Myron Barnstone has been tooling around this planet for more than eighty-two years now. It is with regret that I did not get to meet him until five years ago. I had known much about Myron through his daughter and my long-time friend, Catherine, (hereafter exclusively referred to as ‘Cathy’), for a couple of decades, […]

“And finally, after 32 years in Barnstone Studios in Coplay, we made the tough decision to shut things down. We had a sale. We sold all the furniture. I wasn’t there for that. That would have been too painful. Cathy negotiated all that, and it was painful for her, too. She grew up there. Even […]

I guess I’m a rather overwhelming fellow when I’m standing in front of a class lecturing. People have said I sound angry. Really, I’m just enthusiastic. The confidence I exude confuses people. I know my material. But there are people who are deeply offended by the self-confident. Strange. Students would hang their work on a […]

Grandma Moses knew the Golden Section. She was a pretty sophisticated artist. One of her great talents was knowing how to sell herself as this fuddy-duddy old lady who did picturesque, primitive art. That wasn’t who she was at all. She was a multi-millionairess who built this monument on decorative art because she knew there was an […]

Shortly after I opened the studio, I designed a back-screen projector that was superb. A student’s father was a very clever mechanic, carpenter, electrician – he did it all. I gave him my plans, and he created the projector for me. Since I had given both of his kids scholarships, he only charged me the […]

Eventually, as students of all ages continued to find out about Barnstone Studios and clamor for classes, I outgrew that downtown Allentown location. I started looking for a larger space with great natural light. After an extensive search, I discovered a four-story warehouse in nearby Coplay, Pennsylvania. The top two floors were empty, and both […]