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.

Gangway to the Studio Tomorrow and A Shark Would Leap out of the Water...

Almost have everything ready to take to Blacksburg on Tuesday for my new show, "A Naturalist's Legacy". Got to show, got to sell, but most important, GOT TO PAINT! Tomorrow I will be in the studio before I start climbing the walls. I loved the recent FAA discussion about the warning signs of art. I don't need to look for the tell tale signs. I know I am hopelessly addicted and love it! I hope to die with a paint brush in my hands as I tell anyone that will listen. Sugar and paint. One of the happiest days in my life was when I asked my doctor Dad if people that are NOT over weight are in danger of getting diabetes if they eat a lot of sugar and he said NO! Years ago I tried to cut back on sugar and gave up. Not trying to give up sugar or paint. Addicted to both and that is just the way it is!

Discussions of my husband's dietary problems often come up when we are eating and he is missing something he can't have anymore. A country boy really needs his biscuits but they are out. The muffins I make with the special flour is okay but a wheat biscuit would certainly be nice. The substitutes we have made are okay but the one thing he hates is the rice bread. He said if a piece of rice bread were thrown into the ocean a shark would jump out of the water begging for its life. That should give you an idea of how rice bread rates in his fructose free, wheat free diet.

Sold Another Print and What to do with the Curmudgeon that hates Doctors

I am so pleased to sell another print of "A Break in the Clouds". This is a view of Rock Castle Gorge on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. My husband has spent much of his time studying birds and butterflies there. I often tease him that he should have a mailbox there. It is very difficult to get a signal in that region. I hope his CD on Butterflies of the Blue Ridge will be out soon. The photographer needs to get his act together so this project can be finished.

I decided to put the bit about my curmudgeon husband and his reluctance to go to doctor on the Fine Art America discussion section. I did it mainly for humor as I know he will get to a doctor soon. There were a lot of fun responses about surgical removal of wallets, and pain being a notice to idiots to do something about the problem. My favorite was from the moderator. Her solution was to convince him he needed to go, then hire two huge, burly blokes to kidnap him and plant him at the doctors office :))

Fighting with Computers and Did anyone ask the Deer...

Yesterday I sent out my monthly newsletter. Usually it goes well and I have no problems with the program but this time my preliminary draft was sent out instead of the final one. When I tried to send out the correct one I received the notice that it had been sent out to everyone already. I changed the title but I was still told it had already been sent out to everyone on the list. Then I tried to send out a new one and got the same message. I gave up. I include my email on the list and received the preliminary draft which wasn't too bad. Computers baffle me. I was going to try again this morning but the final draft had been sent out after all. People had opened both. I decided to send another one explaining the situation but when I got ready to hit the start button the message again said it had already gone to everyone on the list. Enough is enough. I will be more careful next time and hopefully I won't run into this problem.

The other night there was a news story about a deer that crashed through a glass window of a store, raced around the store for a few minutes and then left. According to the News Team the deer was unharmed. Did anyone ask the deer? That could not have felt good! It crashed through glass and was unharmed? I don't think so.