Wonderful Meeting with Senator Mark Warner in Draper, Virginia

Saturday my husband and I were invited to a special round table discussion with Senator Mark Warner who was the previous governor of Virginia. What a great experience! I talked on the importance of the Round the Mountain Artisans Trail that he founded when he was governor and my husband spoke on important conservation issues that are essential to promote effective tourism in Southwest Virginia. Senator Warner was most supportive and spoke on both The Crooked Road music program and Round the Mountain.

My husband, Clyde Kessler, is a well-known naturalist in the New River Valley and spends much of his time working with various conservation issues. He is actively involved in the preservation of several butterfly species that are in danger of extinction and will soon put out his CD on Butterflies of the Blue Ridge. Clyde was born in Ferrum, Virginia and his great uncle George Kessler was one of three founders of Ferrum College.

I was proud to be part of such an important discussion.

I am Overwelmed by the Work I have to do

I have so many paintings to re-shoot that I am worn out before I start. I wish I had been born into the digital age. The 35mm camera techniques I was taught in school for photographing art aren't good enough for large prints. I have a collection of slides that look great on the screen but when viewed at full resolution are blurry. I uploaded many paintings on FAA before I even had the equipment to show me if the images were good. Most of my paintings are 30"x40" and are on heavy boards made heavier by the amount of paint I use. I have to set up outdoors in the sunlight which at times is so strong shadows are created by the brushwork on the painting. The clouds keep shifting today but I am going to try to get good prints. Yikes! What a chore! Such a long of list!

I am so glad I am a painter. Tuesday I received a big disappointment but all I needed to do was pick up a paint brush and all was well again. If I end up in a wheel chair I know I will still be painting. I hope I won't have crippling arthritis like Renoir but I will keep going. How wonderful to love what you do!