When it comes to art, inspiration — or the quest to find it — is a perspiration-producing exercise for three out of four artists (76 percent). The difficulty, they revealed, is inspiration’s tendency to come in waves.

That’s the main conclusion from a survey of 500 artists commissioned by Blick Art Materials in November 2012.

What’s an artist to do? About one-third (32 percent) habitually monitor their surroundings in an attempt to “ignite that spark.” One in five (23 percent…

On Saturday, April 13 art enthusiasts will get a rare glimpse ‘behind the curtains’ during the Alliance for the Arts’ Second Annual Artists’ Studio Tour. The daylong, self-guided tour features artists in their Cape Coral studios. The tour includes fiber artist Roseline Young and abstract minimalist painter Alicia Schmidt.

Born in New Orleans, Young is a Louisiana Folklife Program “Master Artist.” After living aboard her sailboat for years she put down her anchor in Cape…

I understand you have an artistic background before photography, what was it?

I started out as a celebrity hair and makeup artist working with the biggest models, actors and photographers throughout the world.

The catalyst that started you in photography was it something you always wanted to do or was it a fortunate accident?

I had no idea I would ever be a photographer. It was completely unexpected and came out of nowhere. I started a career doing hair and makeup for the bigge…

The Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center is seeking submissions of 2- and 3- dimensional artwork for its annual juried exhibit, with an opening reception held Friday, June 7, 2013, during the downtown Fort Myers River District Art Walk. The exhibit will close on June 28. The Davis Art Center is located at 2301 First Street in the River District.

This year’s juried exhibit asks artists to explore all things games and playing, and the nostalgia these memories bring. The incorporation/ reuse…

Following Footsteps features oil paintings from three generations of plein air painters. Artists have always gathered together in their studios, in cafés or other places to share ideas, discuss projects, help and learn from each other. The give and take of sharing often grows into life-long friendships with artists influencing and encouraging each other. Family members also encourage other members of their family to study and pursue art, but rarely do we see three generations of successful …

On Friday, March 1, 2013, the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center presents a solo exhibition by German artist Heidi Schmitz, showing her acrylic and watercolor paintings. The Davis is located at 2301 First Street in the downtown Fort Myers River District.

In her hometown, Munich, Heidi Schmitz is a highly reputed member of the arts community and has impressed with many solo exhibitions. In 2009 and 2012, she had exhibits in the Orangerie, an old green house that has been turned into a fa…

Jeff Murphy & Heather Freeman are both digital & mixed media artists with long, successful careers. They are both art professors at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, they are married to each other, and their newest collaborative exhibition Dig & Momma’s Boy opens Friday, March 1 at the Alliance for the Arts with an open reception from 5-7:30PM.

Jeff Murphy has been working with digital media for more than a decade, exploring a wide range of production and publication…

The Naples Art, Antique & Jewelry Show came to a close this past Monday after five days of impressive numbers and record-breaking attendance. The Naples Exhibition Center was transformed into one of the finest art, antique and jewelry exhibitions in the world, drawing an enthusiastic crowd of more than 16,000 patrons that were genuinely impressed with the atmosphere and consistent quality of dealers that presented aisle after aisle of carefully selected offerings.

The Show opened its doo…

This riotous courtroom play hosts a trial between God and the Kingdom of Heaven and Earth versus Judas Iscariot.

Presented to critical acclaim in NYC, this is a smart and scathingly perceptive play by one of today’s most talented playwrights, Stephen Adly Giurgis. “This is more of a radical pageant than a traditional play,” says director Annette Trossbach. “This production, in which saints curse and Satan reminds us of the overwhelming love of God, is both thought-provoking and screa…

The Laboratory Theater of Florida presents a smart and heartwarming story, “On Golden Pond.” This is the love story of Ethel and Norman Thayer, who are returning to their summer home on Golden Pond for the forty‐eighth year. He is a retired professor, nearing eighty, with heart palpitations and a failing memory, but still as tart‐tongued, observant and eager for life as ever. His wife, Ethel, delights in all the small things that have enriched and continue to enrich their long life toget…