From Bennie:

I wanted to make a few comments about the artwork for sale. As a reader here you can see that we've only sold two pieces in the first month of this blog. There could be a variety of reasons for that ranging from just not interested to being worried about secure payment. I felt compelled to at least address what might be a few concerns in the purchase process.

Because this blog is so important to our family please feel certain that I will never misrepresent any of the paintings offered for sale here. If the work is a shared effort with Ben it will be labeled as such. If it is a work of my own I will make that clear. The same goes for my giclee prints. It very important to me that a buyer is 100% happy with the artwork he or she has purchased. I will always honor a return for the original price. I have actually had this occur at one of my shows this past year. I lost an immediate sale but I gained the respect of perhaps a long-term customer.

Also you can be assured that a check or credit card purchase will be handled confidentially. Obviously the most secure method of payment is through PayPal. Eventually I will provide a direct link to PayPal on this blog. In the meantime please know that any e-mail I recieve with your credit card information is forwarded to me on a secure server. Other than myself no one else will see it. I will promptly send you a return receipt.

Finally you probably have noticed that currently I am using two "auction" sites for you to view the artwork, read the descriptions, and in most cases bid on the pieces allowing you the opportunity to purchase works cheaper than I would have them priced at a festival. I have already established an e-Bay store but have yet to reach the number of sales necessary to use the "Buy It Now" option. Therefore I'm placing most of the paintings for sale on this blog at ArtByUs.com. This is a most excellent website for artists and art buyers. In most cases the artist can list his work for free and therefore pass savings to the buyers (something e-Bay cannot touch!). At both locations you can easily use the PayPal function.

In the next few weeks I will be offering for sale a children's book written by my mother and illustrated by me (some of you are already familiar with it), more giclee prints, and sets of notecards featuring my best paintings. Please consider these as gift possibilities during the fast approaching Holiday Season.

One last thought; if you are concerned that we won't follow through with our promised donation to Ben's school please feel free to contact Ms. Kristy Adams (Ben's school teacher) through the links section on the right side of this page. Look for the link to Ben's class and you will find Kristy's school e-mail. I certainly would investigate a charity program I was unfamiliar with and will not be offended in the least bit. In fact I will probably never know you got in touch with Ms. Adams. This week I will be presenting to her a check for the October sales. $25 doesn't sound like much but it's enough to pay for a Thanksgiving party for Ben's class!

As always our family thanks you so very much for coming here and hearing about our journey. I would like to report that Ben is definitely getting better by the hour. Today is the first day since Wednesday we've allowed him to wear the device over his trache that allows him to talk. Believe me we're all hearing about it!