Curses, Daniel Smith!!

I have a confession to make. I love Daniel Smith.

I know, I know. Hard to believe.

It started out somewhat innocently. (Doesn’t it always?)

I needed a particular item that my local art store and even my usual mail order art supply sources didn’t have. I Googled the item and found a company called Daniel Smith. I ordered the item…a little tube of Quintacridone Gold. That started me down the road to my addiction.

Whoever is in charge of marketing at Daniel Smith is a genius. If they were in charge of the U.S. economy we would all be in wonderful shape. First came the emails. Yes, other companies email me. But these emails are diabolically brilliant. They offer things I really want, and worse, things I didn’t know I wanted but once I see them I SIMPLY MUST HAVE THEM!!!

In case you think I’m exaggerating, let me elaborate. One example: they suggest triads - three lovely colors that I’ve never heard of that are used to paint a beautiful whatever…like the “Monarch Triad”, the “Winter Wonderland Triad”, the “Kestrel Triad” and more. I can use these incredible colors to "experiment with color and expand my palette". Yes! As I look at these gorgeous colors I think to myself, “Wow! If I had those colors I would paint so much better. Any problems I have in my painting are probably due to the fact that I don’t have the right color”.

Now, they even have something called “Watercolor Ground”. Lost your whites in a watercolor painting? Don’t like a particular section? No problem. Paint over it, let it dry, and voila! New painting surface. I SIMPLY MUST HAVE IT!!!

Periodically they even offer FREE SHIPPING! Once they even offered a free tube of Quintacridone Gold if I bought four tubes of any color paint. Heck, I was going to buy paint anyway. Eventually.

I can’t resist.

Sometimes I won’t allow myself to open the emails. Then I get their spring catalog. I tell myself I won’t open that either. But the cover illustration is so beautiful. “Is that a watercolor?” I ask myself. "I’ll just open the cover to read about the cover art. OH MY GOSH! Look at those beautiful watercolor sets. I SIMPLY MUST HAVE ONE!!!"

Oh, and yes, every time I have ordered from them, I have promptly received what I ordered and been perfectly satisfied. Dang it.

No, they’re not local, although since we are in the same state, from a Google Earth perspective we are in the same neighborhood.

OK. I don’t NEED anything right now, it’s true. I’ll be perfectly content with what I have. I’m working on wonderful projects…another winter Centennial Trail scene, a mountain daisy composition, a beautiful series of photos from Turnbull Wildlife Refuge. I'll put the catalog away somewhere. Just in case. For later.

Wait! I just got a notice. An email from Daniel Smith!!

Gotta go.