Introduction to the New JB Berkow Blog:

I am very excited about launching the new JB Berkow Blog.  It is my intention to create something fun, informative, helpful, community outreaching, and perhaps even a little controversy.  The latter is more for the purposes of getting your juices flowing and to instigate some quick-witted repartee and serious responses from my readers.

Because I have a lot of passions I don’t think the blog will be boring.  Anyone who knows me already knows my first love is art.  I’m a full time painter and sculptor.  I have been painting seriously since I was fifteen, had my first one-person show when I was twenty-one, and have been exhibiting and selling my work for the last forty years.  I plan to start each week by sharing a lot of helpful hints and tips on painting and sculpting not only through my blog but also as part of my video channel, RosettaStone Fine Art Videos.  Some of these video portions will even be interesting to non-artists because they will be able to see the actual processes involved in creating a painting or sculpture.  In some instances you will see a work of art progress from its inception to its completion.

It has never been enough to produce and sell only my own work.  I have always been interested in helping promote my fellow artists’ work as well. This has led me to establish and run several galleries starting when I was only 26 years old.  You can learn more about this from visiting my gallery website and hitting the ‘About Us’ button.

Gallery View I

My current gallery/studio is housed in a 3,200 square foot warehouse-storefront in Jupiter Commerce Park.  Here I share my studio with Philadelphia color-field artist, Rita Shapiro, and sell art that I bring in from all around the world including some fine local talent.  I specialize in finding extremely talented mid-career artists who are incredibly talented but who have not yet skyrocketed in their prices.  I am not interested in carrying blue-chip art or dead artists’ work, even though, if that’s what someone wants, I can definitely get it for them.  Fridays will be devoted to introducing my readers to some of these new and exciting rising stars.

Gallery View II

My second passion is writing.  I’m a published poet since 1994.  My most recently published book is “Painted Poetry.”  This is a monograph with poetry written for each one of the paintings pictured in the book.  It is a collection of some of my best work from the fifteen years when I painted European landscapes.  Thus, you could also consider a travelogue of sorts.  I have also published a how-to book titled “What They Didn’t Teach You In Art School.”  This is a great book for the artist who wants to become more professional and take their career to the next level.  Both can be purchased emailing me.

Tuesdays are reserved for poetry and other inspirational thoughts that I wish to share with to share with my readers.  Hopefully they will also share with me as well.

My third passion is cooking.  There is so much to talk about here that I don’t know where to begin.  I am currently working on a book called “Presto Pasta Plus.”  It is not your average recipe book because it goes into a lot of actual cooking techniques and teaches rather than just putting a list of ingredients on a page and telling you how to put them together.  It is geared towards the busy professional because most of the dishes take only a half an hour to prepare.  I will devote Thursdays to helpful cooking tips and advice that will lead to some very good meals for your friends and family in time for the weekend.

My fourth passion is politics, however, I have been told by my blog advisor, Craig Berry of NuVision Media, not to delve too quickly into this arena as I may tick a lot of people off.  So instead of writing about politics outright, I have decided to create something called “Rants.”  This will occur every Wednesday and I want anyone out there who wants to get something off their chest to write in and share their gripes with your fellow bloggers. I’m hoping that this will make the ‘hump of the week’ a little less humpy and grumpy.

My fifth passion is educating the public on the importance of art in our everyday lives.  To this end I have started a 501c3 tax-exempt foundation called the “Living Art Foundation Fund” or L.A.F.F. for short.  My dream is to one day establish an art center in Palm Beach County that will include a museum featuring only living artists, a world-class foundry, a stone-carving studio, a glass-blowing studio, a print atelier, a sculpture garden/plein-air painting park, art instruction, and low-cost housing to house the craftsmen who will run and operate the various studios as well as visiting artists who will come from all over the world to give seminars or simply work on the premises as part of a fellowship program.  Of course, I will be very anxious to keep everyone up-dated on the progress of this venture.

Blog Schedule:

JB in Hot-Tub with Friends

Monday: Art Matters

Tuesday: Inspirations

Wednesday: Rants

Thursday: Cooking

Friday: Artists

I hope that you tune in often!

Artfully yours,

JB Berkow