Welcome! I'm so happy that you're here!

After the Rain, © 2026 by Laurie Breton. All rights reserved.

It's all about the light, isn't it? You can get everything else right. Composition, color, drawing, all the technical skills. But the heart of painting, that magical something that makes it pop, that makes your heart sing when you get it right...it's the light. The light is everything. I could spend the rest of my life painting light, and still not understand it. I believe it's that pursuit of light, that exquisite need to understand, that keeps me painting.

I'm 71 years old (how did that happen???), and I've been an off-and-on painter (more off than on, if we're being honest) for more than three decades. I would paint frantically for two or three months, then I would set it aside and not pick it up for five years. I was working full-time (still am) and writing books, and raising a family, and the painting kept being shoved to the background until every so often, I'd feel that compelling, ravenous need to pick up a brush again and play with color. I wish I could put that need into words, but I haven't yet found words to adequately describe it. Then again, if you're an artist, I can almost guarantee that you understand that need, without having to hear the words. You've been there. I started this blog out of love. Love for writing, love for painting, and the hope that I can share my artwork, explore ideas, and connect with other artists and art lovers. I've been a writer since I was eight years old, so that part comes easy. It's the painting that's hard. As a self-taught artist, I had nobody around to teach me, and no clue what I was doing. I just picked up a brush and started painting. I painted with acrylics for thirty years, with no idea of what I was doing right or wrong. I picked up some bad habits during those decades, mostly because I didn't know any better. I look back at those older paintings, and some of them make me shudder. Others, though...I still love them as much as I did when I painted them, back in 1995 or 2009. A few years ago, I discovered YouTube, and it changed my life. So many talented painters there, so much to be learned! Jed Dorsey, Dianna Shyne, Chris Fornataro, Ian Roberts, Michael Chamberlain, Kyle Buckland, Alain Picard, just to name a few. They've shown me a world I never knew existed, a world I'd skulked around the edges of without making the commitment to step over that line. I'm now painting almost daily, and I feel as though after 33 years of making art, I may finally be learning how to do it. I still paint a lot of stinkers. But I'm seeing more paintings that I like, and even better, I can usually explain what is or isn't working in my own work. That kind of knowledge is priceless.

Nowadays I work in acrylics, oils, and a few months back, I discovered the thrill of pastels. The colors! The colors! They just fill me with joy. And at my age, I'll take all the joy I can wring out of life. So here I am, just saying, "Hey," and hoping that two or three people may actually read this and say "Hey," back. I have no idea where I'm headed with this blog, but I'm excited to find out. Thanks for stopping by! Laurie