Eating the Still Life and the only believable part...

I am finally happy with my still life and will eat the fruit before it spoils.  I arm-wrestled it down and I think the result is an especially vibrant still life with strong complementary color contrast and a great spatial effect that is not complicated but draws the viewer into an effective frieze.  As usual I changed my interpretation a number of times and now it says Kendall Kessler.  I love to paint!

The political ads on TV, Facebook, and my land line are really setting my nerves on edge.  I think the land line service is going to come to an abrupt halt!  We all have cell phones.   I would be glad to take our phone, internet, cable bill down a notch and have some peace and quiet.  What a win win! I can't think of anything funny today so I am just going to repeat something I saw on Facebook about political ads.  The old lady said the only thing she believed about those ads was when the candidate says their name and that they approve of the ad.  Maybe there should be some sort of law about presenting false information in an ad.  This campaign reeks of dishonesty.

Be sure to look for my drawing, "Reaching Out" on The Mindy Project.  I didn't see it on the first episode but the set director told me it wouldn't be visible in every episode.  I hope to see it soon!

 

 

My Drawing on The Mindy Project and They almost went flying...

Just a few more days and I can see my most popular work of art, "Reaching Out" on The Mindy Project.  I hope it will be reasonably visible.  The print that was ordered was 10"x8".  I have sold a lot of prints of all sizes of this drawing but mostly large prints.  The show airs at 9:30 Tuesday night.  I have been reading about it and it looks like it may be a hit according to the critics.  The set director said if it was a hit they may ask for more of my work.  I hope so!  My first Youtube video is about my beautiful nudes and features "Reaching Out".  I am proud of my first effort.  My next video will feature my portrait work and I will talk about why I have made only one celebrity portrait which is a pastel of David Garrett. 

I am back to oil paint which is what I love and hate the most.  You have to spend a lot of time painting in oils to appreciate what I just said.   I disagree with artists that think watercolors is the most difficult painting medium.  I have a much easier time getting what I want with watercolors -especially the colors.   I am working on a still life and, as always, I am determined to express myself and not be a slave to what is in front of me.  I am surprised there weren't cats running for their lives yesterday as I pelted the apples and pears right out the window.  Actually, they are still on the stand and I will do battle later today.

Be sure to check out my canvas print specials on Fine Art America!

 

My First Youtube Video and He maybe he didn't get into Yale...

After much frustration and watching tutorials by young people that grew up on a computer I have finally got my first Youtube video about my artwork up! I didn't think I would ever figure out Audacity or the movie software on my computer.  It is always simple after I understand how to do it but I really have a hard time catching on.  It doesn't help that the kids on the tutorials talk at the speed of light or, at least, that is how it seems to me.  I am going to do this, then that, adjust this, take my cursor here, select that, go to the other side of the screen and select something that has tiny letters and bingo, you got it!  Oh well, I am nothing if not stubborn.  I did get it and I will continue to get it so the videos look and sound better.

I watched part of a movie called the Nim project which was an experiment with a chimp in the seventies.  A family decided to raise a chimp as if it were a member of the family.  It was interesting at first but then I just couldn't get into it so I sent it back.  I told my husband that I did want to find out how it turned out so I would look it up on the internet.  He said the chimp was probably either turned down for Yale or is now a congressman.

 The Mindy Project airs next Tuesday at 9:30 p.m.!  Be sure to look for my most popular nude, "Reaching Out" in the main character's office!







Also, check out my canvas print sales for this week on Fine Art America!

Audacious Recording and I'll just get it Some Place Else...

It is bad enough that I have so much trouble with computers but now I am trying to use Audacity to record my music for some short videos and I am as confused as ever.  The good thing is now I can hear my weaknesses and am working to correct them so my amateur efforts sound reasonably okay.  You really can't hear yourself play so this recording stuff is very helpful.  Musicians that perform in front of people are absolutely amazing to me.  I even get nervous playing for a recording that no one has to hear but me.   They either have nerves of steel or are just used to being on stage.  I never got used to standing in front of a class.  I was always sick to my stomach but I did it anyway.  So glad to be a full-time artist now!

The new law about soft drinks is a real crack up!  I wish we could legislate health but I think it is impossible.  Prohibition didn't work and now soft drink limits are just going to stir up a lot of jokes such as, "If you won't sell me a bigger drink I will just go somewhere else!"  People will be boot-legging large gulp colas and speakeasies will crop up again. Seriously, I wish everyone would be more careful to keep their weight down.  The tremendous increase in Diabetes type 2 is the result of our obesity problem.  I think there should be a weight watching course of some sort in elementary school.  If children are taught good eating habits I think they will continue to use them as they grow up.

Just eleven more days until I see my best-selling print, "Reaching Out", on The Mindy Project!  I hope the show is a success and I hope the print will be located where it will be easy to see.  I hope I won't be yelling, "Get out of the way!"

Will be on Youtube Soon and He was not Married Yesterday...

I never know if technology is taking us forward or backwards.  I know some photographers that think 35mm slides have much more depth than digital files.  I have had to work hard to get good files for my website and I would agree that digital photos taken out of doors just don't have the same impact as my kodochrome 35mm slides taken indoors but then I am not a photographer.  I'm sure there are some that disagree and would set me straight.  Anyway, now I am learning how to record my piano music for Youtube.  I have decided that I am going to put up selections of my artwork with my music in the background!  I am excited about having a place to perform without the horrible trepidation of a visible audience.  My fingers actually shake when I have to play for people.  Using a USB mike and figuring out the audacity site is certainly a lot harder than a tape recorder!

As always I like to include some humor but I am all out right now.  I have got to get more from my husband.  He cracked me up last night when he was testing out audacity but the crazy recordings he made are too long for a blog so I am just going to repeat a joke I saw on Facebook.  An extremely overweight man is standing in front of a mirror when his extremely overweight wife asks him if she looks fat.  He answers with," Do I look stupid?  A guy would have to be married yesterday to answer the fat question.

Not too many more days before I will see my best selling print, "Reaching Out" on "The Mindy Project" on Fox TV!  I hope it won't be hard to see.  Many times I will see what looks like a great work of art on TV and I keep yelling, "Get out of the way!" which, of course, does no good.



Be sure to look for my work in the Limited Time Promotions section on Fine Art America!

What a Dump and Update on My Modest Proposal...

I am a frustrated neaknik.  I want everything to be perfectly in order throughout the house and in my studio.  I want everything in its proper place and the house clean as a hospital.  What a ridiculous notion!  I live with two guys that would let a trashcan pile up to the ceiling if I didn't take care of it myself or ask them to empty it.  Our computer room/guest room has a bed that is always covered up in my husband's stuff.  I think he thinks it is a table.  My son has greatly improved.  We use to call his room the Bermuda Triangle.  I have no room to talk.  My studio is almost always filthy.  So this week I have been cleaning it out and I am desperate to get back to work.  Almost there!

In my last blog I posted my Modest Proposal regarding political commercials on TV.  My sarcastic notion was that at this time of the year all commercials should be political since we just don't have enough of them.  We should get at least two phone calls every hour from each party.

I posted the idea on Facebook and the comments were great!  One friend called it an indecent proposal.  Another one said we should get calls during breakfast and lunch rather than just at dinner time.  Another said that's the spirit!  Another friend thought it would be great if she could get one early enough in the morning so she could retire her alarm clock.



September 25th is coming so be sure to tune in to The Mindy Project and look for my best selling print, "Reaching Out", in the main character's office!

Also, be sure to check out new uploads in my Center of my Mind gallery!

Sold a Print of Peaks of Otter and A tractor got it...

I am so pleased to add "Swirling Clouds over Peaks of Otter" to my print sales.  A large framed print of this oil painting went to a great patron in Airmont, NY.  I certainly have a lot of originals and prints in places I have never been.  My artwork marches on!  I have been to Spain, France, and Portugal but not to the countries where my work has gone so far.  I would especially like to visit Germany some day.  I also have a patron interested in purchasing the original painting but she is worried it may be too small so she is looking into my larger work before she makes a decision.  Hope she buys more than one!  That would be great!

On Saturdays we almost always take our son and girlfriend out to eat and then she usually wants to go shopping.  I think my son is the best boy-friend ever!  He likes shopping with her.  I would rather watch paint dry than shop but I get dragged along sometimes.  I don't have any friends that hate shopping.  I think I am a weird girl.  Anyway,  we are always glad when they want to go to a restaurant rather than a fast food place.  My husband says fast food hamburgers look like they were run over by a tractor and then the driver decided to back up on it for extra flavor.

Be sure to check out my specials this week in the Limited Time Promotion section on Fine Art America and to look for "Reaching Out" on The Mindy Project which airs September 25th!