Sold Another Original and You might be able to do a Big Hour if...

I am so pleased to sell another original oil painting of this gorgeous region to a great patron in North Carolina. It is always great to sell prints but I am mostly concerned with selling original works of art. It is what I do and I want to find homes for all of them.

I recently saw the comedy, "The Big Year" with Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson. The movie is based on a birding competition where enthusiasts vie for the most species viewed in one year. Since I have lived my adult life with a dedicated naturalist who mostly studies birds and butterflies, this was a great movie for me. I thought they did a terrific job and so did my husband. I wouldn't be surprised if my husband had the time to participate that he would win. He has seen over 200 species a year of birds just in the small city of Radford. Anyway, I jokingly told him that maybe I could do a Big Year. He said I might be able to do a Big Hour lying on the beach while someone else held the binoculars and collected the data. I want everyone to know that is totally false. I wouldn't be lying on the beach while someone else collected the data. I would be body surfing in the ocean while someone else collected the data.

Be sure to check out my limited time promotions this week on Fine Art America! Get a great deal on some on my most popular works.

Got the Pastels out Again and How to Solve the Oil crisis and ...

Sometimes oil paint drives me up a tree and I have to retreat for a while. As I have said before, I haven't met the medium I don't like but I do think oil paint is the most difficult 2-D medium. I know there are watercolor artists howling right now at such an absurd statement. Most painters insist watercolors to be the technically most difficult medium but I have done it all and nothing frustrates me more then oil paint. I wouldn't give it up for anything but once in a while we have to part company. It is great to be working in pastels for a while.

I don't want to repeat myself in these blogs but I am at an age when memory sometimes fails and I don't want to go through and check to see if I have said this before, so, if I did, please forgive. I know how to simultaneously solve the oil crisis and the obesity crisis in this country. We need paddle cars. If we can put a man on the moon why can't we come up with a car that is made in such a way that it can be paddled with a reasonable amount of effort so people could stay in shape by driving their cars? I thought of this several years ago and last year there was a tongue in cheek article in the Readers Digest that had the same suggestion. I want everyone to know I DID NOT get the idea from that article. I THOUGHT OF IT FIRST! Of course, a lot of other people probably thought of it to. Anyway, I think it is a great idea.

Therapy Number and The Gestapo is growing...

My father loved boats. He was a medical officer in the navy during World War II and figured out a way to keep sailors with sore feet from asking for his help. He made the sick bay hours the same as the meal hours. He thought if a sailor was too ill to eat then he would certainly miss a meal to get medical aid. We had a number of boats but I was the only one out of a family of six that liked boating. The last boat we had was named Therapy III. I couldn't understand why the name Therapy and why III. I know now. He loved the water so boating was the doctor's therapy and it was our third boat. I miss those days very much. I am surrounded by my paintings and their visual language is my therapy. I am so glad I love what I do and I hope to increase my sales so others can experience the joy I experience.

The extremely noisy miniature Dobermans next door are really acting up lately and their numbers are increasing. We call the two main ones Hitler and Himler. The rest are other members of the Gestapo. They act like they are ready to kill anything that gets close but they are so small I'll bet any one could step on them to shut them up. Such is life!

My Favorite Nude Pastel Paintings and They got Those Fries from...

I have sold a number of prints of "Reaching Out" and other charcoal and conte crayon nude drawings but no pastel paintings so far. I am pleased with all of my nudes but I especially like the pastel nudes. I guess that is the colorist in me coming out. I have always been mesmerized by color and I hardly ever do line drawings. The range of greys is the color I use in the black and whites. I do have one intense ink nude that I am going to add to my portfolio as soon as I finish my current painting which is driving me crazier than I already am. I hope to have it finished in the next few days.

I'm sure everyone is sick of hearing about my husband's stomach problems but his restrictions are always leading to some kind of funny remark. My favorite is the one about the shark leaping out of the water begging for its life if someone threw a piece of rice bread in the ocean. I couldn't resist putting that one in a blog. One of the really good things he can still eat is french fries. I don't know anyone that hates those. Sometimes fast food places have ones that are dried out and pretty nasty. The other day my husband got some that were so bad he said they stole them from some poor fisherman that was going to use them for bait.

Sold Another Charcoal Nude Print and Staggering Medical Costs...

I am so pleased to sell another large print of "Reaching Out" which is my most popular nude from my Beautiful Nude series. This one went to a great patron in Australia. I have not uploaded all of my nude drawings but will do so as time permits. I am glad they are so well received and I hope to sell many more prints as well as originals. So far I haven't sold any prints of my pastel nudes which have the added exciting element of color. I am very proud of the intense expression in all of my drawings and paintings.

Every once in a while there is a health commercial of some sort that reminds us all of staggering medical costs. My husband said he wishes his medical costs would stagger, roll over and die. Now there's a great thought!

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All Those God Fearing People and The Real Challenge...

I am still getting a ridiculous number of scammers on my Craigslist postings. There are so many different addresses but I wonder if they really only come from a few crooks that prey on gullible people. It is sad to think that people fall for the bogus check-I'll send the shipper scam. Some of them want to pay me extra to take the advert off. I guess that way they won't hit the same listing with their scam. Anyway, all I know is there are a lot of God Fearing People on the internet that want to steal my money. They always make that part clear. They are God Fearing People so I should take them seriously.

The most recent commercial on Hover Rounds asks viewers is they have a lot of physical challenges. When they ask if getting to the kitchen is a challenge my husband says getting out of the kitchen is the real challenge. Considering the obesity problem in this country I think he has something there.


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How to Avoid Artist Tantrums and Shoot Em UP Bang Bang...

I have been painting in oils for more decades than I care to admit to and it has always been a love/hate experience. I am appalled by people that think artists are having fun with their hobby. I am also appalled by people that think artists are always on the verge of suicide. Both extreme views are ridiculous. I do not play with paint and I am not going to kill myself because I never really get exactly what I want out of a painting. I learned long ago that aritsts have to live with a certain amount of failure.

Most of the time it is a great experience and I love putting the effort into it. Sometimes I get to the screaming stage which brings me to the title of this blog. There is one sure way to avoid Artist Tantrums. Give it up. Get rid of the supplies and all the paintings. Since that is not an option, once in a while I resemble a two-year-old that got her pacifier yanked from her mouth. Since I paint by myself most of the time no one has to hear me freak out.

My husband did not go to movies when he was growing up. He watched some television but he mostly liked to read. Our son is a movie buff and my husband is great about taking him to movies he doesn't want to see. I am not invited. Our son likes to make movie night a guys night so I stay home. Can't complain. As my husband says, the movies they see are always Shoot Em Up Bang Bang or Kick an Alien's Butt.

Be sure to check out my Limited Time promotions on Fine Art America. I offer three greatly reduced canvas prints each week!

I Think I will Report Them and Maybe X Squared Off...

I have tried in the past to sell paintings on Craigslist without success. I received scam emails but nothing more. I keep forgetting about the listings and then they expire. A few days ago I decided to renew listings and add some different ones. I like to try as many venues as possible to sell my artwork. I live to paint but I have bills to pay as one of my artist friends always says.

This time I can't believe the number of scams I am getting. Almost every time I check my email there are three or four scammers wanting me to take the listing off, wait for their bogus check, and they will send their private shipping agent. I guess these scammers are able to email listers without reading the advert. I put in caps that I do not send my artwork by any kind of private shipping arrangement and I only take Paypal. They would save us both time if they actually read my advert.

My favorite one is one I got from two different people explaining to me that they can't buy the painting right now because their cousin wrecked their car but they are having success with an online job and wouldn't I like to try that? I wonder what would happen if I hit the link they send. Probably computer wipe out. I get so many scammers that I haven't alerted Craigslist but I think I will on the next one. This is getting very tiresome.

On Facebook this week someone posted an Algebra joke. Algebra, quit looking for X. She is not coming back. My husband quickly added - Maybe she squared off with Y and Z and then found out she was greater than them. Love it!

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Sometimes the Answer is Staring you in the Face and The Shelf Life of the Consumer...

I have been so stressed out with my painting lately that I am ready to fall over right now as I type this. I am determined to keep posting my thoughts. It keeps me sane the way painting usually does. Most of the time I love to paint and even though it is a crap shoot as I have mentioned before, I still love the effort and the uncertainty of the outcome. Once in a while, after many hours of working like a lunatic, the painting just doesn't come together and I have to admit defeat. That happened today but I am taking it in stride. There is always tomorrow and I still have paint and canvas. I hate scraping paint off of a canvas but that is the life of a painter. I have many more successes than failures so I can't really complain.

My husband has found a drink that when mixed with milk tastes great and supplies the nutrients he may be missing on his awful fructose intolerant diet. I have always read labels on foods and am amazed at all the additives. I always try to eat things that haven't been tampered with but there are some things that I just close my eyes to. I don't know how we got into this fix but my husband thinks the main reason is manufacturers are more concerned with the shelf life of food than the shelf life of the consumer. I think he is right so go get something you grew yourself if possible and have a great evening!

Check out my limited time promotions on Fine Art America. I have three canvas print specials each week.