The BoldBrush Show

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For today's episode, we sat down with Cindy Baron, a Rhode Island-based painter, with mastery in both watercolor and oil paints in her gorgeous landscape art. Cindy shares how she identifies first as a mother and grandmother, and then as an artist. She emphasizes that passion and continual growth are the foundations of her creative life. She explains her methodical, problem-solving approach to painting, how she embraces mistakes as essential teachers, and even uses dancing and exercise in front of her works to resolve artistic decisions. Cindy reveals deeply personal health struggles, and describes how her easel, brushes, and paints became the lifeline that carried her through pain, and how for her "art is best medicine". On the professional side, Cindy offers business and marketing advice for artists—staying professional online, regularly creating new work, building relationships with galleries, and using shows, magazines, and social media strategically. She closes by urging aspiring artists not to procrastinate, to “just do it” despite fear of failure, and mentions her upcoming solo show, workshops, travels, and that her in-progress book, The Guilt Box, will further share her story.
Cindy's FASO site:
cindybaron.com
Cindy's Social Media:
facebook.com/cindy.baron.5
instagram.com/cindybaronart/

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On today's episode we sat down with Sandra Duran Wilson, an abstract painter, sculptor, author, and scientist based in Santa Fe. Sandra discusses how her dual upbringing among scientists and artists, plus early plein air experiences with her great aunt, shaped her experimental, curiosity-driven approach to art. She explains that creating is “like breathing” and that her artistic voice emerged over thousands of paintings, influenced by her background in cognitive science and early fascination with cellular structures seen through a microscope. She also discusses how intention, story, and lived experience transform craft into art, emphasizing that story can be conveyed through color, texture, layers, and emotion rather than literal representation. Sandra describes her book Awakening Your Creative Soul and related “soul spark” exercises as a manual for weekly play and experimentation, rooted partly in her years working with people in addiction and trauma recovery. Sandra also gives us tips about quieting the inner critic, using strategies like “muting” it, keeping a playful side canvas, working quickly with timers, and embracing imperfection and surrender—especially for perfectionist oriented artists. Sandra also shares how she built a career as a full-time artist through outdoor shows, teaching, writing, and relationships with collectors. Finally, Sandra highlights her upcoming Ireland workshop and a long-term installation project wrapping burned trees in painted canvases to respond to climate-change-driven wildfires.
Sandra's FASO site:
sandraduranwilson.com
Sandra's Social Media:
instagram.com/sandraduranwilson/
facebook.com/sandraduranwilsonartist
Sandra's YouTube Channel:
youtube.com/sandraduranwilson

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For our first episode of the year, we sat down with Romona Youngquist, an artist who describes herself as a lifelong “country girl” and homebody whose deepest desire has always been to paint the rural surroundings she loves, often within a 20-mile radius of her home. She recalls recognizing her calling as an artist as early as age four or five, and later feeling that oil paint was her true medium after experimenting with watercolor and acrylics in college. She also tells us about how throughout her life she held a series of unconventional jobs, but always returned to nostalgic rural landscapes, eventually realizing she could not keep a “normal” job and had to make art her livelihood. Romona explains that her paintings are driven by intuition, memory, and emotion rather than strict realism: she chases a very specific feeling in the light and design of a scene, mixing plein air sketches, photos, and childhood memories of Oklahoma’s skies and trees. She also talks about the tension between nostalgia and change, seeing herself partly as a visual historian preserving vanishing farmsteads, gardens, and rural spaces, and notes how her work has evolved toward more layering and a desire for greater simplification and abstraction. Romona offers advice to aspiring artists; she stresses building a large, solid body of work, considering financial stability, and accepting that painting is an ongoing, often difficult process where doubt never fully disappears, but commitment to one’s vision is essential. Finally, Romona tells us about her upcoming shows!
Romona's FASO site:
romonayoungquist.com
Romona's Instagram:
instagram.com/rlyoungquist/

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FASO.com/podcast
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In our final episode of the year, we sat down with David Griffin, a fine artist with a love of capturing the nostalgic scenes of his childhood. David shares his journey from pre‑med student and college baseball player in Lubbock, Texas to becoming a successful illustrator and, later, a fine artist rooted in realism and storytelling. He recounts formative experiences at the Illustrators Workshop in New York, his years sharing a Dallas studio with top illustrators, and the lessons they taught him about composition, narrative, and creating “a place for the eye to rest.” David explores how memory, truth, and heritage—big skies, ranch life, and family artifacts—shape his work and give it emotional honesty. A major focus is David’s new long-term project, “The Art of Wandering,” where he will document how mental and physical wandering with a sense of wonder leads to ideas, large paintings, and deeper relationships with collectors and fellow artists. David also dives into the idea of art as a lifelong calling, discussing struggle, hard work versus talent, the trap of imitating others, and the importance of finding one’s own authentic voice by pursuing one's own heart. David closes by reflecting on art as a conversation without words, his hope that truthful work outlives the artist, and his gratitude for the creative community and opportunities ahead.
David's FASO site:
davidgriffinstudio.com
David's Social Media:
instagram.com/davidrgriffin
facebook.com/david.griffin.5

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FASO.com/podcast
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For today's episode, we sat down with realist oil painter and former radiologist Carl Bretzky, who shares his journey from growing up interested in art and photography, through a medical career in interventional radiology, to becoming a full-time artist in 2016. He explains how studying with Joe Paquet and participating in plein air events around the country shaped his love for landscape, urban scenes, and especially nocturnes, which he believes are often easier and faster to paint than daytime scenes due to their homogeneous darks and clear value transitions. Carl discusses his use of the rule of thirds and his approach to composition, often reimagining scenes—like his piece Hotel Laguna Nocturne—in the studio to adjust skies, colors, and clouds for stronger visual impact. Carl also tells us about his use of the prismatic palette, rooted in the teachings of Frank Vincent DuMond, and how understanding prismatic color shifts and subtle gradations helps create convincing light, atmosphere, and distance. Finally, Carl offers advice on building an art career through instruction, plein air competitions, galleries, networking, and social media, emphasizing saying yes to opportunities, maintaining an active studio practice, and cultivating community with other artists.
Carl's FASO site:
carlbretzke.com
Carl's Social Media:
instagram.com/carlbretzkeart
facebook.com/carl.bretzke.3
Carl's Videos:
Instructional Videos