversation weaves together childhood curiosity, music, the Old Masters, the quiet rebellion of painting, the essential role of diversity, and the distinction between discrimination an...

What does it mean to truly see? To slow down, observe, and let creativity flow through your hands? On this episode of  Brushstrokes of Being , I speak with Adebanji Alade, the BBC-featured artist and President of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, about the transformative power of sketching, embracing failure, and loving the process over the final piece. Highlights Adebanji Alade: Why sketc...

Art as Medicine in the Age of Machines  marks the conclusion of my series  The Gaze Reclaimed . After seven episodes honouring women artists who fought to be seen, I turn to our present reality: a time where human creativity is once again at risk of erasure. Today, billions of artworks are silently scraped into datasets without consent, feeding machines that produce hollow images. Yet ar...

Camille Claudel was more than Rodin’s lover, more than the “madwoman” silenced in an asylum for thirty years. She was a visionary sculptor who gave marble and bronze a pulse, sensual, intimate, and profoundly human. In this episode of  Art Talk: The Gaze Reclaimed Part Seven: Camille Claudel, we explore: Claudel’s early brilliance and her fight to study sculpture in Paris. Her bold collaboration a...

“To paint is to love again.” Louise-Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun’s words define a life devoted to courage, beauty, and creation. Born in 1755, she overcame the barriers of a male-dominated art world, teaching herself by copying the works of Rembrandt, Rubens, and Van Dyck. By fifteen, she was a professional portraitist. In this episode, I discuss Louise-Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun: The Gaze Reclaimed, Part 6...

In this episode of The Gaze Reclaimed Part 5: Berthe Morisot, we celebrate the 100th episode of Art Talk. Berthe Morisot (1841–1895) was not just a painter — she was one of the most influential  female Impressionists  in art history. Known as the  Mother of Impressionism , she transformed the way women and modern life were depicted on canvas, bringing radical lightness, liberation, and emotion to...

In this episode of  Art Talk , part 4 of The Gaze Reclaimed, we explore the extraordinary life and legacy of  Edmonia Lewis  — the first African-Native American sculptor to gain international recognition in the 19th century. Born in a fractured America , orphaned young, and wrongfully accused of poisoning classmates at Oberlin, Lewis defied every expectation. She carved her path — literally — from...

In Episode 98 of  Art Talk , we explore the extraordinary life of  Elisabetta Sirani , the forgotten Baroque Prodigy. A 17th-century Baroque artist from Bologna who defied social norms to become one of the first professional female painters in Europe. Born into an artistic family in 1638, Sirani took over her father’s studio by age 17, produced over 200 paintings before her death at 27, and...

Welcome back to  Art Talk , and Part 2 of  The Gaze Reclaimed . In this episode, we delve into the extraordinary life of Artemisia Gentileschi , who transformed the depiction of women in Western art. From the Renaissance to today, visual culture has shaped—and often violated—women’s bodies. Art historian  Catherine McCormack  critiques this long history, revealing how so-called mas...

The Gaze Reclaimed – Part 1: Looking Inward Episode 96 of Art Talk | New Series Premiere Welcome to  The Gaze Reclaimed , a bold new series exploring how women—past and present—are reclaiming the right to see and be seen on their own terms. In this deeply personal opening episode, artist and cultural philosopher Artsy invites you into an intimate reflection on self-portraiture, vulnerabi...

In episode 95, the last episode in the series of Why Old Masters Matter To Artists Today 3. In this episode I go in learning how to see: Style, Technique and….Secrets, with Rembrandt on my side. Become a member on Patreon Connect with 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

Why Old Masters Matter to Artists II: Leonardo da Vinci & the Power of Observation In Episode 94 of Art Talk , we dive deep into the timeless art of observation —through the eyes of one of history’s greatest minds: Leonardo da Vinci . This episode explores how Da Vinci’s approach to seeing the world can radically transform your own creative process. In an age of instant gratification and visua...

Episode 93 of Art Talk is the start of a short series where I talk about why old masters matter to artists today. In this episode I briefly discus why they matter, what you can learn from them, why they were great and how they are our silent mentors. If you as artist are struggling with colour, I have a great colour course available at https://onlineartseducation.co.uk/course/colour-for-artists/ Y...