I think about all the time and effort I put into a painting. And then the joy of selling it. Trouble is, when it is gone, it is gone. And you have to start all over again. Now imagine selling it over and over again, at a reduced price so that many others can share your work, with minimum effort and high long-term returns. That is what can happen if you make prints of your paintings. The methods available today are very sophisticated, and easy, with minimum outlay.

Why should I buy a giclee print rather than an original?
As an artist, I thought that the only thing to spend my hard-earned cash on would be an original work. After all, they are often available for reasonable amounts if you look for them. Someone once said that when you buy an art print, all you are really buying is the frame… the print is not worth much, and will not usually appreciate in value, as could a painting. But then I remembered when I first began to collect art for my walls. I certainly could not afford originals, and art prints were my only option. In that way I could look at really great works of art for a minimum amount of money. It’s a bit like writing a song, you don’t sell the song, you sell records.

What are your thoughts on giclee? Leave a comment.

So I talked about how you can turn your home into a living soul with personality and how color in paintings can speak to us and affect us because of their unique color vibrations, let’s talk about chakra’s, these are “force centers” living in us, Each chakra vibrates to a specific color. Energetically, we are color – yes, I’m a colored person and so are you! We are vibrational light beings. We totally respond to color because we are color. Therefore, using color in our lives can have a profound affect on our feelings and on our well being. This concept is so powerful that Rudolph Steiner, the creator of the famous Waldorf School, used specific colors on the walls in classrooms to affect the children. You can use paintings in your own home, or office, to create a healing environment. This is why so many people who have looked at my paintings always react with some kind of an emotion, they smile, nod their head in approval, sometimes laugh, and sometimes cry, I like to think that it’s a combination of the “stories” that are in the paintings and the color itself.

Now here are the basic characteristics of color:
Red – energizing, passion, strength, motivation, adventure, active, grounded, security, survival, vital
Orange – uplifting, stimulating, joy, excitement, movement, creativity, sexuality, spontaneity, fun, pleasure
Yellow – power, lightness, control, refreshing, emotional, sensitive, clarity, focus, vulnerability, sense of self
Green – balance, harmony, earth, heart, healing, honest, stable, compassion, comforting, loving kindness, sharing
Blue – calming, clear, protective, soothing, cool, communication, expression, tranquil, crystal, truth
Violet – meditative, introspection, confidence, intuition, perceptive, self-respect, elevating, dignity, gentle
White, Pink, Gold – pure, romantic, love, feminine, warm, caring, nurturing, wisdom, divine, transcendence

Keep in mind it’s not only the color that has the character but the combinations and relationships of colors, coupled with the actual art, or story, on the canvas.

Well that wraps up this weeks post, so go to my portfolio page and consider purchasing one to let your home “speak”, give it a voice – your home will thank you!

Are you ready to hear something cool? Our emotional development precedes our mental development….it’s true! Our hearts come before our minds. Every one of us experiences the vibration of our mothers heart in the womb long before our minds are at work thinking. We are seven years old before we embark on the journey of mental development. Prior to that, we are being emotionally blueprinted for life. It seems that once we get on the mind train, the world of feeling becomes the caboose….funny how that works. However, as we go through life, it is really the world of feeling that is driving the train. We just aren’t aware of this most of the time. We are too busy thinking, not feeling. It is only when we begin to experience uncomfortable feelings coming up from the depths, over and over again, that we return, or not, to the world of our feelings. Our emotional blueprint has made a home in our subconscious, and the mind has never known what to do with this “quirky” neighbor. At some point in our life, if we are going to be able to really feel our feelings, we have to invite our hidden emotions over for dinner so we can introduce them to the mind, get to know them and integrate them as friends. Then we can consciously create our lives.
So what does all this have to do with color? Color is healing. It helps us to feel, and when we feel, we heal. Colors vibrate, and each one has its own unique vibration. The human body is also composed of seven major energy centers called chakras, and that’s what I’m going to be talking about next week, until then check out my portfolio page and let your emotions do the talking!

If you were around in 1964 and you had your radio on you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing “I Get Around” by the Beach Boys blaring from your small transistor radio, I can hear it now “get around, round, round I get around, from town to town get around round round I get around I’m a real cool head get around round round I get around – I’m makin’ real good bread, round round get around I get around”

Well we can talk about the “makin’ real good bread” at a later time but Bessette art is really gettin’ round! This month I’m the featured artist in a funky new eclectic studio in New Hope PA, it’s part hair salon, part art gallery and it’s called The Studio. Run by Terry Meehan they’re gearing up for their grand opening in a month and I am completely honored to be the Featured artist offline in The Studio and on their website, if you’re in need for a new hair style (a real cool head) and you’re in the New Hope area PLEASE stop by on March 17th for the grand opening. And now back to crankin’ the tunes and attacking another blank canvas!

Check out the featured artist here

The first two images are actually in the same home….Mine! Sometimes I create a painting and when it is finished I simply am not ready to release it to the world. So they live here for a bit.
The third image is my most recent  beautiful connection. Brian and Traci Wachter live in Raleigh. Traci saw a small painting called the Goddess at my gallery, Artsource in North Raleigh and fell in love with it. Since it was too small for their chosen spot in their home, they called for a consult to see what we could do about creating a larger one. When I visited their home it was apparent how much their two boys meant to them as there were gorgeous pictures of them everywhere! I felt the “love energy” of family and suggested that we recreate the Goddess painting in a new way. So I created this family Portrait called ” The Love We Share”
I think we hit the mark on this one and I’m honored to now be such an important part of this beautiful family’s life.

The fourth image resides in the home of an amazing woman in North Carolina. I was asked to give a gallery talk at Broadhurst Gallery. This painting, I explained was a version of my mother. When I shared my story of the painting, This woman became quite emotional. You see, my story and this painting reminded her of her mother….Well you can guess what happened next.

The last two images are at Sandra Morgan Design Firm and Broadhurst gallery. The painting has since sold to an amazing couple in Connecticut and the painting at Broadhurst has sold as well.

I am now going to be more vigilant in taking these photos of my work in their spaces when I have permission to do so. I’m deeply affected by this little exercise and how it reminded me of the real reason that I am an artist…..Connection.

I believe everyone is an artist, and the artist in you has imagined a dream for your life

“For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality.

I learnt never to underestimate someone’s capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honor at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
This came from every male patient that I nursed, women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never
became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical
details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end.
That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again. When you are on your deathbed, what  others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness!

I layer and glaze and scratch and draw. I often scribble and scrape my way through to the layers underneath then glaze over and continue on when it is dry. My glazing techniques create a luminosity and depth in  my paintings that make you feel like you could step into them.  I love the way paint feels so I often paint with my fingers, sponges and rags. Finding paint under my fingernails at a dinner party is not uncommon for me. My friends don’t seem to mind.