Linda Richeson's Birthday

BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR

LINDA RICHESON

Today was very special. Today we celebrated Linda Richeson's Birthday (Jack's Wife) with a small family gathering in our conference room at lunch. With all the craziness of running a family business, sometimes the best time to get together is at the office! With that in mind we invited Linda to stop by the office when she ran errands today.

As she pulled into the parking lot, family gathered in the conference room. Candles were lit and when Linda walked in, everyone sang Happy Birthday. It is wonderful, in the midst of the craziness of a friday, to be able to take a few moments, gather together and celebrate.

Monday, Linda heads out to Britain to see her grown children and their family's. She has grandchildren near London from her daughter Louise and husband Simon. Up near Leeds, her son Duncan and wife Viv are expecting twins any day!

Happy Birthday Linda!

FRIENDS AT ART OF THE CAROLINAS

Left to Right

BRENDA MATTSON, STEVE QUILLER,

ROCKY ALEXANDER

Art of the Carolinas wrapped up on Sunday afternoon in North Raleigh, NC. The event was busy and offered over 40 instructors teaching a WIDE range of classes. I was blessed to work with three of great folks. Rocky Alexander is a NC resident. She teaches a variety of classes and workshops in NC. It was an amazing experince to have her demonstrating in the Richeson booth for three days. She taught me amazing things about our Richeson Oils I did not know!

Stephen Quiller flew in from Creede Colorado to teach Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Steve is an amazing instructor and an incredible painter. The students ALWAYS rave about his classes. Over the four days he taught watercolor, watermedia, use of color and casein. I truly hated to say good bye to our friend at the end. However, I know as much as Steve loves teaching, he was REALLY excited about going home to Creede and an early snow!

Brenda Mattson taught classes all four days also. Brenda does work with pastel that most painters only dream about! In addition Brenda taught a collage class and mixed media class. It has been exciting watching Brenda expand her teaching into the other areas! In between classes Brenda helped me in the booth. I truly don't know what I would have done without Brenda's help in the booth!

If you get a chance to attend this show next year we would love to see you!

Art of the Carolinas Event

Steve Quiller Teaching Watermedia at

Art of the Carolinas

This week I have been in North Carolina at preparing for the Art of the Carolinas Show. For anyone who is not familiar with this event, it is a great way to take classes and see what's new in Art Materials.

My good friend Stephen Quiller is here this week teaching a variety of classes over a four day period. We tease him and refer to him as "The Maestro". He truly is an amazing painter and teacher. My dream is to one day have the time to take classes from Steve instead of always being a spectator.

To learn more about Steve and his work go to www.quillergallery.com

Art of the Carolinas Show

Another week on the road. I am quickly learning that a once a week post on the Blog is more realistic than daily!!! Tomorrow I leave for Charoltte NC. I visit customers and have the joy of visiting in the evening with my brother David's family.

David is not part of the family business. Some days I think it shows HE is the smart one!

Wednesday I head to Raleigh for the Art of the Carolinas Show. If you happen to be in the Raleigh area, consider stopping in Friday, saturday or Sunday to see. us. We are the the North Raleigh Hilton.

My good friend Steve Quiller will be teaching classes in water media. Still plenty of time to register! He is an amazing instructor.

Hope to see you there!

JACK'S 77TH BIRTDAY PARTY

GETTING READY TO BLOW OUT THE CANDLES!

This week was special. We celebrated my dad - Jack's 77th birthday with a small family gathering. Now you must remember that with the Richeson's, even a small family gathering is usually 20 or more. This night was no different.

Hard to believe Jack started in the Art Materials business when he was only 16 years old. That's 61 years ago! The industry has changed in more ways then you can imagine in that time. Still I can't think of a single person in this industry with as much knowledge on Artist Materials as my dad.

If you are ever curious about what the industry looked like in the 1950's...you must get a copy of his book -"Confessions of a Brush Peddler". It is truly an amazing read!

NEW!!! Richeson Oil Mediums

Richeson Oil Mediums and Richeson Oils

Just got images from our art department today on the packaging for our Richeson Oil Mediums. If you have never had an opportunity to try them, I am confident you will be pleased! These mediums are the perfect partner for the Richeson Oils introduced in August this year. The positive feedback has been exciting for everyone here!

One note on the Oils...if you get frustrated by the oil at the top of New tubes of color, you will be thrilled with the Richeson Oils. We allow the color to rest for between 60 and 120 days after milling. This allows for maximum absorbtion of the oil into the pigment. After "resting" for an appropriate period of time, we test the oils, remove any excess oil and remill if needed before tubing, bringing artists only the best of the best!

Call us at 800/233-2404 for a dealer near you!

Learning and Product Expo Set Up Day

TRADE SHOW SET UP

Thursday was Set Up day for the Pasadena Learning and Product Show. It always amazes me how things look before all the booths are set up and ready for the artists. It looks like an impossible task! There is skid after skid of product waiting for the vendors to transform the space into a beautiful high energy store for the artists to shop.

This particular event has a long history in Pasadena. Started in the late 1970's by the Blacher Brothers. At that time the show was known as Tools of the Trade. The purpose of the show was to give artists a chance to try and experience product they may not be familiar with.

Tomorrow - pictures of the show after set up,