Hi! That is awesome about your granddaughter. I work in pencil and have taken up acrylic the past several years. I am trying to groom my grandaughter in art also she is almost two, still learning her colors but is very visually expressive. I'd like to maybe meet you in person. My name is Mia.

Hi all, I am Patti Underwood from New Jersey. Originally from Philadelphia PA. I am going to have the lap bad .(sometime! it is taking forever) I went to art school in Philly and graduated last May from Hussian school of art. I am not working at it now, but I do polymer clay and just love it. Going to school was always my dream and I went there with kids out of high school and I was 50 years old!. had alot of fun but the critiques were brutal, and now I have less confidence, graphic design was the major, but the course covered everything from printmaking to painting and all the computer programs etc. It is so cool that they have a message board here for all of our interests! Tami, I keep a book just for ideas. no one sees it. so when I get an idea etc. I jot it down and then when I have time I mess around with it. also learn to do "thunbnail" drawings of your ideas. like 2x2 little blocks. so you will fill pages up and get a better idea of it. This is cool! Patti

Go for it young lady. Enjoy yourself. Develop your own style and don't let anybody move you from your cause. If you have the paints, a few brushes and watercolor paper you can start at home. My wife and I will be in Louisville from 25 June to 1 July at the NACC Convention and we will be staying at the Galt. Keep me posted. I bring some Watercolor and paper and then part of the trip can be tax deducted. Don

Great! So glad you guys(and gals) are here. I am a struggling artist myself. Having been pushing my art for many years and its finally going a little. I do a variety of different mediums, but mainly stick with pastels and acrylics. I just started oils and LOVE them. I have currently been paying my bills by doing murals and Trompe l' oeil's. Also doing portraiture on the side to supplement my income. It has been wonderful and inevitably ,one day will have a gallery opening. Im damned and determined!!Thanks for putting this site up! Mark Anthony(I'm A girl)

First of all, I'm very sorry to hear about all of your ups and downs. I hope you are hanging in there. I am a totally disabled Vietnam Veteran and I do paintings of my memories of that time, when I served in the Army as a combat medic. I also have a website, in case you'd like to check any of them out. For me, doing these paintings has been very good therapy. I have always drawn, painted, created images all of my life, but it wasn't until about four years ago that I began feeling brave enough to work through my old memories. It's a bit like unloading all of that internal poison. My next step is to work on my "outer self." I go in to see my doctor in Phoenix about having the lap band procedure done. I have already been approved to have a civilian doctor perform the procedure, so insurance is not really my concern. In fact, I am very ready to get this on and do it-the quicker the better. Please feel free to drop me a line at any time. The biggest thing about doing paintings is just making the time and sitting down to do it! It doesn't matter what they look like, only that they look good to you and say the things that are within you. The fact that people seem to like my paintings is secondary to what they do for me. As they say, Just Do It! If I can help you in any way, just let me know. We are all in this TOGETHER! Doc