I was the Only One and Send Him An Attachment

My students are required to turn in an assignment each week on various principles of art and design. The last two weeks of class they are to put everything they have learned into one assignment and I do not give them any advice. Since I don't give them advice, they have the option of working in class or somewhere else. They have to show me their progress each day and then they can stay or leave. So I have something to do I am showing a fantastic art history docudrama on the Medici family, Godfathers of the Renaissance. The DVD is optional but I hope some art students will be interested in this great PBS work. I was the only one watching today. I hope I will have some viewers tomorrow. I will miss some things about teaching but I will not miss the sad fact that there are art students that are not interested in art history. As one art historian said, "All right, go out and invent the wheel!" She hit the nail right on the head.

I received an email from a student who claimed he was too sick to come to class the day after the break. For some reason, students think they can leave early for breaks and come back late. Like they are really going to have nine days break for Thanksgiving when they get into the real world. Anyway, this student took a picture of the project that was due on Monday and thought he should get full credit for it even though he did not come to class. My husband said send him a picture of an "F" as a jpeg . Tell him to let you know if he can't open it.

Sold Another Print and What to do with the Curmudgeon that hates Doctors

I am so pleased to sell another print of "A Break in the Clouds". This is a view of Rock Castle Gorge on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. My husband has spent much of his time studying birds and butterflies there. I often tease him that he should have a mailbox there. It is very difficult to get a signal in that region. I hope his CD on Butterflies of the Blue Ridge will be out soon. The photographer needs to get his act together so this project can be finished.

I decided to put the bit about my curmudgeon husband and his reluctance to go to doctor on the Fine Art America discussion section. I did it mainly for humor as I know he will get to a doctor soon. There were a lot of fun responses about surgical removal of wallets, and pain being a notice to idiots to do something about the problem. My favorite was from the moderator. Her solution was to convince him he needed to go, then hire two huge, burly blokes to kidnap him and plant him at the doctors office :))

No Painting Tomorrow and how to get a Curmudgeon to the Doctor

I really do live to paint and although I like Holidays I am always on edge because I can't paint. People think artists are nuts. I used to think that was ridiculous but now I'm not so sure. I want to paint every day of my life and when I can't I am not happy no matter what the celebration. I am working on a double portrait that will be the center piece for my next show that I am going to try to get a lot of promotion for. This show will be a culmination of many years of work and I hope I can get a lot of traffic for it, not to mention sales for all the time and effort in my studio. Sometimes a friend drags me away for a while and I am always thinking about my current work when I am out trying to have some fun. My work is my fun and I will be so glad to get back to it on Friday.

My husband has a lot of physical problems that have to do with pain. I think he would benefit from a doctor's help who would probably direct him to a physical therapist. He walks for miles every day and spends a considerable amount of time doing various stretching exercises so he thinks it is pointless to go to a physician. He says if he goes to a doctor the doctor will say, "Give me your insurance card. I am going to squeeze the bank!"

Excited about my upcoming show and Not as Many as there are in Washington...

I am confident that I will get the main painting for my next show ready in time. The show goes up January 15th and now that I am retiring from teaching I am sure I can get the painting and the promo going in plenty of time. That is a great feeling! I have been wearing too many hats for a long time and now I can concentrate on my career as an artist and straightening out our house or the dump as we prefer to call it. People have often commented that I am a very organized person. When you live with two slobs, make and exhibit artwork, and teach on the college level, you are either organized or dead. I love my guys but they couldn't organize a pair of shoe laces.

Yesterday we came across another skunk on the road. I love Southwest Virginia but we do seem to have an awful lot of skunks. I mentioned to my husband that we have a lot of skunks in Radford and he said not as many as there are in Washington. If you really want to check out a stench, walk in on Congress. Skunks galore!

Sold Another Print, Limited Time Promotion on Favorites and I think I will buy a rack...

A great patron in Temple Texas bought a print of "Blue Ridge Jewels" last night. That was a nice email to wake up to. It is great to see my work reach more and more places. I already have work in Texas but this is the first print for Temple. This week I have three favorites in the Limited Time Section at the top right. "A Break in the Clouds", "Marsh View at Pawleys Island", and "Natural Rhythm" can be bought at a greatly reduced price. Check it out!

I do a series of stretching exercises before I get out of bed. Then I do a yoga stretching exercise. Before I walk, dance or swim I do stretching exercises which I repeat after I am done. At night I work with weights and do one more round of stretching exercises and I STILL HAVE PIRIFORMIS! I think I will get a Medieval torture rack and just lay there until these muscles unwind. Don't send me a link. I'll look for one on ebay.
LOL

Fighting with Computers and Did anyone ask the Deer...

Yesterday I sent out my monthly newsletter. Usually it goes well and I have no problems with the program but this time my preliminary draft was sent out instead of the final one. When I tried to send out the correct one I received the notice that it had been sent out to everyone already. I changed the title but I was still told it had already been sent out to everyone on the list. Then I tried to send out a new one and got the same message. I gave up. I include my email on the list and received the preliminary draft which wasn't too bad. Computers baffle me. I was going to try again this morning but the final draft had been sent out after all. People had opened both. I decided to send another one explaining the situation but when I got ready to hit the start button the message again said it had already gone to everyone on the list. Enough is enough. I will be more careful next time and hopefully I won't run into this problem.

The other night there was a news story about a deer that crashed through a glass window of a store, raced around the store for a few minutes and then left. According to the News Team the deer was unharmed. Did anyone ask the deer? That could not have felt good! It crashed through glass and was unharmed? I don't think so.

Limited Time Promotion Coming Soon and How I Saved Countless Lives

I am offering two of my most popular paintings at a 40% discount this week only. "A Break in the Clouds" and "Stepping Stones on the New River" are paintings that express the joy I have experienced living in Southwest Virginia in what is commonly known as the Blue Ridge Mountains. Actually, only a small part of this area is the Blue RIdge but I use the term for other mountain ridges since it is the accepted name in the New RIver Valley. Both of these paintings have the atmosphere I have come to love my whole adult life. I am originally from McLean, VA but I can't imagine living anywhere else now. I think I was a mis-placed mountain girl. Look for my promotions. They should be up soon!

In a about a month I will retire from teaching at Radford University, VA. I have enjoyed working with highly motivated students and I think I was able to help them better understand what are the exciting and beautiful aspects of visual art. I won't miss the students that don't seem to be motivated and do not put much effort into learning. Years ago I gave make-up tests to students who had various reasons for missing tests. I would have around twenty students per class I had to schedule make-up tests for. Then I decided to rate the tests so I wouldn't have so many make-up tests to give. If a student missed the test then the second one would count double. If they missed both tests then the final would count for their test grade. I saved countless lives. After I started the new test policy grandparents stopped dying, girlfriends stopped going to Emergency rooms, and room-mate's dogs stopped getting run over. Students came to all of the tests and everybody was happy, especially me.

Time to get Away and What a Pinball Shot!

The stages of a painting can be exasperating so I am always glad when I have arm wrestled it down and can decide on a few more brush marks that finish it off. It is always a fight but I love it. I think the reason my husband and I don't fight and argue is that we fight and argue with our artwork and that is enough for us. I don't need any other drama. As the late Roanoke Times Art critic, Ann Weinstein said, in so many words when she retired - Artist's skinny souls fly through their art. I can't remember exactly how she put it but I like the skinny souls part. Friday will be the last day I work on this painting and then I will get it on the net as soon as it dries.

Yesterday morning I knocked my coffee cup on to the floor where is smashed and covered the floor, my delicate white curtains, my son's shoes by the door, the fabric cushion on the seat, and the dog's blanket in her bed under the table. What a pinball shot! I got everything in that section of the kitchen. I think that is the last home-made forty dollar coffee cup I am going to purchase.