What will you do with your life?
After major surgery as she turned 92, it seemed unlikely my mother would live. To everyone’s surprise, she did. But she had a harder time concentrating on the book she…
Latest News From Rand Snell
Job: Contemporary Artist
Job: Contemporary Artist
I was spraying angular segments of mat board for a new piece, having first placed them on some scrap black mat board. The sprayed pieces looked great, kind of crude…
Explosion of Ideas and Colors
Explosion of Ideas and Colors
Inspiration comes from the work; if you wait for inspiration to work, you won’t produce very much. Every working creative person knows this. Creating is work, in the best sense.…
Shattered Love, a Story in Contemporary Art
Shattered Love, a Story in Contemporary Art
Nothing makes a human feel better than falling in love… the experience of limerence. Feel-good brain chemicals abound, and any contact with the beloved, even by text, creates a surge…
Resilience
Resilience
In 1985, the first German memorial dedicated to homosexual victims of the Nazis was unveiled at the Neuengamme Concentration Camp, near Hamburg. Germany was a relatively safe place for homosexual…
Studio Life
Studio Life
Until a year ago, I made art in my kitchen. These days, my kitchen is back to being a kitchen and my art-making has moved to Sixstar Art Studios, 2430…
Finding Meaning in Abstract Art
Finding Meaning in Abstract Art
Sometimes it’s only after I finish a piece that I understand what it’s about. That’s the case this month. Tornado For some time I had an image of swirling bits…
American Failure
American Failure
America has a President who wants to be a dictator. I think some people are happy with that. So were a lot of Germans in 1933. Weimar and 1930s Germany…
The Healing Power of Art
The Healing Power of Art
On January 28, 2023, a little over two years ago, a serial rapist physically and sexually assaulted me in Palm Springs. My mother died a few weeks later, adding more…
Bogotá
Bogotá
In 1538, the Spanish founded Sante Fe de Bogotá on the site of the indigenous Muisca town of Bacatá. The city lies at 8,600’, nestled against the eastern ridge of…
Holiday Memory
Holiday Memory
“Do you want to go out to the woods and look for a tree?” asked my father one cold December day. It was mid-afternoon, after he had gotten the noon…
Travel and Inspiration
Travel and Inspiration
I spent the first half of October in Buenos Aires, and came back ready to get to work. I also came back inspired to keep studying Spanish, and to return…
Greetings from Buenos Aires
Greetings from Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is a beautiful place, and I’ll be sharing more of my experiences here next month. I arrived a few days ago and am throwing myself into an accelerated…
A Time of Change
A Time of Change
Even more than most places, Florida has been a state of constant change and growth since the late 1800s. But for a long time, downtown St. Petersburg did not change…
Grounded
Grounded
For the past ten years I was custodian of an amazing airplane, my 1981 Mitsubishi Mu-2, which I affectionately named the Beast shortly after purchase. Now it’s time to reluctantly…
The Colorblind Collage Artist
The Colorblind Collage Artist
I try to make interesting and meaningful art despite having deuteranomaly, or defective red-green color vision. I don’t think about my disability obsessively, but I know these color deficiencies affect…
The Contemporary Artist at Work
The Contemporary Artist at Work
“Sometimes we trudge.” That’s a saying from the world of recovery, but I think all of us can relate. Some days we feel inspired and on top of the world,…
Contemporary Art, Opening Night
Contemporary Art, Opening Night
It was early Friday night, April 12, the Grand Opening of Sixstar Art Studios in St. Petersburg. I was enjoying talking with the interesting and knowledgable people coming through my…
New Contemporary Art in Saint Petersburg
New Contemporary Art in Saint Petersburg
This month I begin working in my new studio at Sixstar Art Studios! I'm excited to be making art alongside Sixstar founder Jason Hackingwerth and fellow artists Michelle Gordon, Kenny…
Holding Vigil
Holding Vigil
The night of November 12, 2023 I hardly slept. Over the past several months I had become very close to a friend in recovery, who had recently moved from his…
The Healing Power of Abstract Art
The Healing Power of Abstract Art
January 28 was the year anniversary of a lonely evening, and a bad decision that led to me being drugged, assaulted and sexually assaulted while visiting Palm Springs. After I…
New Abstract Art, and a Depression Christmas Story from my Mother
New Abstract Art, and a Depression Christmas Story from my Mother
Thanks to those who reached out following my mid-December blog on Relapse and Recovery. I’m always grateful to know something I wrote resonated in some way. In these more personal…
Relapse and Recovery
Relapse and Recovery
This is the most difficult time of year for many, and an especially dangerous one for those who suffer from addiction. For me, it’s the end of a hard year…
Authentic
Authentic
My therapist recently reminded me that the Merriam-Webster 2023 Word of the Year is Authentic. That’s a good word, as we move into an era of AI and Deep Fakes,…
Acceptance
Acceptance
This month’s blog isn’t much about art. It’s about acceptance. I turn 68 in November. My mother’s mother was only a year older when she died, her death one of…
Contemporary Art and Passion
Contemporary Art and Passion
It’s always an honor to have pieces chosen for special exhibits at Five Deuces Galleria, which just won Best Art Gallery in Tampa Magazine’s Best of the City 2023! And…
Commissioned Collage Art
Commissioned Collage Art
I had the pleasure the past few weeks of working on pieces commissioned by friends. They had some specific requests, and that made the creative process even more interesting. It’s…
Intimacy
Intimacy
“I love you,” I said spontaneously and almost without thought, cuddled in bed with someone I had let my guard down with, at his home, watching a movie, feeling safe,…
Freedom
Freedom
"Have you started to realize your freedom yet?" asked a friend recently, wondering how I was adjusting to my mother's death in March. In this month’s blog, I write about…
Mixed Media, Modern Art
Mixed Media, Modern Art
I’ll be playing piano Saturday June 3, 6-9 pm, for grand opening of the new Mixed Media Exhibition at Five Deuces Galleria. I have three pieces in this show, one…
A Contemporary Artist, Tearing it Up
A Contemporary Artist, Tearing it Up
One morning last August, I landed my little float plane on the still surface of Lake Thonotosassa, east of Tampa, Florida. Floating over clouds reflected in the glassy waters below,…
My Mother and My Art
My Mother and My Art
My mother and I My mother died March 14, at age 99. The past few weeks have been hectic, with little time for creative work. She had a remarkable life;…
UNREAL SURREAL: Contemporary Art
UNREAL SURREAL: Contemporary Art
A large and enthusiastic crowd opened the new UNREAL SURREAL show on March 4 at Five Deuces Galleria, in St. Petersburg! UNREAL SURREAL is a terrific collection of works inspired…
Recovery in Art
Recovery in Art
I intended this month to write about art therapy, through my own experience uncovering and healing from childhood trauma, and I am. But this blog was delayed because, on January…
Contemporary Art in the New Year
Contemporary Art in the New Year
Happy New Year! On Saturday, January 7, from 6-9 pm, I’ll be playing jazz piano and displaying art for opening of the new Big Works Art Exhibit at Five Deuces…
My Abstract Art
My Abstract Art
A lot is happening! I exhibited some of my work November 26 at Craft Kafé’s inaugural Tiny Art Market; and I have two pieces in a show opening December 3…
The Art of Collage
The Art of Collage
Today, I am launching a new version of randsnell.com. This new website is devoted principally to my visual art, but retains links to performances of my vocal, instrumental and electronic…
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