Keeli reminded me in a message just a short while ago of how heart-warming it is to be validated as an artist. I don't toot my own horn very often because it feels a little vain to me, but something she said prompted me to share some recent works with you all for critiquing.

I love photography, but have also been dabbling in the fractal arts in an effort to come up with works that have an organic feel to them.

I had the honour of being selected as one of the four "emerging artists" at Guelph's annual "Art in the Street" this past July and it was a wonderful experience. My first Art Show!

As an emerging artist my fee to display and sell was waved. Thank God! That gave me a bit of a financial cushion to have some works printed or there would have been no show for me at all.

At the end of the day I had sold 6 pieces. Four of my nature photography photos and two fractals.

With little money and only three weeks to prepare, the task seemed both daunting and exhilarating at the same time. My husband built me a display unit and both of my sons helped me set up and take down. My son Colin and friend Laura spent the day with me at the booth.

What I learned is that people don't want to order out of a book or buy something unframed when they are attending an art show. Take the time and expense to build an inventory and frame your pieces so that the impulsive new owner can take it home and hang it on the wall immediately. When people like something, they want to be able to display it the second they get home.

The most important lesson is....DON'T UNDERPRICE. We keep forgetting how much time and effort go into each one of our offerings. The value is much higher than the cost of the photo-processing.