Halloween Art Show 2026

This piece started out as something else altogether. Initially, I knew it was not a very well done piece but was strapped for time and needed to fill in a blank or 2. Since that show, it’s been hanging in my studio gathering dust as well as me loathing it each time I caught a glimpse.

Long After I'm Gone - - Rick Santiago
Long After I’m Gone – Mixed Media on Panel – Rick Santiago

Fast forward a few years and I’m stuck again to make something for a show I’d like to take part in. This was initially a layered piece that was not only glued together but mechanically fixed. I did not really want to submit an older piece for this show. I felt I needed something new I haven’t tried for a few years. I went ahead a “sacrificed” this piece and took it apart as carefully as I could. To my surprise and with a little effort, each layer came away relatively unscathed and reusable.

After some thought, I was able to blend in some of the “flawed” areas with a texturing compound. You can see in first image below. Results with the texturing went well and I was pretty pleased with results. A couple more steps are involved to prepare for painting but you already know that! Final painted piece is a B- on my scale happiness with the raw materials I started with. As most artist know, the right lighting is a must and this one will really shine.

You can see this one: October 1 – November 1, 2026 The Mount Royal Tavern Baltimore, MD

About that fourth image. This was sold more than 15 years ago and living somewhere in Montgomery County. Recently fell off the wall and customer wanted to know if I can fix it. I was so happy so see this art piece in person. I have been longing to do this series again. Now that I have it in hand, can see the process, it’s the motivation I’ve been seeking. So maybe or may not, we will see. Enjoy the video below, thanks for visiting…

Feel free and safe to message or text me 443-390-6599 or theunartist@outlook.com

What is Art and Why Do We Make Art

Art is the creative ability and skill to make something tangible from one’s imagination. To make something from nothing is Art. Defining “What is Art” maybe as difficult as defining what is the color white. White comes in many shades but we still call them white. Sometimes we name different shades of white the same way we label different styles of ART. Art comes in many forms, like figurative paintings, abstracts, sculptures, poetry, installations, etc., but we still label them as Art.

Mother and Child, Rick Santiago, 2006
Mother and Child, Rick Santiago – 2006

Art Has Many Meanings, here are a few:

re:  Ibsen said, “There must be a troll in what I write.”  Art, today, encompasses the dream postponed into anything-goes.  Justified in letting the artist descend into mediocrity, spiraling around an ego put upon a pedestal.  As if, all that a person does is art.  And it is.  But I have no time for it.  I agree with Harold Bloom in a recent interview.  He asked, would you want just anyone to do surgery on you?  Of course not.  You want someone to know what they are doing before they cut into you.  Yet today we look at the arts as if everything is the fine craftsmanship of a great artist, and much of it isn’t.  Until you become yourself what benefit can you be to others?  Mediocrity appeals to the mass, and it appeals to the mass ego.  And though it may be art, it is not the exceptional dream, enchanting the child, like a kiss walking home to my knowledge, in an unformulated illustration which wakes me up.  Michael Carrico

*Art is when Vision, Creativity and Talent find each other in the Dark…

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