Hoping You have a Wonderful Thanksgiving

matted to 5"x7" Bluebird in my Etsy Shop

 A precious little male sitting in a dogwood at my sisters house this past spring.  Love these memories.

And talking of memories !  Here is what I'm thankful for this year, this day and forever.  My precious Babes 4 years ago......Nico was 5 hours old in this picture.   His sister was trying to hold him the same way this morning....They still love each other.

So now you know what I'm  MOST thankful for.  My babes,family and my paints and my painting buddies.
Have a wonderful Holiday and Happy Trails

After the Dishes are Done

Hey Friends,  Just added this to my Etsy store.  It is a giclee on canvas and embellished with crackle paste and string gel.  This is on a wrapped 10" x 8" canvas and it is varnished. 
This treatment sort of gives it a framed/matted look.  You can see some extreme close ups in Etsy.
This would make a sweet gift for any female on your list.
Happy Trails
Travel Well

Summer Spot

 Hey Friends,  A neighbor at the end of our little country road, has a pair of these old metal chairs on his patio.  I've painted chairs very similar in the past and hope to paint more in the future.  They have such character.  His have a few rust spots but you can't see them at this distance.
You can have this reminder of summer time by clicking here in my Etsy store.

 And I wanted to show you and NaNaCat the haze of smoke hanging over the Roanoke Valley today. Wytheville is about 60 miles SW of us and there is a big forest fire burning since yesterday.  As luck would have it, there is a wind from that direction blowing it up here.  It stings my eyes a bit but it is pretty, isn't it.  This valley is gorgeous anyway you see it.  After playing with my gran babe, I drove to Mill Mountain about dusk.  Was hoping to see more Sun interacting with the smoke, but. . . .

And when you turn around, you see the famous Star.  We are called the Star City of the South.  It's a beautiful symbol, especially when flying into this valley at night !

Happy Trails
Travel Well

Looking for the Right One

Hey Friends, A sweet little Blue bird "Looking for the Right One" this past spring.  Saw him at my sisters house.   Maybe some year I'll see some at my home.  I've got a bluebird house up and some mealworms (yuk).
He is looking for a new home in my Etsy shop.

And on another note, that me up there, painting at RR Donnelly today.  We had a fun day, fighting the wind and painting the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.  The sun was out in full force and if the wind had stopped, we would have been too hot.  As it was, I was just right.  Can't wait to go back this spring.
Happy Trails
Travel Well

Ray of Sunshine

Hey Friends,  I'm still happy to be painting birds and sunshine !  They just suit me better.  But I'm meeting my DLP group in the morning to paint, plein-aire, the beautiful mountains here in Salem.  So I may have a snow scene for you tomorrow.  Just kidding, no snow tomorrow thank goodness.  Just cold and maybe windy.  Most of us are pretty wimpy so we'll see what happens.
You can check out the details on the Goldfinch in my Etsy shop.   Meantime . . . . . . .
Happy Trails
Travel Well

Nap Time

Don't know about you but I have a hard time letting Summer go.  I would much rather be laying in a hammock, reading, with the sun twinkling between the leaves.  The precious little birds flitting and chirping everywhere.  This is the gift for your summer lover.  Maybe for their lake house.
I'll have it in my Etsy shop in a minute.  Click here for the details.
Happy Trails
Travel Well

Tea for You

Hey Friends,  Today has been pretty laid back, not the usual Saturday for me.  My sweet babes did not spend the night with me (their great-granny is sickly) so I cleaned and straightened the studio !
It has been a while because of all the activites with the Double Line Painters.  And I'll never fuss about being too busy and I've got some swamp land in Louisiana for you.
I even got to cut mats and shrink wrap all of the pen and ink pieces I've been doing.  I have more sketched out but not finished.
Don't you think your Auntie would like to have this little darlin' for her tea table?
She is going into my Etsy shop.  You can click here for the details.
Happy Trails
Travel well

Geraniums in Old Window

Hey Friends,  I've been playing with the pen, ink and water color for about a week now.  Mostly at night, in front of TV.   I'm still enjoying it.  I'm doing a bit of this and that.  Some birds, some windows, some doors, mailboxes, and some chickens.  I need to find a pheasant photo.  I got some pheasant photos of my neighbors exotic pheasants (beautiful birds) but not the common North American variety.  Here is link to my Etsy shop.
Yesterday I took a short trip around Salem, getting some photos of the fall colors.  The colors don't seem to be so great this year.   I don't understand why the colors can be SO different from one year to the next.
In the morning I will meet my plein-aire group, the Double Line Painters, and we will be making deli-papers.  These are colorful papers for collages.  To me making these papers is the most fun part of collages.
DLP also hung a big show at the Jefferson Center this morning and a smaller one at the Salem Museum this afternoon.  Both shows will hang through the end of December, so you have lots of time to go by and find a unique gift for any occasion this year. 

 Judy took this photo of Linda and me, hanging work at the Salem Museum.

And here Linda is demonstrating how to hang a mini-painting on a tree.  Yeah, we can get pretty goofy at times.   Click here for the DLP blog to see more photos.