David Sandum's Blog

For many people, Christmas is a glorious time. Neighborhoods are aglow with bright lights, homes are filled with decorations, and family and friends meet and rejoice, exchanging gifts and feeling their bond grow. Holiday movies and songs are wrapped in nostalgia, triggering happy childhood memories of visiting Santa Claus and dreaming of the toys he would leave under the tree.

For those of us suffering from mental illness, however, this season often brings nothing but intense guilt and p...

"Winter Clouds" | Gouache | 2016 Most of us have the need to do something exceptional—to be special. This compulsion has always been a catalyst for human exploration and advancement. We want our lives to matter. I have met many people who experience a crisis if this need goes unfulfilled, if they believe they can’t contribute anything of value to the world.

As someone who has struggled with depression for most of my adult life, I finally understand that my illness has been all about self-...

After deciding to become a full-time artist in 2003, I often visited Galleri Varden in Moss, one of the most prestigious galleries in the city where I lived.Big names in the Norwegian art scene exhibited there—Frans Wideberg and Odd Nerderum—as well as those who had recently passed on—Victor Sparre, Kai Fjell, and Ferdinand Finne—artists who had influenced Norwegian art for decades. Left: Ferdinand Finne, 1935, age 25; right: Finne's World of Leaves I was drawn to the painters who expres...

Thanks so much to all of you who checked out my first blog and posted a comment.

We held a random drawing for one of my hand-numbered etchings, and Hannah Kozak was selected.

Congratulations, Hannah!

Stay tuned for my next contest in October!

David Sandum. Left: "Summer Evening," 2004. Right: "Spring Turn into Summer," 2016. Most people have never heard of gouache as a painting medium. I first learned about it in 2004 while reading a book about Chagall. Color has always been important to me, and I was amazed at the strong effects of gouache compared to the softer aquarelle/watercolor mediums.

I'd been looking for a fast way to paint on paper, so I immediately bought some gouache tubes at the art store and began experimenting....