equestrian pastel portrait Collierville Tennessee

What are your New Year's Resolutions?


I wish for peace, prosperity and love for all in 2011.

As we grow up, we learn that the one person who isn't supposed to let you down, probably will, and the one person that you never thought would be there for you, is. 


You're going to have fights with your friends, you're going to lose some of your friends, you may even fall in love with one of your friends. 


You will eventually lose someone you love and love someone you never thought you'd find. 


People are going to hate you, love you, love to hate you, and hate to love you, but the ones you mean the most to, will always be there for you in the end

Phillippians: 3:13-14

No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all i should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing.  Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.

Happy New Year!!!!!

Insure your Art!

"The Scream" and "Madonna" both by Edward Munch were stolen in broad daylight from the Munch museum in Oslo,Norway.   The art was not insured against theft.    The reason for no theft insurance?   The belief that irreplaceable paintings need not be insured.    

Is it better though to be compensated five million dollars for your stolen art or nothing?      

The cost of insuring a museum's entire collection is prohibitive.    Entire collections are not  usually stolen and therefore  having "incident" insurance is an option.  

Photograph and document your art.     Insure your art for the amount it would take to replace it in the event that would be possible.  Keep in mind a portrait commissioned in 1995  for $10,000.00 might  cost $25,000.00 to replace by the same  or comparable calibre artist.  Don't forget how much you invested in the framing.   Expensive frames also go up in value and might cost twice what you paid ten years ago.

Many artists save  reference photos in case of fire, flood, or theft.

Understand your insurance policy    Theft/damage insurance for art usually costs $1-$2 annually per $1,000.00 of coverage.  

Your basic homeowners policy will not cover much in the way or artwork.   It is best to have specialty insurance through Chubb or Great American.

First Christmas Pastel portrait Portrait University Park Dallas TX

Frist Christmas

Pastel on Paper

Longreen Foxhounds

November 6th, 2010

A crisp beautiful morning at Birdlands
Como, MS




The 53rd Annual 


Blessing of the Hounds 


The Reverend Sam Godfrey presiding.

Bless, O Lord, rider and horse, and the hounds that run, in their running.  Bless and shield these riders from danger to life and limb. 

May thy children who ride and Thy creatures that carry, come to the close of the day unharmed.

Bless those over whose lands we hunt and grant that no deed of ours may cause hurt or trouble.

Bless all the creatures who partake in this hunt and grant that they may find their true destiny in Thee

Bless these hounds to our use and their lowly part in thy Service.  O God, who sanctifieth all things by Thy word, pour down Thy blessings upon these 

Thy servants their horses and their hounds, to all who shall take part in this hunt, grant protection of body and soul. 

 Grant that the spirit of true sportmansship may prevail in all that we do this day.

May the Blessings of God almighty be upon you now and reign with you always in Jesus' name we pray.

Our beloved Trumpet 

with Melissa up!

Chip Carruthers

The Snooty Foxes

Birdlands

Home of Jake and Harriet McFadden

Sir Alfred Munnings The $7,000,000 Artist

Sir Alfred Munnings

Immensely popular in the UK and America Sir Alfred Munnings is known world wide for his equestrian art.


  Few artists have acheived the fame and fortune of Munnings in their lifetime.

 Blinded in one eye from a briar while lifting a dog over a hedge,  he was determined to follow his dream of painting.

And follow it he did!!

His works  have found homes with some of the wealthiest patrons

His greatest love was the racing scente.

His ability to capture movement is unsurpassed.

The highest price to date (January 2007) of a Munnings painting was from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. John Whitney.

 "The Red Prince Mare," sold for $7,848,000, far above his previous auction record of $4,292,500 set at Christie's in December, 1999.

Munnings was elected president of the Royal Academy of Art in 1944 and was knighted in the same year.

 Winston Churchill, who was also an avid painter,  once said to him, "Alfred, if you met Picasso coming down the street would you join with me in kicking his... something something?" to which Munnings said he replied "Yes Sir, I would".

 He died  on July 17,1959. . 

Sir Alfred Munnings 1878-1959: An Appreciation of the Artists and a Selection of his Paintings

Wyland Marine Art

Robert Wyland has been described as the  Michaelangelo of marine life.


   He's his very own industry on the scale of Martha Stewart and Oprah.        Sculptor, writer, painter, photograper and scuba diver, Wyalnd's work is sought after by collectors worldwide.


He has galleries in coastal states from Hawaii to S. Carolina.  He even has his own brand of wine!


www.wyland.com

God Bless The USA

 

Please visit www.911freedomforfamilies.org for a list of names of all who perished at the Pentagon, Ground Zero and "that Pennsylvania field".

 www.operationshoebox.com gives instructions on how to get much needed items and letters of support to our troops.

As my George starts his freshman year in  Birmingham, AL safely on US soil, a fellow 2010 graduate is beginning his life as a soldier in Afghanistan.   

  A trip to WalMart with a supply list enabled us to gather things needed for life in the desert. to be sent to this Memphis soldier.   We thought of what we would want George to have if it were him over there.    

  Don't forget letters and pictures.   They are far from home and need to know we haven't forgotten them.   They want to hear about football season and the daily happenings in our American way of life.

One Memphis group that sent a box  received a thank you note from an officer who said the letters brought tears to the eyes of his men.   He said it helped them to know someone cares.

We  are safe because of them.

Consider asking fellow workers or friends to purchase items to ship out.   If you are gathering with friends anywhere ask them to bring at least just one thing--chapstick or toothpaste-- for your own operation shoebox.

  It is the least we can do.   

They need dental floss, cookies,  gum, Kool Aid on the Go, sun lotion, playing cards, phone cards etc   We added football magazines and Halloween candy.   

There is no WalMart- or a Walgreens-on-every-corner over there!  We take it for granted over here.

  We are deeply saddened by the fact that  Liza's schoolmate has received word his brother was killed in Afghanistan a few days ago.

Freedom isn't free 

Who Dunnit?- An art caper of the highest order!

It was  August 21, 1911 and "The Mona Lisa",  Leonardo De Vinci's most famous painting, was stolen right off the wall of The Louvre in France.   

It was not noticed to be missing until the next day.   The museum officials spent that morning checking all throughout the museum to see if it was being photographed or cleaned.  There was no way they could believe it could have been stolen.

  It was gone alright.   Sixty Paris police investigators were summoned to the Louvre to scour the museum for clues.

The museum  closed for a week while the search was on.   After it reopened scores of people stood in line to look at the empty space where the painting once hung.

With few clues to go on  public speculation was rampant.   The French blamed the Germans.    The Germans blamed the French.

Months went by and still no luck. 

Was the Mona Lisa lost forever? 

Finally two years later in 1913 the thief resurfaced.

A well known antique dealer, Mr. Geri,  placed a newspaper ad in several Italian newspapers soliciting art and antiquities.     Someone named "Leonardo" sent him a letter saying he had the Mona Lisa.

 He wanted to sell the painting for 500,000 lire and a promise the painting would not leave Italy.  He wished to restore to Italy what had been stolen by Napolean  Mr. Geri was skeptical but met with the this man after informing the authorities.

Geri watched in amazement as Leonard opened an old suitcase and removed the contents of old clothes.   He then lifted the false bottom.

There lay the Mona Lisa!

The official seal of the Louvre was spotted on the back of the painting.  

"Leonardo",  was actually Vincenzo Peruggia, who had once worked at the Louvre and new his way around.

The public went wild when the painting was found !  It went on display throughout Italy until was returned to France with great fanfare in December of 1913.

The Art of William Aiken Walker 1839-1921

William Aiken Walker was born into aristocracy as the son of a  prominent cotton agent in Charleston, SC.  

 He served in the Confederate Army under General Wade Hampton's South Carolina Brigade until he was wounded. 


 (Wade Hampton happens to be the name of Scarlett O'Hara's son in Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind--there must be a link there but I digress!)

After the war Walker sold postcard studies and small works to tourists up and down and across the Southeast.   A true genre painter of plantation life, his work was in great demand.
  
He charged between .50-$3.00 for works that today might bring $25,000.00

He  sold many paintings on the street corners of in the Vieux Carre.

Extremely talented, Walker sang and played both the violin and piano.   

Walker had a great personality and was invited to all the plantations throughout the south.  He became friends the plantation workers and they loved to have him paint them at their daily work.




He travled from New Orleans to the Blue Ridge mountains, down to Charleston, and along the coast southwards to Florida.

 Walker had a brisk business at each resort stop selling small paintings to tourists depicting scenes of rural cabins, cotton pickers, and palmetto-lined beaches.  

A shrewd businessman, Walker sold to galleries and photo shops what he did nto sell on th streets.


 During his time in time in New Orleans: "Cotton Plantation on the Mississippi" and "The Levee, New Orleans," both of which were probably commissioned by wealthy patrons.


 

Walker's dock scenes  and his paintings of black sharecroppers and plantation life  have always been the most popular.

Walker died in Charleston when he was 91,

WHAT IT'S WORTH: Walker's work has been considered collectible since the 1930s.  The demand for art of the
African-American culture is increasing. Thus his work continues to rise in value each year.

The brass roundel originally estimated at $15-20,000 ended with a sale price of $44,062.50 after a spirited round of bidding at a recent auction.