Studio Journal

The Studio Journal documents the evolution of my work as an artist.

Sometimes a painting begins with a simple observation: a flower blooming in winter, fallen fruit glowing against dark grass, fog rolling across the land. These entries follow the ideas that grow from those moments and the paintings that emerge from them.

Phil Vance 8/11/26 Phil Vance 8/11/26

Drawing From the Well | How Old Ideas Became New Again

I used to think every series I created was separate. Art is Life is Art. Confessionalism. Abstract Cities. Word Portraits. Lately I've started to realize they were never separate at all. They were all different ways of asking the same questions.

Phil Vance 8/3/26 Phil Vance 8/3/26

When Paint Wasn't Enough | The Origins of My Word Portraits

People often ask where my word portraits came from. I wish there were one answer. There isn't. They grew out of years of experiments until one watercolor portrait showed me that paint could capture a face, but words could capture a history.

Phil Vance 7/13/26 Phil Vance 7/13/26

When Your Work Becomes Your Identity

A vacation should have helped me relax. Instead it reminded me how deeply painting has become part of my identity, and why time away from the studio can feel strangely unsettling.