Pastels or Oils

I have been neglecting my pastels lately. It has been intentional as I must admit that I have unfaithful to them with all of the painting I have been doing. The truth is that most people simply don't understand pastels and often say cute things like," Oh, so you work in chalk...." or "Do these chalk drawings hold up like oils?" I get tired explaining that pigment + binder = reliable, long lasting work. They still look at me strangely as if I made it all up.
I too, get tired of the whole under glass thing with pastels in spite of using spacers which are great little things and eliminate the need for a mat. But the reality is that oil reigns king and in terms of sales, that's where the art consumer wants to put their money.
With the internet, shipping pastels to far away places also creates concerns. I love UPS and Fedex, but no matter how hard you try, pastel dust will inevitably go where you don't want it to go and then you have an unhappy camper somewhere. Fixatives, create more problems than they solve and more than once, no matter how careful I am, they can leave "speckles". If you don't want speckles, then you had better spray from miles away. What good does fixative do then? Round and round we go.
I still LOVE pastels and will always credit them for improving my paintings. So, I haven't totally abandonded them, just taking a small break. With a blog, pastels can be posted so quickly. With oil painting, I often let it dry a bit between sessions, so less artwork to show at the end of the day. Have faith, I'm still working.