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.

Pushing the Clay Around and Sheldon and the Corpse...

It is hard for me to believe two things these days. I can't believe I ever thought oil paint didn't cost that much and that our grocery bill was ever less than outrageous. I am not happy if I use the traditional thin to thick glazes of oil paint. The paint isn't that expensive if one uses that method. I push it around like a sculptor does clay on an armature. Sometimes I sink back into the old method and immediately go back to slathering it on and pulling expressive forms out of it. I can't get my unique color style or expression any other way so, yes, oil paint is very expensive. Not as expensive as our groceries but it is up there.

I don't watch a lot of TV for two reasons. I don't have the time and I am a movie buff. It usually takes me days to watch one movie but there are no commercials and the ones I watch seem to have much better acting and dialog then what I see on TV. The only show I like to watch is The Big Bang Theory and so does my husband. More and more the plots seem to be centered around the fact that Sheldon is an obnoxious know-it-all who drives the others crazy. My husband said Sheldon would drive a corpse crazy. No doubt.

Be sure to check out my Limited Time promotions on Fine Art America. I have three specials on canvas prints of popular paintings at about 40% off.

Definitely Jealous and Small Smiles...

Congratulations to Michael on Fine Art America  for his 340 print sale today!  I am quite jealous and sure wish Groupon had selected my work for this great print deal.  I can't image what it would be like to find out I had 340 sales.  I am certainly going to work harder and harder at promoting my work to generate more sales.  I really don't like living in front of a computer but I can see that is what it takes these days.  This is the first day in a long time that my myafacial pain is hardly there so I can work more!  Yea!!!!!  Hope to continue to see improvement as I resemble a pretzel doing the stretching exercises.

We are getting sick and tired of a dental commercial called Small Smiles.  So many commercials that are aimed at the young tend to be on the sappy side.  Of course the message is that this great organization is genuinely concerned about children's dental care but my husband can't resist saying Small Smiles, Big Money.  No offense to the Dental profession!  I'm so glad there are people that are willing to work inside of people's mouths and I don't begrudge them the money.

Sold Two More Prints and He can not eat Bologna

I am so pleased to sell two large canvas prints of two beautiful Virginia mountain scenes.  The original Reflections on the James River is a featured painting in my current show, A Naturalist's Legacy in Blacksburg, VA.  The original painting of Near Purgatory was sold the first time I exhibited it.  It is great to be able to sell prints of these favorite mountain scenes my husband researches for birds and butterflies.  My husband has introduced me to many wonderful vistas on the Blue Ridge Parkway and surrounding areas.  Most of my paintings are based on these places.  He is a well known naturalist in the New River Valley and has dedicated his life to educating all age groups about wildlife and conservation of his homeland.

My husband's dietary problems are always the topic of conversation in a crowd.  Most people are not familiar with fructose intolerance and are surprised to find out there are people that can't tolerate most fruits and most vegetables.  Everyone asks him what he can eat.  At the Super Bowl the subject came up and a friend was naming foods and asking if he could eat them.  She was going down the list and when she got to bologna(some people spell it baloney) her son said my husband can't eat bologna because he is full of bologna so that would make him a cannibal.  What a comment and he can not eat bologna because of the additives.

Check out My Limited Time Promotions and You are Really Scraping the Bottom of the Freezer...

A Break in the Clouds

Prints on Paper or Canvas available at kendall-kessler.artistwebsites.com

I am excited about starting three large paintings and my new Limited Time Promotions on three of my most popular paintings.  I am pleased that I can offer 40"x50" canvas prints of Stepping Stones on the New River and Golden Farm Scene.  Also, 24"x36" canvas prints of A Break in the Clouds can be purchased for the next few days.  This is a great way to get beautiful canvas paintings at a greatly reduced price, approximately 40% off my regular price.  My new paintings will include another scene from Pawleys Island, Isle of Palms, and Rock Castle Gorge.  If my head is not in the mountains it is at the shore. 

As always, I like to try to include some humor in my blog and I have been really struggling for something this time.  My husband almost always comes up with something in our daily conversations but not much has been happening lately so tonight I tried goading him in to saying something funny.  My son's birthday is December 3rd and we didn't have any ice for his party that day so my husband went out and bought a big bag which is still in the freezer.  I keep forgetting about it and use the trays.  I asked him if ice goes bad and he said it goes so bad it eventually has to be arrested and jailed for being too slippery.  I told him I was going to use his comment in my blog and he said you are really scraping the bottom of the freezer if you are going to use that.  I love puns and it's all I have this time.  Maybe next time will be funnier.