It was forwarded by my Texas dealer and refers to the Barn Patrol remarque I first posted here and while you're reading I'll just reach for the Kleenex....

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Dear Mike,
I thought we would share the following e-mail with you. It is from the lady who purchased the pano remarque of BP.

". . . IT'S HERE! I absolutely love it and want to stare at it
constantly!! What a talented artist Mr. Sibley is to be able to capture so completely the spirit of the breed. My remarque is truly wonderful.

I can't give it up yet to the framer but in the next day or so. I guess I shall have to camp out at the framer because I'm not sure I can let it out of my sight. Thank you for taking such good care of it to get to me, Fred. It is something I will treasure for my lifetime."

A couple of days later she sent us another e-mail after she had
taken BP to the framer. The framer told her that it was the best remarque he had ever seen.

Good on you, Mate!

Fred and, of course, Linda Jurman
Settin' Pretty
Rescue is a Warm and Fuzzy
San Antonio, Texas
Setter Stuff Online Catalog update 02/23/03
http://www.setterstuff.com

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MIKE

www.SibleyFineArt.com
www.Starving-Artists.net

"We must become the change we want to see" - Gandhi

... almost better than the money (well,... the money's nice too! ) but what I mean is those sort of compliments are WORTH more than any monetary gain you recieve from the work.

... and you deserve every compliment you get!

Linda Weil
www.users.bigpond.net.au/lindaweil/

well, money is nice if you plan to eat regularly! so money and compliments are even better! But I must admit I do this not for the cash, but because I love it.

yes, logging on in the past few days has been tricky, slow and sometimes an non event.

I have a sneaking suspision that quite a bit of satillite time and net time is being prioritised for more urgent world affairs.

Linda Weil
www.users.bigpond.net.au/lindaweil/

<<i think thats 99% of what its all about,..the money is just a small bonus,id rather do someone a picture for free MY WAY...then to do it for money the way THEY want it done.>>
I couldn't agree more! One of the reasons I'm nearly always broke is because money really doesn't interest me - but drawing does. So I draw what I want to draw then hope I can sell enough to pay the bills. I honestly think it's the brest way - I can't imagine anyone producing their best work, let alone having any passion for it, if the focus is just on monetary gain.

<<BTW..has anyone else had problems getting into this forum?...i kept getting an error?>>
You will have had a problem a couple of days ago because this forum was closed for maintenance - well, that's my guess - I've no more idea than you have except that I noticed a bit of housecleaning had gone on. But I've been having problems with a very very slow connection, which is why I haven't been replying much of late - the pages were talking so long to load they were timing out.

MIKE

www.SibleyFineArt.com
www.Starving-Artists.net

Kevin

Quote I'm not quite sure why it is that you are suprised by a feedback like this.................. You have reached the level you are at to recieve praise like this, as well as make a living doing what you love to do.

I think the "love to do" has a lot to do with it. I've never had a marketing strategy or even a goal - I just draw what I really want to draw and it seems to sell. I'm often asked by my dealers if I'll paint instead as "real art" has a better market. Well, maybe I could - I bought a complete oil painting set up a few years ago in case the muse took me -- and I'm still waiting. The truth is that I love drawing. It does everything that I want it to do and it's my belief that it involves me in the subject like no other other medium can (with the possible exceptions of pen and ink and engraving). No 1" wide pencil for us for slapping in a background - everything has to be created from scratch in a meticulous manner.

If you love doing something I believe it shows through. At first it's the love of actually drawing - discovering what you can do with a pencil - then that progresses to a love of subject, texture, content and just telling a story that you want to share.

None of this has got anything to do with money.

MIKE

www.SibleyFineArt.com
www.Starving-Artists.net

Mike, you have touched many people with your talent, and I think it's fabulous that you are able to make a living from it - evidence that all the good you're putting out there is coming back to you ten-fold. You deserve it!!

"We must become the change we want to see" - Gandhi