I'm a painter working exclusively in digital media. I trained in my early life as an oil painter. I've been painting on a wacom tablet connected to my iMac computer for 10 years. I use Corel Paint for my software because it's very intuitive and allows me to be most creative and spontaneous in my creative process. Painting brings me a lot of joy. 

Digital painting has many advantages. It allows me a great deal of freedom and flexibility. I can work in layers, I can make adjustments to color. And usually what I am seeing is patterns, not things. So much of my work is about patterns. 

I love indigenous art. I'm particularly fond of Australian aboriginal art. I also love Northwest art and the pottery of the Hopi. Much indigenous art shows a keen awareness and appreciation of balancing the positive and negative spaces. I think of this as a principle of good design and often try to incorporate it in the abstract pieces I do. 

I believe it makes a big difference whether when you get up in the morning and go out of your house, if the world you are walking into is a dead one used to get places or it's a living world that is just as much if not more alive than you. If you walk into this world with reverence and an open heart you will find enormous beauty and magic. This is the world I want to paint. 

I made a decision early in 2022 to begin trying to actually sell my art to a broader world audience. And what you see here is the result of that decision; a new business called Robert Althouse Fine Art and a website to go with it. . 

I am also the Abbot, co-founder and Zen teacher and priest at the Zen Life & Meditation Center, Chicago. I divide my time between teaching Zen and painting. 

My art business has been designated as a "Trusted Art Seller" with The Art Storefronts Organization, which means you can shop with confidence, and know that I stand behind the quality and value of my products.