Paintings in progress and studio notes from fine artist Denise Rich, specializing in cow paintings and commissions from client photographs.

Several months ago I did a custom painting for a client in Norway of his Highland cows.  The internet is wonderful

for this, as my client Olav was able to send me his photo through email, and I was able to send him updates as well.

Usually I ship the paintings stretched, but to save the very high costs of shipping to Norway I removed it and shipped

it rolled in a tube, if I recall correctly the shipping ended up costing around $60.  Olav had it stretched and framed on his end, and I'm

so thrilled to see it in a photo he sent me recently hanging in his cabin.  Thank you Olav!  It looks great!

Painting large format, a new commissioned piece.

Once or twice a year I run a 'Win a painting' contest, with the winner chosen by random drawing.

Entry is simple,  just fill out the form.  This last contest the entries closed at the end of June, a few complications

delayed the drawing, but here it is:

There is always a story behind the winner, and this time is no exception!  When Jordan was notified that he was the winner

he didn't quite recall entering.  At first I was disappointed, because a lot of you are anxiously waiting to see if you were lucky

enough to win, so the fact that someone won who wasn't especially looking forward to it seemed like a bit of a let down.

Then  I got more of the story, in Jordan's words:

"You cannot imaging how surprised I was to learn I won the painting. The remarkable thing is, the other day I unexpectedly attended an art show at a local pub, where I won an oil painting as a door prize, so this marks the second painting I've won in my life in as many tries. If only my lotto tickets would turn out this way :)

Although I enjoy art I would not consider my artistic tastes to be very sophisticated. I can tell you that I like a certain piece of art, but I cannot begin to explain why. I know that I liked your art when I saw it so I entered the contest. As for how I ended up on your site, I have no idea. I think I just stumbled on it via google and after winning the painting at the pub I thought I might as well put my name in. I can't remember what search strings I used to find it, or what I was originally looking for. This is a little unfortunate considering I studied information seeking behaviour in library school.

Your assistant asked me if I liked cows. To be honest I've never thought much about them. I guess now that I will have a couple of cows staring back at me from my desk I will have plenty of time to think about it. After I got the phone call my mind kept running through a clip I saw on “The Soup”from the show Toddler's and Tiaras where a little girl keeps chanting “I get a cow” :) "

Jordan Drew

After reading this I was just fine with the situation, in fact, it's quite obvious it was meant to be!

Congratulations to Jordan, I'm so glad you won the painting!

8"x10" Holstein Heifers will be on it's way to Canada shortly and I can't wait to hear what the next

installment in the Jordan acquiring artwork saga will be, but I'm glad to have been part of it.

Even though I've been pretty quiet in terms of posting on this blog, I have been busy.

Here is a little sneak peek into the studio of some of my recent projects:

Now that blog title isn't meant to insult anyone, and I'm probably not talking about you :) however there are some folks

out there that just don't get it, and I'd like to try and explain what I think "it" is.

1. It doesn't have to be expensive, it just has to be special to you.

It's about satisfaction and just plain enjoyment, having things that give you a special feeling when you look at them.  Not just an "oh yes, that matches the couch perfectly" feeling, but an "oh that takes my breath away" or "makes me smile every time I look at it" feeling.  And it doesn't have to cost a dime!

I can't say it any better than this comment from a client I was conversing with recently about her art collection:

"I just gather things that I like, are visually striking (like your cows) or that mean something to me. I framed a drawing of an Easter bunny I did when I was little. People love that one! And a felt purse my mom made years ago. I started buying art when I was at Iowa State in the 70s and still have and display them."

I love what she said and thought it deserved sharing, as well as the Easter bunny drawing she mentioned seen below!

(Thank you for sending this to me Diane, it's wonderful, I especially love the flower hat.)

She collects art she likes, is visually striking, or that means something to her, having already gotten over thirty years of enjoyment

out of work collected in college, and still more out of one of her favorite childhood drawings.  It really is that simple. 

2. It might be expensive, but what does "expensive" really mean?

There is a Starbucks to the right of my studio, and the courthouse to the left.  Every day I see the same people walk past my window and come back with a $5 coffee.  It has occured to me that "expensive" is just a matter of priorities for some, how many of the people who spend at least $100 a month on fancy coffee would say they can't afford to collect original art?  For a years worth of

Starbucks coffee anyone would be able to have a great collection going.  That's $1200, which would give you a lot to choose from in terms of original art. 

Now I'm not saying anyone should give up their Starbucks, them's fighting words, I only suggest that if you do love art, it might actually be worth as much as that caffeine indulgence, and the enjoyment factor with art keeps on giving, in fact will last much longer than you will.

Add the fact that many artists, myself included, will work out payments, and there is no reason

to deprive yourself of either one, certainly no reason to say you can't afford fine art.

It's just a matter of priorities.