Month: May 2014
I am going to get out of here today!
Wildflowers at Fancy Gap Original Painting has been Sold
Prints on Paper or Canvas Available at KENDALL KESSLER ART
I spend so much time on this computer. Today I am getting out of here to swim!
Time for a Walk!
Near Pandapas Original 30″x40″ Oil Painting $2425
Prints on Paper or Canvas Available at KENDALL KESSLER ART
Beautiful evening in Radford! Time to get to the park for a nice walk!
Blue Ridge Mountain Bear Chase near The Blue Ridge Parkway and The Writing on the Wall…
My Artwork
Field of Flowers Original Oil Painting has been Sold
Prints on Paper or Canvas Available at KENDALL KESSLER ART
Natural Rhythm Original 30″x40″ Oil Painting $2425
Prints on Paper or Canvas Available at KENDALL KESSLER ART
I really do have flowers on the brain right now!
Today I found a wonderful Cherokee bear story about Autumn!
The Great Bear
A great black bear ,Nyah- gwaheh was terrorizing a village. Children stayed out of the woods for fear of this animal. Four hunters set out to track down and kill Nyah- gwaheh. The bear was said to possess magical powers and could cause its tracks to disappear. The hunters had a magical dog that could see tracks days after they had vanished.
The four hunters were great hunters but one of them was fat and lazy. He always wanted to take breaks. On one break he reached into his pouch for a snack and found squirmy things in it which was a magical sign that the bear knew it was being hunted.
The bear ran and ran up the mountain to escape the hunters. It was so huge that it was easy to track. The forest was being torn up as it passed. As the bear tired it stopped in its tracks to kill the annoying dog and one of the hunters succeeded in driving an arrow through it.
They cut the bear up and roasted it when one hunter noticed strange sparks in the darkness far below his feet. They were no longer on the mountain but up in the air! The powerful magic of the bear had led them to the world of the sky!
The dog started barking at the pile of bones and they came alive and the hunters chased the bear across the sky.
Legend has it that each autumn the hunters chase the bear across the sky and when it is killed the blood drips from the sky onto the trees. The fat from the fire causes the grass to turn white.
I got this great story from the online publication, Cherokee Myths and Legends of The Black Bear
Life with The Word and Bird Man – Clyde Kessler
Sometimes my husband and I joke about how we got together. It is rather unusual that a girl from McLean VA marries a naturalist poet from a town that is so small it could be on Hee Haws Salute the Small Town section of the show.
The latest quip is I didn’t hold a poem to your head. You could have said no.
My response is I didn’t see the puns on the wall.
Just kidding around! I am very glad I married my mountain man! He is the only one for me!
We need the Rain but I am Glad to see the sun today!
Water Wings Original 16″x12″ Oil Painting $384
Prints on Paper or Canvas Available at KENDALL KESSLER ART
Got to get to the lake and swim! Can’t do that in the rain.
We need that Rain!
Evening River Scene Original 30″x40″ Oil Painting $2425
Prints on Paper or Canvas Available at KENDALL KESSLER ART
Glad to see the rain! We were really getting too dry in Southwest Virginia!
Blue Ridge Healing Waters near The Blue Ridge Parkway and Anticipation!
My Artwork
Lion Explosion Original 20″x16″ Oil Painting $670
Prints on Paper or Canvas Available at KENDALL KESSLER ART
Eagle Fire Original 16″x20″ Oil Painting $670
Prints on Paper or Canvas Available at KENDALL KESSLER ART
I am real excited about my next series of paintings! I am going to do a number of large paintings of Pawleys Island including some sunset over the ocean scenes! It has been a while since I did a shore scene so I am looking forward to these new works.
I am going to do one more Kendall Expression painting and then get started. I have had a great time working on my own brand of Expressionism but I am anxious to get back to my own personal Impressionistic style. I really do live to paint and I love to find homes for my creations! I just mailed Small Flowers to a great Texas patron!
Here are two of my favorite Kendall Expressions paintings and the Youtube video I did on a number of them. I need to get back to making videos! I will soon!
Blue Ridge Healing Waters
The Cherokees have a tradition about healing waters in the Blue Ridge Mountains. According to legend there is a mysterious lake high up in the Smoky Blue Ridge mountains that all animals are aware of and trust to cure their wounds.
It is said that whenever a black bear is wounded by hunters it will go this lake and swim from one shore to the other and then be healed as soon as it reaches the other side.
Healing waters are a part of legends and myths of many cultures. Perhaps that is where we get the myth for the Fountain of Youth.
I found this story on Cherokee Myths and Legends of The Black Bear online publication.
Life with The Bird and Word Man – Clyde Kessler
I wanted to again mention the newest Blue Ridge Discovery Center happening that starts tomorrow!
BRDC Day at Independence Farmers Market
Fri, May 30, 9:30am – 12:30pm
| Where |
Intersection of 21 and 58, Independence, VA
|
|---|---|
| Calendar |
BRDC Web Calendar
|
| Created by |
scott@blueridgediscoverycenter.org
|
| Description |
Kids programs will be provided on site.
|
Good Day to Photograph Artwork!
Dusk on The Little River Original 30″x40″ Oil Painting $2425
Prints on Paper or Canvas Available at KENDALL KESSLER ART
Good day to photograph artwork! I prefer to photograph my paintings on cloudy days. The cool colors look better. Off to work!
The Black Bear in The Blue Ridge Mountains near The Blue Ridge Parkway and Pleased to Sell another Original Painting!
My Artwork
Small Flowers Original Oil Painting has been Sold
Prints on Paper or Canvas Available at KENDALL KESSLER ART
This painting was sold today to a great Texas patron! She is saving her money to buy a large one next!
Mostly Tulips Original 16″x20″ Oil Painting $670
Prints on Paper or Canvas Available at KENDALL KESSLER ART
Summer Path at Rock Castle Gorge Original 30″x40″ Oil Painting $2425
Prints on Paper or Canvas Available at KENDALL KESSLER ART
One of my favorite places on The Blue Ridge Parkway!
I really have flowers on my mind right now!
The Cherokee Legends of The Black Bear
The Cherokee Indians did not always inhabit the mountains of the North East. Some historians claim they have only been here five hundred years after migrating from the upper Mid-West but their traditions, legends and myths date back for thousands of years.
The Cherokee, along with all the Northeastern tribes were comfortable living with the black bear. The southern Blue Ridge Mountains have many Cherokee myths concerning the black bear. They have often seen the black bear as a spirit guide to their people and considered the white bear to be a special spirit. A few are born with white fur. It was a significant part of their ceremonial or religious practices.
Joining The Black Bears
One tale is about a boy that would leave the Ani tsa gu hi’ tribe for a while and come back with significant amounts of hair on his body that was not previously there. The tribe asked him what was going on and he said he was spending time with the black bears where there was much food. He told his tribe they should all join the bears and live in peace with abundant food.
This tribe was part of the Cherokee tribe and they all decided to leave the Cherokees to live with the bears. They told the others not to worry, that they would live forever with the bears. There are Cherokees today that believe some of their people became black bears and their descendants are alive today.
I found this story on Cherokee Myths and Legends of The Black Bear online publication.
Life with The Word and Bird Man – Clyde Kessler
While we were on vacation I had a great time watching River Monsters! I loved to fish when I was a child so it was great to watch Jeremy Wade catch huge fish! In one episode he talked about the fishing method called noodling. The fisherman puts his hand in the fish’s mouth and pulls it out of the water. Considering the types of fish he catches, it is a dangerous sport.
My mountain man laughed when I told him I had never heard of noodling. He said his Dad was doing that when he was a kid. I replied that I bet it is new to people like me that are part of the mainstream culture, not isolated mountain people. He said that was true. His people were so far up the holler the creek ran dry trying to get out.
Just joking! My husband’s great-great uncle George Kessler was one of three founders of Ferrum College and Clyde Kessler is the most knowledgeable person I have ever known. Don’t trust those mountain stereotypes!
Kendall Kessler Art 