[Mike McCarty]

I don't think I have any good answers for you. Your plight interests me because I struggle with these same rent, food issues every day. How does art pay the bills? Are you any good at basketball or golf?

I'm just typing out loud here, speaking in generalities. I think that when doing figurative work, the more a face is distinctly rendered, the less desirable it becomes to the gallery purchaser. But, it's a sort of self correcting process, when you widen the scene sufficiently, the size of the face diminishes and makes the tight rendering almost impossible. It has to be more about composition, color, attitude, and brush work than whether the persons features are true.

I've made a few gallery purchases over the years and I have always been a sucker for figuative works. I bought one in your state once, in Tuscon at the Settlers West gallery. A young boy sitting in a tree holding a rooster, by Valoy Eaton. I'd post the example here but that would mess up your critique.

Could it be that to much studio work is holding you back? You have a tendency (as I do) to crop tightly. Does this studio work bring about this phenomenon?

One thing seems clear to me, you have a real flare for painting, whether you paint portraits or figurative work. I think you need a manager, an agent, a pusher.