PETTING ZOO

Hey Friends,  I have been cleaning and purging my home studio so I can bring everything back from the studio DT at 202 Gallery on the Market.  I hate leaving but my subaru has died on me and I simply can't afford payments on both.

My hope when I went DT was to sell enough work to pay the rent.

But NO ONE ever comes/climbs the stairs.

Anyway, I found this painting of a petting zoo at the art festival in Elm Wood Park in 1995 !!

I still like it a lot so I'm putting it up for sale on EBAY.  Maybe someone else will like the Masa Rice Paper as much as I do.  I like the batiky effect.

Check it out.

HAPPY TRAILS

FINALLY - - - ART OF THE CAROLINAS

Hey My Friends,   At long last, I made it to "ART OF THE CAROLINAS" in Raleigh, NC.  I have wanted to see it for my self for years !  And the tradeshow was no disappointment.   I have heard that some people buy their supplies for the year at this show.  Now I believe it.  Hand truck after hand truck went by with cases of canvas...all sizes.   Grocery type buggies full of paint went by.

AMAZING

I was doing my little thing, perusing all the unknown corners and suddenly it was time for the little 1/2 day work shop with Bob Burridge (seen above).  I had to stack what I had found so far and run.

I was not late but I had to sit in the back which was a big bummer 'cuz I can't hear well.

Of course he had no microphone but the little gal sitting beside me was kind and told me the important words.

I'm not sure but it seems he was eye balling me a bit or maybe he just wanted to make sure I got a decent photo or maybe he did not like my photo snapping (I did not ask).

In the third photo he is holding my fav of his paintings.  It's a healthy woman in a turquoise bikini.

Oh, if it had only been a few hundred, It would have been mine.  But I judged from his small ones at $425.00 that this one was about $2500.00.  or more.

Here is my friend Linda, doing her best to keep up.  He didn't give you much time between exercises, so you would not fiddle with details.  I believe we learned SOMETHING, but honestly, I knew everything he said before he said it from years of watching his videos.  But I should of known I wouldn't learn much in a couple of hours.

Can't wait to go back.

And I told several employees and Mr Jerry, that we wanted an Artarama in Roanoke or Salem, Va.

He said "Yeah, that's interesting"

Happy Trails

FRAMED REPRODUCTION

Hey Friends,  I just put this little gem in my EBAY shop.  This is a reproduction of a painting I made years ago.  I had great pleasure making this short lived series. 

The whole purpose in painting them was to play with abstracted back grounds

Of course I love birds too that's why they were the feature.  But time changes everything, even me,

Now I would rather just make the backgrounds.

Or in other words, I am enjoying making abstracts

I have put just about all work made before 2017 in my shop.  I have a few more to go but I need the room, the space in my studio and shed for more canvas'.

Art makes a lovely gift and I bet you can find a pretty for someone on your list.

Visit my EBAY Store  HERE.

On another note, my group of plein aire paintrs, the DLP, were scheduled to go to Garst Mill to paint this morning.  It was raining here in Salem, Va. so I stayed home.  Some of them went anyway.  There is a shelter there so they could stay dry.

I love to paint at this park but my favorite spots can't be seen from the shelter.

I have been plein aire painting a good bit here lately so I don't feel bad about cancelling.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Trails

HAPPY FOURTH TO ALL MY FRIENDS

Hey Dear Friends,  A quick note to wish you a very peaceful, happy fourth.

Hope you have a lot of sparklers to light with your family and friends.

Sparklers are my fav on the fourth.

Happy Trails

Plein Air at VWCC

Hey Friends,  I went with my plein air tribe to the arboretum at VWCC this morning.  The sun was missing so it was a wee bit chilly.

There was still color from the perennials and blooming trees.  And my favorite, the benches are everywhere.!!  I didn't quite finish my painting but we packed up to get our hot coffee.

My blog will probably be neglected a bit for a week or so, while I get a bionic knee !  Wonder Woman watch out, HeeHee.

HAPPY TRAILS

ART ON THE GREEN in LEXINGTON, VA.

Hey Friends,  Just a couple days to go ...... then I will see you at the Rockbridge Arts Guild show in Lexington, Va. this Sat. 29th of April.

I guess it's pretty obvious I don't do very many street festivals anymore ('cuz that's all I've posted about this week).  I'm having a knee replaced next week so maybe I will be agile once again.   Maybe enough to participate in more shows again.

This piece above is another favorite theme of mine, BONFIRES.  And decided the title is "Marshmallow Moon".   I have painted 3-4 others that sold, and hoping to get a few more finished for this show and to take to the Little Gallery at Smith Mountain Lake.

Please stop and say HI and sign up for email posts.  You will be entered for a drawing for a FREE painting.

Happy Trails

SMOKE OVER OUR VALLEY - ORIGINAL LANDSCAPE PAINTING

Hey Friends,  It's over whelming so I'm trying to make some room in my studio.  If I think a painting has some merit, I will offer it on Ebay as the last channel.  This was started on Mill Mountain, back when Wytheville was suffering with a lot of brush fires.  The wind blew the smoke into our valley and it sat there for a day and an evening.

This painted with oils and is 10" x 19".  This is a nice hand made frame and is not the garrish gold seen in the photo.  It has a softer golden look.

It is up for auction HERE on Ebay.

Thanks for stopping by

Happy Trails

SPRING HOME BUILDERS AT SALEM CIVIC CENTER and ART SHOW

Three accomplished artists, Karen Carter, Sue Furrow and Margaret Sue Turner Wright, all mostly self taught, have teamed up to present, The Parlor Art Gallery at the Spring Home Show with original artworks for the home in mind. The Artists also offer free in home consultation, by appointment, presenting the thought of Art for the Home designed by color trends, emotional value, inspiration or beauty for the sake of beauty.

The Spring Home Show is sponsored by the Roanoke Regional Home Builders Association, March 24, 25 26, at the Salem Civic Center.

Hey Friends, that is the official press release for this art show at the Salem Civic Center next weekend.

Hope you can make it.  And register for a free prize.

Happy Trails

HAPPY NEW 2017 ALMOST HERE

Hey Dear Friends,  Are you ready for a another New Year?  Seems like we just rang in 2016, doesn't it?

I'm pretty sure I have heard the OLD folks say "the older ya get the faster the years go by".  Now I believe that's true.

Here is a little prayer that we all achieve what we truly want in 2017. 

Truly.

And here is a toast to our health and happiness.

And a great big thank you for supporting the arts.

Happy Trails

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Hey Dear Friends,  A wish for you......May you have the BEST Christmas Holiday EVER.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Thank you for supporting the arts.

And visit more often.

Sue

SATURDAY - PAINT OUT AT SOUTH PEAK

Hey Folks,  Not many of you wanted to come play in the rain.  Can't blame you, this kind of weather is really good for sleeping.  It is still beautiful, in my opinion.  Look at that view.!

Suzanne Ross, above, came to play with her watercolors. above.

NO kin to Bob Ross, haha.

And Ms. Suzy came with her oils, above.  The rain blew in sideways and got everyones stuff wet.

Here is Linda, smoozzing with Dana Phillips.  He gave a demo earlier that I missed, dang it.

This is his demo and it really looks much better in person. My colors are off.  It is 581 and/or 220 at Tanglewood.  He made such a common, drab view, beautiful

Then on my way home, I stopped at the Greenway along the Roanoke River in Salem, to show you how it looks like the Great Muddy Mississippi, when this full.  It has covered the walkway!

Such a beautiful place we live in.

Very thankful Hurricane Matthew did not cause any more damage than it did.  It spared most of the people and homes along Florida's coast.  I have a dear friend in the Ormond beach area, that I was very worried about but she only lost a few trees and palms and some of her roof.  Of course, she has a mess to clean up but she and her fur babies are safe.

I'll be back with another report on the SoPeak Paint Out tomorrow.

Everyone has a pleasant evening and thanks for stopping in.

Happy Trails

SOUTH PEAK PAINT OUT IN ROANOKE, VA.

Hey All You Lovely's Out There,  It may wind up being a bit wet tomorrow for the Paint Out but only in the morning according to the weather channel.

So you can still come by in the afternoon.  It would be interesting to watch artists paint in the rain!

Bring Irish Coffee's with you if you want to make sure it's fun.

Look at these gorgeous views I took a few weeks ago.  I think you can see West Va.!

I'm looking forward to it - Rain or Shine.

Happy Trails

Until We Meet Again

SHORT AND SWEET

Hey Friends,  A couple shots from the art festival held this past Saturday at EC Glass HiSchool.

This is my display up there.  Lots of kind comments and some OOOH's and AAAHHH's.

Sold several pieces of small things and a bunch of cards.

The crowd seemed to be a lot thinner than the past festivals.  This fella here in the top hat was an unusual fella passing thru and carefully judging the works.  I liked his hat and flip flips.

Are outdoor art festivals becoming another art venue that will bite the dust soon (like galleries)??

If you have any thoughts I'd love to hear them.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Trails

ANOTHER GREAT DAY FOR PAINTING ! ! !

The only way to see the video is to go to the blogger site by clicking up there on the title of this post or on "Dairy of a Madd Painter up there.  And I just found out this video is 2 seconds long, the battery died.  Man, what a learning curve.  Hoping to get better at this.

Hey Dear Friends,  Hope your day was fun and fruit full like mine.  The painting above was started a month ago in the field.  Just got back to it and finished it.  I'm going to title it Fleece Vines 'cuz I think that's what the pinkish blooms are.

I made 4 videos today.  Of me painting 3 different works.  And they are all to long (too many MB) for Blogger.  Has to be less than 100MB.  I just need to figure out how many minutes or seconds that is ! 

Sheesh, as if computers aren't enough work already.

So whadda ya do with videos that are too long?  Get a YouTube Channel you say?  Well maybe I'll fool with that some day, when I can't get outside.

The video here is about trying Robert Burridge's technique.  I've seen several of his Bob Blast's and I've been hankering to try something new.

I've always painted fairly realistically and I just want to stretch a bit.

I have had this argument with myself for years.  the Art Establishment/Galleries say you should pick one technique, or one subject, or one theme and stick with it for years.  They say it will confuse your collectors to change.  Well, my feeling is "If you're a world famous artist this might be true".  But for me (since I'm not famous) I don't think it matters much.

We are always reading that we should follow our Bliss and paint what we want to see, so that's what I'm doing.  At least until I'm bored.  I really want to paint abstracted landscapes or maybe it's called expressive landscapes.  Whatever,  maybe I'll wind up with Suescapes.  HA.

More coming your way, so stay tuned!  And any healthy advice is welcomed.

Happy Trails

LAVENDER FESTIVAL AT EVERGREEN WAS FABULOUS

Hey Friends,  This post will be a bit long.  I'm just trying to show you what you missed!

After scouting around I found this spot I liked.  The view is to the left.

I had to bleach the background out a bit to make the painting show up.  I was sitting in the shade.

I love it when others show their palettes so I did one.

I was set up right next to a huge line for burgers and along came a sweet little shy pup called Carly.  She is a cock a poo just like MeeMee except the color of beautiful rust.  She had the same nature as MeeMee ! Loved her.

OK, almost finished!  This is 8x16 inches.

As I said, I was next to the line of burger lovers and talked with most of them.  This lady in white tank top was trying her best to dodge the camera BUT I got her.  It would be nice to know that she saw this blog post.

Then I went around to the other end of the Craft Hut to start another painting.  Small 6x8 this time.  And this was another high traffic area.  Lots of people going inside to see the lavender workshops, so I was able to talk with lots more about our workshop.

Here is a view of the folks picking lavender for their own use.  I hope there is enough left for our workshop.  This festival reminds me a lot, of a festival I attended, years ago, in France.  It was actually a wine fest but it was on a family farm and the landscape was beautiful but mostly the people are what jogged my memory.  They were all happy, smiling, friendly and seemed grateful, as if life was really good.  I loved it all and was so happy I did not miss it.

Go to Evergreen's website to register for the workshop.  CLICK HERE.

Hope to see your smiling face next Sat.

Happy Trails

MOTHER NATURE GAVE US ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL DAY FOR PLEIN AIR

Hey Friends,  We had a good time this morning at Garst Mill Park just off Brambleton Ave.  The little creek that runs through this park is melodious (HaHa-look at me trying to use big words).

I made a little short video and hope you can hear the water babbling.

I like this new method I've been using for plein air painting.  The top photo shows my 9x12 canvas with an acrylic sketch on it of the pictured creek.  This dries really fast and you don't have to worry about getting it home, like you do with oil.

So now I just paint over the acrylic with oils at home.  Maybe I won't do this forever, maybe I'll learn to focus better and I won't flit off chasing squirrels and butterflies.

After all I'm out here to have fun, not to be winning awards!

Please tell me what you think of the short video.

You can even say "Don't EVER do that again"

Happy Trails

I WISH YOU KNEW AND PAINTING THIS MORNING

Hey Friends,  Here is another one you may not have seen yet.  It was painted from photos of Southport, NC.  Photos taken on a trip to the coast with my painting buddies.   It is 8" x 16" panel and varnished and available HERE.

And this morning we, the DLP's, made it to Longwood Park on Main St. in Salem, Va. to brush up on our skills.  Nice when you can find a view from a bench AND you didn't forget your umbrella..  And that IS a cemetery on the hill.

I am experimenting with some palettes that #Hongnian Zhang uses in his book #  the Yin/Yang of Painting".  My buddy, Linda, has been experimenting with them so I thought, maybe limited palettes would make painting easier or at the very least, less anxiety.  So today, I made 3 starts or sketches and will paint each with a different palette just to keep for reference.

Should be an interesting experiment.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Happy Trails

"God Reveals Himself thru Nature" - 18" x 24" Oil Painting

Hey Friends,  "God Reveals Himself thru Nature" was penned by John Muir.  He is a fav of mine.

This scene is something I see often these days.  This is Rt. 460, west of Salem, Virginia near the famous DIXIE CAVERNS and also one of the routes to the famous Va. Tech. Hokies.

There have been plenty of weather systems blowing through our area this spring.  Lots of dark clouds like this and NO end in sight.

Please check it out at my new website HERE.

And check my new blog - I'm getting used to it  HERE 

Happy Trails

"WHAT OF DREAMS" - 9X18 ORIGINAL SKYSCAPE OIL PAINTING

Hey Friends,   Wouldn't you love to be at a beach right now??  I WOULD!!

Tired of the drizzle, cold, dreary sky and mud.

I'm pretending I'm in the Caribbean.

This is 9" x 18" deep cradled panel, varnish should be dry soon.

Then it is ready to hang, no frame necessary.

It is available in my new Website - HERE.

Take a look at my new Blog too - HERE.

And if you live close to Salem, Va. and you are headed to the shore, stop and pick me up !

PLEASE

Otherwise have a joyous drippy day.

Happy Trails

WORKING ON SERIES OF SKYSCAPE OIL PAINTINGS

12x12 DeepOil   "Places in my Heart"

Hey Friends,  Have enjoyed having the time to paint, almost non-stop, a series of #SKYSCAPES.

This particular one was the most fun.

I snuck up to my Secret Place because the gate was open and I could drive.  This place is for sale, because the company that owns it went bankrupt, that's why the gate was open.

I especially like this little peak because when the sun shines on it, it shines like metal.  May be some Fools Gold up there.

And the way the mountains blocked the sun on the lower half of the clouds, leaving the top warm and sunny, and the bottom half chilly, was extra spice for this piece.

Available Here

And please click over to my new blog HERE

Happy Trails