Blue Ridge Parkway Artist is Back to Full Strength

 Well, I had the second Moderna shot and thought I was going to be one of those
that don't have adverse symptoms.  I was fine until eight hours later I started a low
grade fever that went up to 102.6.  Yuck. That was a miserable night.  

Strange that it takes so long for the reaction to kick in.  My husband was sick after an hour or two and was sick for three days.  I am back to full worhaholic strength. Hope I
don't have a relapse.

Check out a favorite lake painting and the video I uploaded yesterday and Cheers on a weekend!

Bluestone Lake
Original 40" x 30" oil painting $2430
Wall Art Prints and prints on just about anything at the address below

https://kendall-kessler.pixels.com/featured/bluestone-lake-kendall-kessler.html

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2yculXSfR8

Now They are Coming to the Door and the Big Three are Coming Along

As I mentioned in another blog my husband and I are two of about five people in the world that don't have cable and are still holding out against the continual barrage of advertisements.  My husband says the other three are in the Antarctica photographing penguins.  Every week we get four or five offers in the mail for cable, satellite, dish, etc.  I am forever tearing up these letters.  This last week they got tough.  We have had two cable guys actually come to our door.  This has never happened before.  It is interesting to me that this new effort coincides with my digital TV problems that would be cured by cable.  When it is hot I can't get Judge Judy or Big Bang reruns which is about all I watch.  We lost PBS with digital but I can find the programs I watched on DVDs in the library.  We are not giving in!  I am a movie buff and I can live without TV and I refuse to pay to watch it.  ARE YOU CABLE GUYS LISTENING!  GIVE UP!  WE WILL NOT SURRENDER!

My three large paintings are coming along and I am definitely changing my approach as always.  Painting, like my hair, is a new experience every day!  I never know what to expect as I try to boss them around and instead they boss me around until I give in and just enjoy the ride.  Two of them are shore scenes and one is another field near Rocky Knob where my husband should have a mail box.  I think there should be a marker where he sits during hawk migration.  Any way it is great to have more time to paint and I will be pleased to add them to my portfolio on the web.

Be sure to check out my special canvas print offers of A Break in the Clouds, Reaching Out, and Cheers.  The offer starts tomorrow.

What a great Experience and Thats what I Tell the Face in the Mirror

I work so hard at my painting and when the different stages of a work finally come together it is like a great celebration. Painting can be an exasperating struggle. I live to paint but sometimes it is not a great life. This week a painting I started over four times is coming together and I can hardly wait until it is completely done, dry, and on the net for everyone to see. Now, if I can just get through the last week of Linear Perspective life will be great again. Why is Linear Perspective so hard for some students? This is my last semester of teaching and I look forward to NEVER having to teach Linear Perspective again! I have enjoyed working with art students but it is time to pursue my career full time.

A few days ago my husband was joking about not being able to find his brain. He thinks it is gone and I told him he had a great brain which was probably full of wrinkles since, as we all know, it is not the size of the brain that indicates intelligence but the amount of wrinkles. Wrinkles are a good thing. He said that is what he tells the face he sees in the mirror every day.

This Would Not Happen if I had Time and The Only Alien I am going to see

I'm sure all artists that don't make their living off of their artwork can understand this problem. I make part of my living at it and I will never give up on getting paid for what I consider to be my job but I need that rich patron to support my efforts so I don't have to stop in the middle of my work. I wish I could spend as much time as I want on my paintings. There are so many other things I have to do that I am frustrated with all the starting and stopping. Still whining for extra hours to the day...

My husband and I were talking about movies with aliens in them. I have seen so few and really don't like alien movies. Some of them are so gruesome and some of them are so frightening that I avoid them. I have enough nightmares. My husband is not that interested in them either. He said the only alien he is going to see is the one staring back at him from the mirror

Back to Oil Paint before I Flip and Little Known Nonsense

I am so glad to be back to oil paint. I know I say this too often but I truly do live to paint. Pushing colors and textures around on a canvas or board is such a wonderful experience and it keeps me together. In a world where adults and children kill others when they are unhappy, where spouses beat up on spouses and children, where animals are mis-treated, I need my paint to be happy. Yes there are many wonderful people and things in the world but there is too much of what is wrong that weighs us down. I emphasize what is good in life in my work. It is a great form of communication and I am thrilled when people understand it.

I have been having some trouble with periformis for some time now and hoping it will get better soon. Those of you that have experienced this problem know that it is literally a pain in the butt. One muscle spasms and then affects the sciatic nerve and ouch!!! I was complaining to my husband about my aches and he said it is because I married a dip stick. According to him, marriage with a dip stick causes physical pain and mental stress. Little known nonsense that is not true in my case. I did not marry a dip stick. Put Clyde Kessler in Google and you will see what I mean.

Sometimes I Play and am I being Silly to Ask?

I work very hard at my paintings and usually have a clear objective for each one but sometimes I just want to play with the colors and see what comes up. My most recent upload is an example of one of those works. I started with a flower motif and then let the colors and textures happen until I thought it was a good visual experience. There is nothing like oil paint to me. Sometimes I enjoy working in pastels but my medium is oils. I hope I die with a brush in my hand. Painting is my life.

Am I being silly to ask if Congress could greatly reduce the debt if everything were cut a small amount? That way no one could scream about being cut out. I'm sure even the military has some pork that could be reduced. I certainly am not advocating any harm to defense but I'll bet there are some things that could be cut out without putting our country at risk. Seems to me this would be the thing to do in a Democracy, but I am not a politician, just a worried individual.

Back to Pastels

I decided a while ago to take some of my black and white figure drawings from years ago and re-interpret them in color. I have wanted to get back to my second medium which is soft pastels. Most artists work in more then one medium but oil paint is the one I married for life so it is tricky working in what some call a drawing medium. I prefer to call pastels painting without a brush.

It is such a direct medium that it is tempting to simplify the technique when it is just as complicated as any other medium. One great thing about pastels is they are extremely forgiving. I love being able to change my mind without waiting for it to dry like oil paint. I am pleased with the somewhat electric effect I have achieved so far. I think I am close to done and will post it soon.

Here is another painting, "Blue Ridge Mountain" from my current show at Mill Mountain Coffee and Tea in Blacksburg, VA. The show will be there until January 15th.

I am Overwelmed by the Work I have to do

I have so many paintings to re-shoot that I am worn out before I start. I wish I had been born into the digital age. The 35mm camera techniques I was taught in school for photographing art aren't good enough for large prints. I have a collection of slides that look great on the screen but when viewed at full resolution are blurry. I uploaded many paintings on FAA before I even had the equipment to show me if the images were good. Most of my paintings are 30"x40" and are on heavy boards made heavier by the amount of paint I use. I have to set up outdoors in the sunlight which at times is so strong shadows are created by the brushwork on the painting. The clouds keep shifting today but I am going to try to get good prints. Yikes! What a chore! Such a long of list!

I am so glad I am a painter. Tuesday I received a big disappointment but all I needed to do was pick up a paint brush and all was well again. If I end up in a wheel chair I know I will still be painting. I hope I won't have crippling arthritis like Renoir but I will keep going. How wonderful to love what you do!

I am so proud of "Cozy"

Yesterday I completed a sumptuous painting with an exceptionally intricate system of brushstrokes. When I was young I didn't quite understand why art books would show close-ups of a tiny portion of a painting. I know now that the purpose is to show the complexity of the visual integration of the visual elements the artist has achieved in the work.

My paintings have become so complex that the rag I wipe my brush on has an incredible number of colors and nuances of color. Painting is such an exciting experience for hard-working disciplined artists. I wish I could make my living at it rather than just part of it but the most important thing is to create and I will never quit.

sunset paintings

river paintings

impressionism prints

impressionism framed prints

green pastels

The Joys and Aggravations of Painting

Yesterday I was crestfallen when I took my brush and wiped out a painting that just wouldn't turn out. Painting is always a crap shoot. It doesn't matter how talented an artist is, how much training the artist has, or how dedicated he or she is. It is always a difficult balancing act. On the same day I was ready to tear my hair out another painting worked out great! One of the best surfaces I have ever achieved on a painting! Go figure

I am trying more and more to get attention for my work. I work like a fiend and would like to be compensated for my efforts. Be sure to check out my work at kendall-kessler.artistwebsites.com. Also I sell on ebay. Just put Kendall Kessler in the search.

mountain paintings
figure impressionism greeting cardspaintings

Alan by Our Window in California

My favorite new painting, "Alan by Our Window" is now in a wonderful patron's home in California. I now have two paintings in California along with paintings in thirteen other states. It is great to find homes for my creations. I scanned this painting directly into my computer before mailing it and the scanned version is warmer colored than the one I took with my Nikon.

If I sell the other small paintings I have on ebay right now I will scan them in also. I am newriverartist on ebay. It is great to have huge files for fineartamerica.com. Then patrons can get an archival prints on paper or canvas in small or large sizes.

Alan by Our Window and Other Small Gems

The painting of Alan at two is now on ebay and I am going to post it here. I am excited about this little gem. I enter a lot of online contest in Fineartamerica.com and recently tied for first place in one. I have won a number of the contests. I am going to look for other online competitions that are juried by prominent members of the art world. I want this painting to be seen by others that understand the accomplishment of intricate brushwork.

I have won awards from artists I respect but it has been a while since my work was judged by well known artists. I am only an adjunct teacher at Radford University so I don't feel obligated to suffer the steep costs involved in national and international competitions. The shipping alone has become outrageous.

I am also excited about two evening scenes I am doing of a local lake and a shore scene. Modulating warm and cool colors always keeps me going. My studio, Towhee Hill Studio is open to the public 3-5 Tuesdays and Thursdays or by appointment. Call ahead in case of emergency. 540-257-3437

Bringing Back a Moment

I just completed a small painting of my twenty-five year old son Alan when he was two. The painting was done from part of an old photograph of him looking out the window of our apartment to the grass below. He often did this with such an intent look on his face.

With this painting I reached back in time and captured a visual experience that is infinitely more expressive and emotive than the photograph. When I look at the painting with it's strong brushwork and compelling color contrast I am so happy that I took up painting many years ago. It is a mystical experience that energizes my days and gives me purpose.

I wish I could upload it now but it is extremely wet. I am going to photograph it tomorrow and place it on ebay. I want to spread my excitement and joy throughout the world. I am now in fourteen states and counting.

Small Gems at Towheehillstudio.etsy.com

I am so excited about my new small paintings featured at Towheehillstudio.etsy.com I feel like a lot of directions I have taken in the past are merging as I continue to delight in the process of painting. These paintings are based on various locales in the Blue Ridge mountains but there is a lightness to the brushwork and color that is happiness itself.

I wish some rich patron would find me, believe in my ability, sense my utter exhuberance and support me so I could work most of the hours of the day. I go to bed thinking about painting and I wake up thinking about painting. Please check out the site. I hope my joy will come to you through my work