During the Renaissance, an artist’s training usually began in childhood with the young artist apprenticing in a studio. There were no art schools, just on the job training with the goal of being accepted into the artist’s guild and given the title of Master. The artists produced by that early training still holds us in awe.

From her earliest days, Linda Grummon grew up surrounded by the tools, the skills and the deadlines of a busy art and illustration studio. By the time Linda was ten years old, she had mastered many of the basic studio skills…many of which are not taught in art schools (even as simple as spinning the pencil when drawing a line, in order to maintain an even thickness and depth).

The studio’s clients were never told there was a young artist occasionally working on their jobs. By the time Linda had reached her early teens, she had become accomplished enough to take illustration projects from beginning to end — consistently producing professional results and meeting all deadlines. These skills would soon prove to be the family’s salvation.

While Linda’s father did the client contact, it was her mother who was the artistic mainstay of the studio. Suddenly, her mother fell ill and was not able to work. At that young age, while still in high school, Linda found herself taking on the major artistic burdens of the studio — meeting all deadlines and still managing to excel in school.

It was that early training and studio experience that allowed the family to go on maintaining itself during this difficult period. Eventually, Linda’s mother regained her health and was able to return to the studio. What was demonstrated by the well-trained 15 year-old Linda Grummon was similar to what we saw with the 14 year-old Albrecht Dürer — solid talent forged on the anvil of necessity.

Over the years, Linda has always worked as a professional artist, always growing into new areas and developing new skills. Those early attitudes matured into the ease that accompanies knowledge – knowledge that’s on tap, ready to be acted upon. In her years administering the Cennini Forum, Linda found her voice as a mentor and guide. Her primary goal is to encourage other artists past their sticking points, to reach their true potential.

Her guidance and advice resonate with decades of real world experience – methods that work outside the ivory towers of academe. These skills and techniques worked in the studios of the 15th century and the same skills work in the competitive world of the 21st century art.