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'Time to renew the debate!

Hi! I've been away for a bit. Stuck out at sea without Internet... There'll be more of that over Christmas and the New Year, unfortunately. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing loads of your new artwork uploads when I get back in January. Happy Christmas everyone - and a prosperous and inspirational New Year to all!

Great! I'm looking forward to seeing those portraits!

Naughty Boy! Tell me more!!!!!!!!!!!! : (In a pm, of course!!)

Just a quick tip... You'll find if you click on "Add Reply" (at the top of the post,) rather than "Reply" (at the bottom,) you will get a text entry box that does not include a full quote of the post to which you are replying. The + / - Quote button at the bottom, is supposed to be a toggle switch, (I think?!) but it never seems to work... Hope this helps

Hi Angel312! It's good to have you on board at artfreaks.com! Although the site has been going for some time now, there aren't really that many members active in the forums, just yet. But hopefully, that will change and you'll be able to "meet" and interact with plenty of other people who are into art... Anyway, whilst we are waiting for the membership to gain a sizable and active base, there is no reason why you can't start uploading some of your art. Basically, what you need to do is to click on "My Controls," (the link only shows up when you are logged-in.) Then, in the Menu panel on the left-hand side of the screen, you click on "Invision Gallery / Your Albums." You will see an error message that says something like "You don't have any albums" Then you just click on where it says "Create your first album" You will need to give your album a title and a short description. You will also need to select a category for your album. Once your album has been created, you will see a little drop-down menu. Click on either "Upload Image," (if you only want to upload a single image) - or "Bulk Upload," if you want to upload up to 10 images at a time. That should present you with a dialogue box where you will be able to select the images that you want to upload from your computer You can create as many albums as you like and currently, (as of November, 2007,) there are no limits as to the amount of disc space that you can fill-up on my server!!! Just one little tip... You will find that if your images are to big, they will take forever to upload - or they will not upload at all... You really need to reduce your image file sizes down to less than 200Kb per image - and physical dimensions of the image should not be much more than about 1,200 X 850 pixels. Any problems, give me a shout! P.S., you should try pastels. I absolutely adore working with them!!

Bird Watching! http://www.artwanted.com/imageview.cfm?ID=...amp;RefID=38385 Great stuff! I love it!

Hi! Thanks for your comments. I must admit, I also prefer "Tussinee - One (The Manic-Depressive Art Version!)" to "Tussinee - Two (The 4th Attempt!!)" I think version "Two" is a little bit scary!! Yeah... It's a difficult one, that - trying to paint when you are really not in the mood... When I am on leave from my job as a seaman, I tend to spend a lot of time sitting at my computers, working on websites and stuff. (I usually have two computers on the go; both using different networks, in order to be able to cope with slow and unreliable connections in the Philippines.) Anyway, sometimes I spend too much time at my computers and it wears me down. So then I take to doing a bit of painting in order to relax myself. Sometimes I find the creative process a wonderful tonic. Other times I just can't get my self in the mood and I end-up wasting a lot of expensive art materials... This can be a real dilemma... I want to paint, in order to get myself back into good spirits - but I CAN'T paint because I am feeling down!???!! I guess I should try some form of exercise or doing something totally different, in order to get me back into the right mood for painting? I might give that one a try, next time I run up against a brick wall!

I've been manically busy with this and some of my other websites for most of my present vacation, (from my work as a seaman.) And yes - I have also been going through one or two pretty minor depressions. Nothing serious, you understand - just the normal stuff that anyone would suffer, when they have been putting their heart, sole, all their energy and almost every waking hour; day after day into a task that they know may or may not eventually reap rewards - or might just as easily end-up in complete failure!!! Not to mention the fact that although I do enjoy building websites - I'd much rather be painting. Or taking my lovely Pit Bull terrier for long walks! Anyway, when I was just about at breaking point with the amount of time and energy I was spending on constructing and running websites, I decided it was time to take a break and get back into some painting before I got called back to my job at sea. The below effort was about my third attempt at painting a pastel portrait from a photo of a lovely Thai girl, called Tussinee. Each attempt was getting progressively worse than the previous. When I finally realized that I just wasn't in the mood for painting, I lost my patience with it and defaced the thing completely. Then again, when I looked at it, I just thought; "Hey! I'm going to keep this one!" Tussinee - One (The Manic-Depressive Art Version!) The disaster with "Tussinee - One" did help to get something-or-other out of my system. Somehow, I quite like that painting. I decided to keep it, as it represents a small part of my life... Anyway, the fact that I had something that I actually wanted to keep - rather than burning, along with all the other failed attempts, prompted me into starting my 4th attempt at doing justice to the lovely Tussinee... Tussinee - Two (The 4th Attempt!!) Still not quite what I wanted... In many ways, more scary than my "Manic-Depressive" version of this painting in Tussinee - One!! Still... I feel myself getting back into the mood to paint - which has to be a good thing. At least, it has to be more healthy than sitting in front of a computer screen the WHOLE day?!! Help to support ArtFreaks.com as a free website for amateur and professional artists and photographers: Shop discount arts and crafts supplies at MisterArt.com!

Some "Getting Older" jokes - for all of us!! To start your day off with a giggle, consider this... An elderly gentleman... Had serious hearing problems for a number of years. He went to the doctor and the doctor was able to have him fitted for a set of hearing aids that allowed the gentleman to hear 100% The elderly gentleman went back in a month to the doctor and the doctor said, "Your hearing is perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again." The gentleman replied, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. I've changed my will three times!" Two elderly gentlemen from a retirement center were sitting on a bench under a tree when one turns to the other and says: "Slim, I'm 83 years old now and I'm just full of aches and pains. I know you're about my age. How do you feel?" Slim says, "I feel just like a newborn baby." "Really!? Like a newborn baby!?" "Yep. No hair, no teeth, and I think I just wet my pants." An elderly couple had dinner at another couple's house, and after eating, the wives left the table and went into the kitchen. The two gentlemen were talking, and one said, "Last night we went out to a new restaurant and it was really great. I would recommend it very highly." The other man said, "What is the name of the restaurant?" The first man thought and thought and finally said, "What is the name of that flower you give to someone you love? You know... The one that's red and has thorns." "Do you mean a rose?" "Yes, that's the one," replied the man. He then turned towards the kitchen and yelled, "Rose, what's the name of that restaurant we went to last night?" Hospital regulations require a wheel chair for patients being discharged. However, while working as a student nurse, I found one elderly gentleman already dressed and sitting on the bed with a suitcase at his feet, who insisted he! Didn't need my help to leave the hospital. After a chat about rules being rules, he reluctantly let me wheel him to the elevator. On the way down I asked him if his wife was meeting him. "I don't know," he said. "She's still upstairs in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown." A couple in their nineties are both having problems remembering things. During a checkup, the doctor tells them that they're physically okay, but they might want to start writing things down to help them remember Later that night, while watching TV, the old man gets up from his chair. "Want anything while I'm in the kitchen?" he asks. "Will you get me a bowl of ice cream?" "Sure." "Don't you think you should write it down so you can remember it?" she asks. "No, I can remember it." "Well, I'd like some strawberries on top, too. Maybe you should write it down, so as not to forget it?" He says, "I can remember that. You want a bowl of ice cream with strawberries." "I'd also like whipped cream. I'm certain you'll forget that, write it down?" she asks. Irritated, he says, "I don't need to write it down, I can remember it! Ice cream with strawberries and whipped cream - I got it, for goodness sake!" Then he toddles into the kitchen. After about 20 minutes, The old man returns from the kitchen and hands his wife a plate of bacon and eggs. She stares at the plate for a moment. "Where's my toast ?" Three old guys are out walking. The first one says: "Windy, isn't it?" The second one says: "No, it's Thursday!" The third one says: "So am I. Let's go for a beer." A man was telling his neighbor: "I just bought a new hearing aid. It cost me four thousand dollars, but it's state of the art. It's perfect." "Really," answered the neighbor . "What kind is it?" "Twelve thirty." Morris, an 82 year-old man, went to the doctor to get a physical. A few days later, the doctor saw Morris walking down the street with a gorgeous young woman on his arm. A couple of days later, the doctor spoke to Morris and said, "You're really doing great, aren't you?" Morris replied, "Just doing what you said, Doc: 'Get a hot Mamma and be cheerful.'" The doctor said, "I didn't say that. I said, 'You've got a heart murmur; be careful." One more. . .! A little old man shuffled slowly into an ice cream parlor and pulled himself slowly, painfully, up onto a stool.. After catching his breath, he ordered a banana split. The waitress asked kindly, "Crushed nuts?" "No," he replied, "Arthritis." Did you like those? Now, before you 'forget', send them on to some other folks you know who could use a good laugh !