yea God is the best and the better. he is the one every one in elfwood should than. i found out that you are now 28 years old... dont ask. are you pregnant? not that your fat or enything. its just cus you got the motherly look. lol!

Courtney Weger Cantrell replies: "No, I'm not pregnant. Thank you for the comments on my pictures."

i love Jesus!

Desert Rose is beautiful. All of your work is beautiful and very very sweet. LOVE IT!

Courtney Weger Cantrell replies: "Thanks for all your kind comments, Anastasiya! I appreciate it that you took the time to visit and peruse my gallery. ) I hope to return the favor soon!"

What I'd like to know is what certain "Christians" think gives them the right to judge a person's art or call things "offensive" -- I mean, nudes? Do they find the work of Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, etc, offensive? Hey I just named 3 out of the 4 Ninja Turtles LOL. Funny how those are still the first renaissance artists that come to my mind.

It just seems ridiculous to me - "OH MY GOD THERE'S A BUTT -- ONLY SATAN LOOKS AT BUTTS! BLASPHEMER!! AAAAGGGHHHHHHHH!!" In my opinion, the act of shaming a person or making them feel guilty for something like that is much more related to the Devil than an artistic rendering of the naked human body, A CREATION OF GOD'S, I might add.

I could rant about this for a long time, if given the opportunity, but in any case I am always happy to find family on the woods (you know the sort of family I am talking about). And your art is really good too! I'll take a more in-depth look around here, and if you are the reading type, please don't hesitate to mosey on over to my neck of the woods as well! <

Courtney Weger Cantrell replies: "Ryan, I know what you mean: I think tasteful nudity in art only becomes unacceptable when the *viewer* starts doing something inappropriate with it, mentally or otherwise. *sigh* But I fear that in Christian circles, we are in the minority with our opinion. I guess our challenge is to remember that those who disagree with us are still family (yes, I know what you mean) and deserve to be treated as such--not because of their own merit, but because of the merit God bestows upon all of his children.Of course, I can talk big, but when it comes to practicing the loving patience I'm talking about...well, I'm still learning. ;o)Thanks for the compliments on my art, and I'll try to go peruse your library shelf soon!In Christ,Courtney"

I am a Christian, also, and I cannot for the world of it imagine why these works you put up should be offending someone's Christianity or beliefs. That would be narrow minded. You're got great talent, keep it up!

Courtney Weger Cantrell replies: "Thanks for the support and the compliments, Nike! I don't understand it, either...but I guess I don't have to understand everything! ;o)"

Hey there. Miss you. Did you pull down the pic of the painting from your living room wall? Was looking for it.

Sending luvs.
Tash'

Courtney Weger Cantrell replies: "Hey Tasha! Sorry I'm so slow in replying. No, the pic from my livingroom wall is still up there. It's called "Where She Hopes," and there should be a link to it right above this comments section.Love and hugs!Courtney"

Courtney Weger Cantrell replies: "THIS COMMENT HAS BEEN REMOVED BECAUSE OF OBSCENE CONTENT. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT I WILL REMOVE *ALL* COMMENTS CONTAINING OBSCENE OR OTHERWISE INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT. IF YOU LEAVE SUCH A COMMENT IN MY GALLERY AGAIN, I WILL REQUEST THAT THE ELFWOOD ADMINISTRATORS BAN YOU FROM THE SITE ENTIRELY."

Hi Courtney, I saw your comment in Marts Gallery, it was lovely to see that you are still painting. I really miss you and the old crew very much, even though we opened a new forum it can never be the same place again.

I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful New year. *Hugs!*

Courtney Weger Cantrell replies: "Hi Steph! It was great to hear from you! I, too, miss hanging out with the old crew...but like I've told a few others, for me it was a time-constrained choice between relationships online and relationships with those I see every day in my life. The online time and the online emotional energy had to be the sacrifice... Anyway, I hope you're doing well! Thanks so much for dropping by and letting me know that you still think of me!Hugs,Courtney"

Thanks so much for welcoming me to elfwood. I really do appreciate your kindness and effort to make me feel welcome. I really am dissapointed, because the only works that I was REALLY confidents about all got rejected! I guess they were fan art or not fantasy enough. Yeah, the mermaid I found from a real long time ago, so I wasn't as detail oriented then as I am now. All of the ones on my site are very old, and I wish I had some newer ones for you! Thanks so much again!

Courtney Weger Cantrell replies: "You're welcome, Evin! And if you're getting rejections, don't worry: I think it just means you're really truly a part of Elfwood now! ;o) I've been an Elfwoodian for eight years, and I get about one rejection per ticket, even though I know the rules backward and forward. Ah well, just look at it as an adventure and have fun with it! ;o)"

Just thought I would stop by as I haven't in a while. I actually like the pared down gallery to be honest...while it's sometimes nice and can be interesting to see a progression over the years for the most part I like to see what the artist considers his or her best stuff since that usually comes closest to capturing the spirit of what he/she is shooting for. Over the years you have gotten a lot more accomplished and I think it's cool to show that off.

I feel your pain with the rejection thing. Not really earth-shattering but nonetheless ever so slightly annoying. I actually think it comes down to the descriptions(?) sometimes. I had one that was a fairly racy description(bad day) and it was rejected for being "not fantasy" or some ridiculous thing and then the mod, who was probably all of 15 even sent me a scolding letter which I found amusing. I vanilla'd the tone of the text down and it went through(though the 2 1/2 months it took for all this to take place almost made me think it wasn't worth it...but I ~DO~ like keeping a gallery since there are cool people I occasionally converse with and I get work every so often soooo....). Probably not easy to remain objective and very easy to get jaded when you see hundreds of pics at a time and I am sure there is a newer "fairness art handicap" in there somewhere too as far as the mods go. More power to 'em, I wouldn't have the patience to do it.

'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'

Not appropos of anything, just like the way it sounds and have been looking for an excuse to quote that passage somewhere. Could just as easily have been a sarcastic Mark Twain quote so count yourself lucky...hope things are going well!

Courtney Weger Cantrell replies: "How lovely it is to have a visit from you, Mr. Vire! It's been awhile since we've poked around each other's galleries, so I'm really glad we've remedied that situation! ;o)Thanks for giving me feedback about paring down my gallery. Lately, I've been thinking about doing something a bit more radical: showcasing only 1 or 2 pictures from each year. That, of course, requires a certain kind of ruthlessness toward my own art...and I'm not sure I'm up for it! But I'd like to try, so as to make my gallery something like "the best of my best" or somesuch. What do you think of that idea?No, the rejection thing isn't really a big deal in the grand scheme of life (actually, it's pretty minimal!)...but it can still be annoying, as you said. I think what bugs me the most is this kind of scenario submitted a ticket that included a painting of a castle with no overtly "fantasy-style" description. It was rejected. Okay, I can maybe relate to that. Life goes on.
But I keep running across recently added pieces in others' galleries...pieces which contain no obvious fantasy elements in either the piece or the description.So what's the deal???*sigh*I used to be a mod, and yes, I did run out of the energy for it. I don't think I'd want to do it again....but then there's also the old adage, "If you want something done right, then do it yourself!" ;oDAnd quotes are always welcome in my gallery--especially sarcastic Mark Twain ones! So bring 'em on. I love Twain; I get a kick out of his irreverence toward everything. ;o)Thanks for the visit, Martin!!!"