Hi Everyone - anyone

[Paul Chapman]

I have no idea what to expect from this forum. I am guessing that fellow artists can post things that they might want to share - like shows they are in or problems they might be having with a painting or sculpture.
I don't even know where this goes when it gets "Posted". I do know that I like what pictures I have seen - and I think it is terrific that there is a site that a bunch of artist types can get together to ...network.
If this is appropriate - some background might help place me in some kind of thought pattern. I did teach for over 35 years at all of the levels, but mostly at high school - I was a department head and a negotiator and all of that stuff. I retired in 2001 and never looked back. Part of my life plan was to teach and after the family obligations lessened or, eased might be a better word, I would teach and create my own art as well. That didn't happen - when our first 2 kids who were close in age (20 months apart) got to be grown teens, we had a 3rd - changing the timeline for my art. I probably could say, here, that I built and remodeled houses in the spare time I had and supported my wife as a truck driver and lifter for the craft shows she was in. So, the changes that happened in 2001 allowed me to start the second half of my plan. So, now I sit here thinking that I am a professional artist who has chosen painting in acrylic paints, my future. I might say that I wished I had started sooner but, to be honest, I have enjoyed each portion of my life and I wouldn't change a thing. I have been in many shows and I have won some prizes and I will continue with this lifestyle until I croak.
Well, that might be enough for my first posting. I have to go back to my easel.

[Paul Chapman]

As far as money is concerned - I don't think I will ever get rich selling art. Many years ago I saw that it was much easier to sell teddy bears at a craft show than it was to sell art at an art fair - so my wife sold bears for 20 years and I drove the truck. I have sold some things but I am surely glad to have a pension to rely on. And.. I think of the time you had with your kids was time with them not time away from art...

[D'Ann Blair]

Hi Paul. I am in the same situation, sorta. Raised the kids, home schooled them for 6 years until I could not teach algebra 2, loved it and now I have great kids, 23 and 24 years old. Wish i had painted before the kids left home though. Maybe I'd be somewhere now. I need the money. (but then you think about it, you don't have time to do everything. they were the most important thing at the time right?) Anyway, nobody comments on my page either. Hope your painting becomes prosperous for you. Me too! Hey nobody comments on my page either. need to go do my taxes now. Ha! penpals? D'Ann - Jacksonville, Florida