A SUNFLOWER FARM IN BUCHANON & A FARM IN SALEM

Hey Friends,  Did you know there is a huge sunflower farm in Buchanan ?  I did not until a couple weeks ago when they had their 2nd festival.

The owner Candace let us paint there today.

HERE is her FB page for the farm

So many beautiful views, it was hard to pick.

Above I set up close to the flowers to do a portrait of sorts.

I will have to finish here at home.

And here is another beautiful farm, not really now, maybe at one time, but a gorgeous piece of property nontheless, that I hope to get back to soon.

Has this faded red barn, which I think was for cows at one time.  Now it stores machinery.

This was my last start for this day.  Includes the stream and a good view of the white fence.

Very dry here in SW Va. now so the stream is tiny.  Probably when spring rolls around again, it will be full and I can try to capture that.

All in all, it has been a good week for plein air.  How much longer will it last.?  Please tell me through October the 15th !  We want some clear, sunny days for the South Peak Paint Out this year.

Happy Trails

ART SHOW AT THE FALL HOME SHOW AT SALEM CIVIC CENTER

Hey Friends,  Wanted you to see how it went at the Salem Civic Center today,  for the art show.

That is my display up there.  Had several nice sales !!

Nothing to do with the art show but isn't the Kissing Booth cute.

Here are a couple of the cuties you could find at the kissing booth !!

Simply Adorable.  These two (above were adopted) Yay!

Simply adorable again.  That little one liked my chicks.

Simply adorable with her little TuTu.  I assume that is what she will wear for trick or treating !

Been a long day that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Maybe I will have another report tomorrow night.

Soooooo-o-o-o See You at the CC tomorrow.

Happy Trails

PLEIN AIRE AT ROARING RUN

Hey Friends,  You should have come with us today.  We went to Roaring Run which is out past Botetourt and Fincastle on Rt. 220.  Positively worth the little bit of time it takes to get there.

Top photo I was almost finished with this 9x12 and I DID finish it and signed it.  Hoping that would keep me from fiddling with it anymore.

I was going to paint this spot on the creek (above) but the others were packed up and ready for lunch.

Time fly's when you are in the zone.

I will have to go back after I get my license to carry a gun.  Maybe an assault rifle so I can shoot at every little bird that breaks a twig.  You know, the paranoia of a bear leaping out of no where, to drag you back to the liar for the cubs to eat. 

I probably just need a good stiff drink before I leave the car. HA!

Happy Trails

ART SHOW AT THE HOME BUILDERS SHOW

Hey Friends,  Just in case you have not heard, the Home Builders Assoc. will be having their fall home show at the Salem Civic Center this coming weekend, Sept. 23 thru 24.

I will have another series of Professional Chickens at this show for your early purchase of gifts for the up-coming season.  This series of chickens will have the Biscuit Lady back along with the Cookie baker, the ER Nurse, the Chiropractor, the GP, the Orthopedic Doc, the Head Nurse, the Farmer, The Carpenter, the Teachers Aide and many more. 

 These are all 4" x 4" and on deep gallery wrapped canvas that can sit on a shelf or a desk or be hung anywhere you want.

I will take orders if you need a specific profession that I have not thought of.

Hope to see you there and please share with friends you think will appreciate this humor.

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

WE HAD A BEAUTIFUL DAY HERE IN SW VIRGINIA

Hey Friends,  Myself and Linda went to practice a little more plein aire today. Not sure I'll be ready by Oct. 14th for the BIG plein aire event "PLEIN AIRE SOUTH PEAK"

The top 2 photos are from last week, just been a tad busy and not blogging like I should.  

I don't think I've finished this one yet.

This bottom piece is from this morning.  Just to be fair to myself, I have been trying the palettes of the guy that wrote the book "YIN YANG" Mr. Zhang works with

He has 3 palettes

Yellow-Purple

Blue-Orange

and

Red-Green.

The photo directly above is using the Red-Green Palette.  The one I painted before this one (which I scrubbed off) was using the Purple-Yellow Palette.  And the Purple-Yellow is not a good one for landscapes.  I guess it would be good for still life or a pale cat or dog.  You can't get a good dark or a good green.  It was ugly.

That is another good reason to practice plein aire when you want to use a different palette or try new colors.  For the next session, I will try the Blue-Orange and then the common palette of a cold and a warm of the 3 primary colors.  That will be fun, getting back to the basics.

Til next time.

Take care of your neighbors when it counts.

Plenty of prayers and good MoJo to our neighbors in Florida.

Happy Trails