Pleased to sell another print of Reaching Out and I know this is emergencies...

So pleased to sell yet another print of my best-seller, "Reaching Out".  This drawing sure gets around.  This time it went to a great patron in Naperville, Illinois.  It has been great to see it in Mindy's office on The Mindy Project and I hope it continues to reach new homes and offices.

Just got back from a great trip to New York!  My friends and I took in a bunch of Broadway shows and had time for the Guggenheim and MOMA. Saw some great Pollocks, Picassos, Cezannes, and Richters!  What a great time!

Neither my husband or I have a funny this week but I did see a great one on Facebook.  A cat on a phone is screaming, "I know this is for emergencies only!  I said I am out of coffee!      

Now that is an emergency!

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On the Wild Side and Maybe I need a sign....

I used to think that artists didn't really return to old paintings to re-work them.  I was wrong.  I have done that on a number of occasions and am doing that right now.  Pierre Bonnard, one of my heroes would work on three paintings at a time and turn them to the wall when he wasn't working on them.  I cover mine, too.  Paintings will drive you crazy if you let them.  I don't want to go crazy.  I like painting too much.  Anyway, years ago I did a painting of a tiger's head and didn't like it at all.  I put it away and when I was cleaning some things out I found it and decided to work on it again and it is coming right along!  Wild animals can be a a great experience in oil paint!  Colors and brushwork flying all over the place!

Tonight as I was making a right onto a gravel driveway in Montgomery County I slowed down so as not to mess up my car with ruts.  I still got off the main road in a reasonable amount of time but the car behind me screeched on the gas pedal to let me know what a jerk I was in his opinion.  I have to turn into this driveway every Friday so maybe I need a sign on my bumper  that says this driveway is full of ruts so I am turning slowly.  Give me a break all you creepy tailgators!

I have a large stencil with my Studio advertisement and phone number on the back windshield.  When we got home my husband answered the phone and all he heard was a loud, screetching whistle.  Maybe that was the guy that was behind me.  You think?

Don't forget about my Limited Time Promotions on Fine Art America!  40% off of large canvas prints of popular paintings!  Check it out!

Fantastic Feed Back from Great Patron and You would not bring back the Dinosaurs...

As I have said before I get quite nervous when I sell originals or prints online.  I am always worried that the patron will not be happy with the work.  Monitors are all set differently so I can't really know what they are seeing.  I am so happy, knock on wood, that so far I have only received glowing comments and no complaints.

Recently I received feed back for a painting I sold in California and I just had to put it here for others to see.  What a great compliment!

Stunning painting! Such vibrant, hues. This painting feels alive. Every time I pass it, it beckons me in-- bright, sunset hues, and undulating light. Very thoughtful seller, and perfect packaging. Thank you for sharing your gift with us!

The other night my husband was watching a Bewitched re-run and I decided to tease him a little.  I asked him what he would do if he had magical powers.  Since he is a staunch environmentalist he gave a mischievous reply.  He would bring back the dinosaurs and take away all our weapons.  Let's see what damage people can do to the earth if they are busy fighting off a tyrannosaurus rex with a rock!  He really is a sweet man.  Don't let that statement fool you!

The Cable Guy Finally got us and the TV Blew up...

We finally gave in to cable when we couldn't get any channels in without the bleeping in and out reception.  After all these years I was not happy about calling for cable.  The guy got here at 8:30am yesterday and didn't finish until 1:30pm.  I had to clean out my refrigerator and clean off the front bulletin board to keep occupied.  He hit a stud outside and hammered his finger.  I didn't catch the specific words but he later apologized for the language.  The Gestapo mini dobermans were squealing the whole time and one especially small one squeezed through the fence to harass our old dog.  I called the dog catcher because I know the neighbors will just prop up things by their fence which doesn't work.  She took the dog off and asked me how I could stand all that barking and squealing.  The neighbors wouldn't come to the door when she knocked.

This morning when I was trying to keep the ting in painting my son was watching the TV with cable and it went completely dead. I called the cable guy because I thought that it was too coincidental that it died right after the cable was installed.  He assured me that the cable hook up would not break a TV so now we have to buy a new one. 

In the above paragraph I was trying to be funny in a slightly grim way but when I ran it past my writer husband he didn't get it.  If you take ting off of painting you have pain which is what can be the word that sums up a frustrating painting session.  I won't get into the details because it won't make any sense but today's session was not pleasant.  Sometimes painting is a mountain top experience and other times it is much, much lower.

Be sure to check out my Limited Time Specials on Fine Art America starting tomorrow!

Technology is Getting me Down and It is not Going to be Pretty

Yesterday morning I spilled coffee all over my off white rug.  I should have gotten back into bed at that point.  The next thing that went wrong was my DVD box remote.  I don't watch much TV but I like to watch small sections of movies for breaks during the day.  The remote wouldn't work and I don't have time to sit down and watch the whole thing so that was the end of that.  Then the real fiasco that matters big time.  I was working on correcting a photograph of a painting on Aperture and a small light came on and the computer froze.  Now I can't import anything or crop anything that I have on there.  This is a big problem for me as I am one of the artists on FAA that occasionally has image problems that need to be corrected before the print can be sold.  I hope someone can help me tomorrow.

TECHNOLOGY IS REALLY GETTING ME DOWN!!!  If they ever computerize closets and bathrooms there will probably be a naked old woman looking for a bush and at my age that won't be pretty.  The image certainly won't be like the girls in my Beautiful Nudes folder.  I just hope the computer geeks lay off the bathroom and the closets.

On a brighter note my paintings are coming along and I think I have achieved more complex surfaces than ever before. The colors are like jewels and the experience of working on them is wonderful.

So Glad to Sell Another Canvas Print of A Break in the Clouds and I Think I am one of Those People...

I'm so pleased to sell another large canvas print of one of my two most popular pieces of artwork on Fine Art America.  A Break in the Clouds and Reaching Out have sold more than any of my other paintings or drawings.  It is exciting to see my work so high in the search results.  If you put Mountains Paintings in the search, A Break in the Clouds is #3 out of 10,000+.  If you put Mountains oil  paintings in the search it is #1 out of 1790.  It is also #3 out of 6304 Nature Oil paintings.  I work hard at promoting my artwork and am pleased to see increased sales. 

On Facebook today there was a joke with Daffy Duck about stupid people.  The gist was that a day without stupid people would be... I don't know.  I'll let you know if it ever happens.  I decided to share the joke with my 1265 friends and a lot of people liked it.  A while after I shared it occurred to me that I couldn't really agree with Daffy Duck because I can be pretty stupid myself so I added that as a comment.  I added that I do some real stupid things but I don't think I am stupid 24/7.  I hope there aren't any people I know that would disagree.  I think we are all smart and stupid at times.  The trick is to be more smart than stupid.  Live and learn or is it live and learn too late?

Be sure to check out my weekly specials.  Starting tomorrow you can get 40% off of large canvas prints of A Break in the Clouds, Poppy Twirl, and Stepping Stones on the New River.

It Can Not Be the Nude Drawings this Time and Just in Case...

A while back I posted a blog regarding my nude drawings. One of the charcoal drawings in my Beautiful Nude Series is selling as well as my mountain and ocean scenes. I put the same blog on Fine Art America as I do on Blogger.com and that day I received an unusually high number of hits on Blogger.com It didn't occur to me until a few days later that the reason for the activity may have been the nude theme. My hits went back to normal until today when I received a large number of hits and this time the blog had nothing to do with nude drawings so I am pleased that I am getting more attention. Blogging doesn't come easy to us painfully shy people but I am working at it.

The other day my husband was working on something with the TV on and thought he heard the name Justin Case. He couldn't believe anyone with the surname Case would give their son the name Justin. That is certainly one name to avoid in this case - pun intended. It turns out the name was Dustin Caseguard. That certainly makes more sense. I will never forget a friend in college whose last name was Swift. He told everyone his middle name was Natu. You have to have a sense of humor to go by Not too Swift. I always tell people that have trouble getting my name right that it is just like the motor oil. My mother swears that Kendall Motor Oil was not around when I was named.

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!