Despite the somewhat tempting impulse to stay up all night, working out your painting's compositional dissonance, recent studies suggest that that better choice might be to sleep on it. Scientific American has published "Sleep on It: How Snoozing Makes You Smarter," which argues that our minds are hard at work while we're snoaring away:

"While we sleep, our brain is anything but inactive. It is now clear that sleep can consolidate memories by enhancing and stabilizing them and by finding patterns within studied material even when we do not know that patterns might be there. It is also obvious that skimping on sleep stymies these crucial cognitive processes: some aspects of memory consolidation only happen with more than six hours of sleep. Miss a night, and the day’s memories might be compromised—an unsettling thought in our fast-paced, sleep-deprived society."

I'd be surprised if you could find a better excuse for taking a nap on a Monday afternoon. I know I could use one.

I thought I'd continue on Jessica's travel theme today and mention my recent trip to San Francisco's de Young museum in Golden Gate Park, which is amazing both outside and in. I was disappointed to find that the Chihuly exhibition was sold out when I arrived (big sigh), but there was plenty to see, including Timothy Horn's Bitter Suite, a good deal of which is made out of sugar. Jane Hammond's large scale works on paper were also a treat. The number of American paintings in the de Young's collection is not small and I got to see a painting I'd long desired to see in person: John Singer Sargent's A Dinner Table at Night. In short, no matter what's going on a the de Young, there's always enough happening to fill an afternoon, if not an evening too.

Looking to break into the professional art arena and make a living making your art? Michael Chesley Johnson explored the many facets of this subject in our June issue. Click here to download the free PDF and have the file right on your desktop.

Happy Fourth!

It's not too early to begin work on your entry to this year's Splash competition for the chance to see your painting in a beautiful hardbound showcase of the best contemporary watercolors. F+W Publications and North Light Books have announced this year's theme: new directions. If you win, you'll be asked to explain (in writing) how your work represents a new direction you've taken in your artistic life. Have you changed your painting style or experimented with a new surface or tool? Have you made a personal breakthrough or taken advice from another painter? Consider entering your work by the January 16, 2009 deadline. The editors are looking for paintings in a variety of styles, but the dominant medium must be transparent watercolor. Download guidelines and an offical entry form by clicking on the link below.