A Child is Born!

Always a cause for joy -- but often a challenge, too, for course.
I doubt anyone reads this blog, who would not also have read the blog on which I learned of this, but on the off chance...

My son, Benedict Amadeus Mitsui, is now more than a week old. As I type this, he and his mother are napping on the couch in the sunlight. Ben had his first appointment with the pediatrician this week, and appears to be in excellent health. My wife will likely be recovering for a long time, but her energy seems to wax as the days pass. Te Deum Laudamus...

Michelle started to have regular contractions on the afternoon of Sunday, May 3rd. Her labor lasted seventy-two hours, the first sixty unmedicated. After a final three hours of hard pushing, the doctors declared that the baby was showing signs of distress, and that a caesarian section was the only remaining option. Thusly our son was born, just after 4 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, May 6th. In all the history of laboring women, few have suffered more pain and disappointment than my poor wife, or done so more gracefully and selflessly. She is the strongest, bravest, most wonderful woman I have ever known. [ Scelata says: She has a lvoley voice as well, she is an artist in her own right] I love her. ...
It is likely, even with insurance my wife and I have, that the hospital bills for so difficult a delivery will destroy us financially. The one asset that I can hope to convert to money is artwork - and I have a lot of it. In the coming weeks, I will be posting several notices of sales on my existing artwork. If you have contacted me in the past about buying a drawing, only to find it too expensive, please contact me again. All prices are open to negotiation.

In addition to the works displayed on my website, I have many drawings, prints and paintings in storage from the years 2000-2005, which will be offered for sale here for the first time. My artistic principles have developed significantly over the past five years, so some of these older pieces may look strange to those of you who have only seen my recent work (indeed, they sometimes look strange to me as well). But they were all carefully and lovingly made, with exceptional attention to detail - I am sure that someone somewhere will like them. They will be sold at prices far below their usual value.

I will also offer for sale limited edition fine art prints of a few of my best works. Please keep your eye on this blog in the coming days for details about all of this.

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Aside from the sale of artwork, the only way I can think of to raise money through my website is simply to ask for it. Although I have long had a Paypal account linked to this web log for donations, I have never demanded remuneration for my work here, or hosted advertisements. But time has come for me to call in all favors and appreciations. Since December of 2005, I have devoted countless hours to this web log - writing original essays, researching obscure topics, transcribing rare books, editing beautiful pictures. This is probably one of the highest-maintenance web logs in existence, and the time that I spend on it is time that I do not spend on more lucrative pursuits. And the server space needed to host so many pictures as I post here is not free. But I continue to maintain this web log because I believe that I am doing something important - I am showing people good, true and beautiful things that they would never otherwise encounter, and I am sharing a knowledge about sacred art and iconography gained from long study and experience. So I ask you, dear readers, if you appreciate what I have done here, what I have shown you, what I have taught you - and if you wish for me to continue to devote my time to The Lion & the Cardinal - please show your appreciation by purchasing artwork or making a donation.

Kind Regards,

Daniel Mitsui

The work that Mr Mitsui does is brilliant.
BRILLIANT. He deserves your support.