Thankfully Back in the Studio and We Know we are Home when we hear that Sound

I love to visit my family but I am always uneasy when I am away from my studio. I get quite nervous and distracted. Painting keeps me together so I never stop unless I have to. My mother celebrated her 89 birthday and I saw my siblings, and some nieces, nephews, and other in-laws. I am thankful that I don't call them out-laws. We all get along pretty well but I was so glad to see the Radford sign yesterday. I am working in graphite for the first time since the 80's. It is true that artists do go back to old works and modify them. The trick is not to destroy the work in the process. I have gotten good at that over the years.

As soon as we got in the door, the little dogs next door started yapping away. They still bark like mad and bare their teeth at our dog as she just looks at them by the fence. She isn't going to stop patrolling the back yard but she also doesn't bother with barking back. These dogs are as small as Chihuahuas but they don't look at all like them. They are very unattractive to me- sorry dog lovers. My husband just calls them Chiuglies.

Painting, More Painting, and When was the Last Time You saw a Green Heron?

I have been enjoying returning to some paintings that I haven't sold yet and working on them here and there. I rarely do this. Once I finish with a painting I move on to the next one and let the other one live. It is so easy to get too worked up over one. It is hard to return to a painting due to the fact that I am always changing my methods even though they always have my touch. I have to remember what it was that motivated me to do the painting in the first place and the particular approach I took then. My palette has lightened up over the years which is typical of many painters but recently I have returned to darker colors in current work. I go around in circles but they are all extensions of me. I love what I do!

My husband, Clyde Kessler, is a well-known naturalist in the New River Valley and has been asked to become part of a business venture to promote tourism and wildlife studies. He leads tours for a new group called Radbird and was an excellent guide this past week-end at Bike Virginia in Radford. What a wonderful float down the New River from River View Park to Bisset Park! This tour was called the Green Heron Tour as there are always a lot of Green Herons on this part of the river. We were all pleased to see many Green Herons, and a Great Blue Heron that showed up right on cue as did around 50 other species of birds. It is great have such a knowledgeable husband who dedicates so much of his time to educating the public about the wonders all around us. There are so many wonderful things to do that don't require batteries.

Pawleys Island Sales and the Goat at the End of the Street

So pleased to sell two more prints of "Breakers, Pawleys Island", and "Marsh View, Pawley's Island". Interestingly enough, my last sale was prints of these two paintings. My painting experience is becoming more and more intense as I find it so difficult to attend to my other responsibilities each day. I always feel like I am screaming for more time. Sometimes a friend gets me out of the studio for a while. I would probably flip if she didn't do that.

The older I get the more obsessed I become with sales. It is great to sell prints but I want to sell the originals as well. I hope the internet will continue to improve my sales.

My neighbor down the street in this Radford City suburb has goats and chickens. I don't know him but I hear he is working on a doctorate and makes violins! I have done a lot of paintings to the sounds of dogs, crying babies, and loud children but now I paint to Nyahh, Nyahh, Nyahh.

What an interesting artist's life I have!

Views From Towhee Hill at Glencoe Museum in Radford, VA

My current show, "Views from Towhee Hill" at Glencoe Museum in Radford, VA is going very well. So far, three paintings have sold. I am always pleased to place my paintings where they will be appreciated. I am especially pleased that "Near Purgatory" has found a home. This painting of a ridge on the Blue Ridge Mountains near Purgatory has a wonderful surface and beautiful atmosphere. The intense, intricate, brushwork and sensuous surface of this painting make the viewer want to touch it. The other two paintings that sold are "Poppy View" and "Wildflowers by a Blue Ridge Sunset" - two more beautiful scenes from this wonderful mountain region. I never tire of expressing my emotional reaction to the beauty around me in these paintings. They have lives of their own.

green drawings