One person for every painting

 I believe that there is one person for every quality painting that gets produced at Birdsong Studios. Whether it's one of my works or one of Heather's, there is a person in the world that will connect with every painting, no matter the subject.

A lovely lady named Cathy walked into the studio a couple of days ago to pick up my "Night Raven" painting that she had purchased in our recent auction. She turned the corner from the office area into the studio space and locked eyes on Heather's "Urban Aurora" painting. Her reaction was immediate and strong. She bought it.

"It's an early birthday present for myself," she said. "I know exactly where it is going to hang."

A few days later, Heather and I were in the house preparing dinner when the studio bell rang. We ran out and welcomed two ladies, one from Edmonton and the other from Calgary. They were doing a studio/gallery tour of the area. One of them locked onto a portrait I had done of Stan Laurel, a painting that absolutely no one had reacted to or shown any interest in since I did it. That was the one she had to have. I happily gave her a great deal and she walked out the door happy.

There is no explaining what connects a viewer with a painting. We all have different experiences, memories and sensibilities. An emotional reaction that I might have to a cactus painting in a gallery down in Arizona might have absolutely no impact on 99 percent of the other people that see it. However, in my case, it inexplicably brought me to tears. Almost a decade later, I still regret not buying it.