A Naturalists Legacy and There goes that Show

My next show will be centered around my naturalist husband and his efforts over the years to educate people about this beautiful mountain region of Southwest Virginia many people call the Blue Ridge Mountains. Actually, only a small part of these Appalachian mountains are the Blue Ridge but I think the name has taken over due to the beautiful blue color that is so prevalent in the distant ranges. My husband has been working since the 70's to educate people about this wonderful region. He has led countless hikes, Christmas Bird Counts, Hawk Watches, and programs on the birds and butterflies he has been studying most of his life. The show will have a symbolic portrait of him and our son, Alan, when he was a baby. The painting is a new painting done from an old photograph. He has worked with all ages and will continue to work with all ages to preserve his home region.

When I told my self-effacing husband that this show would be about him and would include his portrait and many of the places he does his research, he said, "Well, there goes that show!"

Sold Another Original and Whatever Happened to Turn it On?

I am so pleased to sell another original. This time it is one of my intimate face series. I am very proud of the design elements and sensuous surfaces of these little portraits of family members. My son has been my model for many paintings. I haven't done one of him since he grew up but I am considering a new one. These painting were based on old photographs. I enjoy interpreting photographs and expressing my feelings through the textures and colors. Although I am extremely eclectic, photo realism is not my favorite type of art. An artist cannot show expressive brushwork or interpretive colors in photo realism. Just not my thing.

Whatever happened to turn it on? Everything has become so complicated now. My son has everything attached to his TV but the kitchen sink. I have no idea how all of this stuff works so I am no help if something goes wrong. My husband and I have enough trouble baby-sitting the computer so we don't get attacked by a virus through that modern day trojan horse. We had to get a converter box for our TV so now we have three remotes. One for the TV, one for the DVD box, and one for the transformer box. If I leave the room my husband tells me to give him everything so he can drive the thing. I greatly appreciate computers as I am able to sell artwork around the world but sometimes I miss the days when no one could find me, the phone just had a ring, and the TV was turned on by a dial.

Uploading, Uploading, Uploading and Not Expecting a Problem

I have been working hard at uploading paintings from various sources. Some are prints and some are slides and some are on negatives. Remember those things? I was very proud of myself when after about ten minutes I finally remembered how to scan slides. Not a difficult procedure but I think I am technology deficient or challenged. I have to find all the wrong ways to do something before I get it right. It takes time to find all the wrong ways so I am prone to use colorful language when working on my portfolio. Thankfully, no one is home right now. It is great to see a painting looking right in my portfolio. Just wish I could move faster.

I like to add humor to my blog if possible and my main source is the character I married. I try to think of things myself but I am not anywhere near as good as he is. Writers are like that. They tend to watch birds and are dangerously funny. One of these days I am going to require oxygen or someone will have to call 911. I hope that when we are old he will make me laugh to death. I say ridiculous things all the time in an effort to goad him into saying something funny. Works all the time. Today he said goading him for humor is like mining for uranium and not expecting a problem. I know it is quirky humor. But I love it!

Thank You for the Terrific Compliment and I think we need a New Name...

Friday was my last day at Radford University. My grades are in and I am delighted that I am now a full-time professional artist. I have had a lot of great students over the years and I will miss interacting with students that want to learn. The ones that can't seem to get to class, let alone learn, I will not miss at all. Saturday I received a CD of Christmas songs from a former graduate student that I had in one Drawing class when he was earning his MFA. I don't think he ever missed class and turned in excellent work. He is now selling his work in San Diego CA and is also a web designer. When I told him I was retiring he said he learned more from me in one semester than he learned in all his time at Radford University. What a great compliment to end teaching on! If all students were like him, everyone would want to teach.

I read the paper everyday and I get more and more discouraged over our leaders and their inability to solve our problems. I think it is a fair statement that many are controlled by the rich and are doing their bidding rather than what is right for this country. My husband said that maybe we should change the name from Democracy to Stinkocracy. Don't miss-understand. I would rather live in the US that any other country but this partisan politics has got to go.

Sold Another Original to a Great Patron in New Jersey and Studies s

I am pleased and a little sad to have sold one of my four most popular paintings in my portfolio. "Breakers at Pawleys Island" is a special painting that I have sold many prints of and hope to sell many more in the future. My family and I have been vacationing in North Carolina for the past ten years. Pawleys Island is such a beautiful place and I am proud of the paintings I have done of it. Right now I have "Breakers at Pawleys Island" in the Limited Time section. Who says I can't fix my image problems? The last time I put it in the Limited Time section I couldn't list it for 24"x36". I thought my photograph was okay but it must not have been. I took some more shots and this time the offer is for 24"x36" at a greatly reduced price. Check it out!

Yesterday on Facebook someone posted this scientific gem. Studies show that people that have more birthdays live longer. I love that kind of humor and just have to repeat it. I have told a number of people but that have already heard that joke. Oh well! Hope some people haven't heard it. Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays!

So Pleased my Nudes are Well Received and I think We Need to ask Congress this Question

Just sold two more prints of my nudes. I am so pleased people appreciate my nude drawings. I spent umpteen hours in school learning the human form and I think my nudes look alive and the settings emphasize their beauty and the mood of the work. As I have said before and told many art students, anyone can draw a stiff, lifeless person. The mark of the artist is to get it right. Sometimes students get the drawing backwards. They carefully draw eyelashes on a face that looks like it is paralyzed or fingernails on a broken, limp hand. The figure must look alive and that takes a lot of practice and study.

The approval rate of Congress right now is extremely low. It is no wonder. I think most people see partisan politics and no real effort to solve our problems. I think we need to apply a little Grouch Marx humor to this situation. Have you stopped taking bribes from wealthy corporations? Answer yes or no.

Now for Something Completely Different and It is Difficult to go to the Grocery Store and...

I decided I needed to add something new to my artwork at the same time that I am getting ready for my next show. I have always been interested in Typography so I am starting a portfolio of Kendall Letters. I am applying my unique interpretation of color and line to letters that would look great as small or large prints. Since these are 5"x7" and 6"x9" I can scan them directly into the computer and patrons can get quite large prints. I also have these on Zazzle so they can be put on just about anything. Be sure to check them out! I will be adding more soon.

Since High School I am have been concerned about the quality of food in grocery stores. I have come to the conclusion it is difficult to go to the grocery store and come back with food. You can come back with a lot of food additives, high fructose corn syrup, excessive amounts of sugar and salt, way too many calories for the amount of nutrition, and items with more oil than anything else. My father was a great doctor and he believed people should down a lot of vitamins because of the over processing of food. I do the same and I try to stay as basic as possible. I don't think anyone is monkeying with the potato or with a banana or other basic fruit and vegetables but a lot of the meats are scary and most of what is on the shelf has ingredients I have never heard of. Oh well. Dad lived to be 90.5 and he always gave everyone great health advice. I sure do miss him.

Check out my limited promotion this week and I must have a sign on the back of my car...

I am pleased to offer large canvas prints(24"x36") of popular paintings at a greatly reduced price this week. I am very happy with how well my work shows up in the search results on Fine Art America. One of the specials is for "A Break in the Clouds". This painting is number one out of 5436 in Nature Oil Paintings. It is number one out of 1094 in Mountain Oil Paintings and number two out of 8344 in Original Oil Paintings. I work hard to promote my work and it is great to see the results in the searches and in sales. My work is my life and I want it to reach as many places as possible.

I have come to the conclusion that there is a sign on the back of my car. It must say, FOLLOW THIS CAR AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN. No matter what the speed limit, no matter if I am going the speed limit or going over the speed limit, I always have cars so close the bumpers could kiss if they had lips. Am I the only one that thinks cars should be a car length apart for every ten miles they are traveling? It creeps me out to have cars so close. There isn't anything in my car of interest and I am not going 20 miles over to get them off my back. Oh well. Please back off!