ORIGINAL PAINTING OF LITTLE GIRL SKIPPING SIDEWALK CRACKS

 

Hey Friends,  This little girl is a great model.  She will dress up or down and go about her business as you take photos.  She pretends she is doing whatever you ask of her.  For this shoot, I asked her to pretend she was walking on a tightrope, high in the sky.  This particular frame looked like she was avoiding the sidewalk cracks, so she wouldn't hurt her Mothers back.

 

This is listed in ETSY now.

 

Thanks for stopping in.

Happy Trails

ORIGINAL LANDSCAPE PAINTING OF STOWE VERMONT

 

Hey Friends,  A piece I finished last year.  Painted from photos my Sister took while visiting my Aunt Shirley in Burlington, Vermont.  Aunt Shirley is buried under about 8' of snow right now but I would love to see her country in the summer.  She says it is very green.

 

I'm trained as a professional framer so you can trust that this frame is well made.  It is not a glaring shade of gold, kind of mello, with a touch of bronze.  It is handsome.

 

It is available in ETSY.

 

Happy Trails

Reminders of a Couple Auctions about to End

 

Hey Friends,  These two will end soon, tomorrow.  Click Here to look at on Ebay.

Painted plein aire behind the Mill Mountain Star.

 

This barn is in Bedford, Virginia.  Has one of those giant tires for a water bowl.  I wonder how toxic that water is.  Click Here for Ebay auction.

 

Thank you for taking a look and have a fab day.

 

Happy Trails

Ending Soon on Ebay

 

Hey Friends,  Thought you might want to see what will be ending soon on Ebay.  The mini above is framed and ready to display or give as a gift.  Click Here for this auction.

 

And this one is a collage and acrylic mixed media.  A whimsical type of expression.  The nest is actually matte gel scratched with a tooth pick, over and over.  Takes a bit of patience.  But You have wonderful textures and hi-lights.  The birds along the left side is just paper doll cuts like you did in elementary school.  I used a couple stencils in the background.  Click Here for this auction.

 

Thanks for stopping in.

Happy Trails

Pollinator Series # Twenty-Five "Discussion" and Plein Aire Today

 

Hey Friends,  This entertaining little painting is going up for auction on Ebay this evening.  Pollinator series is almost over and so is the month of June !  Yikes, can you believe it.

 

Me, Myself and the DLP's went out into the wild to paint today.  It was a beautiful day and so encouraging.   I might be getting a small grasp on this outdoor painting thing.  I try real hard not to include everything I see.  "Tis difficult.

 

Bonnie took this shot of me.  I would have to go back and look, but don't you think that looks like poison ivy in the foreground??  Bonnie are you itchy tonight?

Happy Trails

Travel Well

"Straw Hat" and Blue Ridge Vineyard

Hey Friends,  This painting "Straw Hat" is for auction now in Ebay.  Click Here to find out more.  This is one I did a few years ago when I was in a still life mode.  It is 10" square acrylic on panel.

 

And today we, the DLP's, were in Eagle Rock at the Blue Ridge Vineyard.  We were showing our work and painting the beautiful views also.  Above is a not so good photo of the painting but it shows the view I was working from pretty well.  This is my second mini of the day.

I did see one lady at this vineyard that I knew from Salem.  Next time you should be there.

Happy Trails

Travel Well

"Sleeping Late"

 

Hey Friends,  A still life for the ebay auctions.  I don't paint too many still lifes.  I think because there is so much other stuff I want to paint.  They are supposed to be very educational so I hope to do more.  Especially if they are flowers and from life.  Click Here

 

Saturday as I was taking my Gran Babes home, I passed this scene but could not stop.  So I raced into the daughters driveway, threw the Babes into the yard and squealed "BYE" as I raced off.  Hoping the laundry would still be hanging there.    IT WAS, obviously.  This was as close as I could get w/o trespassing.   Some people just don't understand artists, like their family does.
Happy Trails
Travel Well

Commission Work

Hey Friends,  Just showing you what I'm working on at the moment.  A wonderful couple has commissioned me to paint a fun piece for their lake house bathroom.
Above are some items to inspire me.  If anyone knows me well, then they know my favorite themes are tropical.   I would paint palms all day if anyone wanted them.  The bathroom walls are the color on the paint can, AQUA, my favorite color of all.
Obviously fish is the main subject.  And bubbles.  Lots of bubbles.  Should be fun !!

Tonight is the First Fridays Art Crawl in downtown Roanoke.  I'm hoping to go and hoping it doesn't rain.  The sky has not done anything but rain for days and days, maybe weeks.  Water, Water everywhere.
We shall see.  I especially want to see the NEW gallery called "Wonderland" on Campbell.  I'll give a report tomorrow.   See you all downtown !

Happy Trails
Travel Well

Cardinal for 30 in 30

Hey Friends,  A week later I continue with my feathers series !  AND this mini painting looks garish on my monitor !!  Maybe I'll have a chance to photo-shop it later tonight.
Internet service with Comcast still sucks big time so I'll be lucky if this post goes out.  Then I want to put bird in my DPW store and the 30 in 30 challenge.

The weather is supposed to get rough again tonight and the next few days.  We might even get some snow/ice on Friday, which will create a problem for the Double Line Painters collage workshop on Saturday morning !!  We may have to reschedule,  really hoping not.

Happy Trails
Travel Well

30 in 30 Challenge

Hey Friends,  Another little woodpecker added to my DPW store.  This guy is a good bit smaller than the other woodpeckers.   He is Woody #3.

And I decided to participate in Leslie Saeta's challenge.  It's called 30 in 30.  Supposed to paint 30 paintings in 30 days.  I missed the first 2 days 'cuz I'm slow and I've been very busy with my daughter.

Hopefully things can settle down now.   I've got about 15 4x4" canvas panels to work on after the 2x4's are used.  And plenty of 6x6 for back ups.

I put Leslie's blog over there on my side bar if you want to check it out.

Wish me luck !  Lots of Luck !!

Happy Trails
Travel Well

Blue Moon Travels

 Hey Friends,  Finally a few minutes to post my disappointment over the "Blue Moon" last Friday night.  I headed for the Blue Ridge Parkway in plenty of time to find an overlook.  My imagination was probably out of line but I could see the moon rising over a vast sweeping view of the valley !  I think it would have been breathtaking !  BUT just as I turned off Rt.460 onto the entrance the "check engine" light comes on.  Dang, what to do.  I chickened out, fearing my car would blow up in the middle of no where.  Then once it was dark, I'd be drug off by coyotes and never seen again.  So I turned around and went back to the closest station and put oil and water in the car  and went home.  Dang, I was madd.  The light hasn't come on since.  Turns out I had filled the gas tank and the cap wasn't screwed down really tight..   Did you know your engine light will come on IF your cap is at all loose?

 So I took a few photos from my secret place.  And it was beautiful, of course.  Just not what I had in mind.  I've already painted this scene.  Not sure I like the painting.

 This photo was from the parking lot of a Holiday Inn close to home and just off I81.  Too many city lights to do the moon justice.

And this one is from Green Hill Park.  Couldn't find any good spots to shoot from.  So I quite after this one.  Went home and pouted.  The good news is we will have another Blue Moon in about 3 years instead of the eleven years I read somewhere.
So I'll work with what photos I have and be ready next time.  Maybe I can talk somebody into going with me to paint from life.  My family thinks that would be as much fun as watching paint dry !!

Happy Trails Travel Well

Plein-Aire at Carvins Cove Touch Ups

 Hey Friends,  Loaded the before and after versions so comparison is easy.  I'm getting the hang of bloggers new layout !!!

 I like the finish on this one.  It even looks better in person.  Not so loud now.

 What a mess .........

Water can be really difficult to paint.  And then when the water is surrounded by greens.......It can be a real mess.  A boring mess.  The second is a lot better but still needs somthing.   Maybe a mermaid, and a green one at that.

Happy Trails  Travel Well

Painting at Carvins Cove

 Hey Friends,  I was lucky enough to have a day with my plein-aire buddies, the DLPBR.   We went to Carvins Cove which I think is still a major source of water for this area of Va.

 I was sitting on a campers stool almost in the water when I painted this one.  I obviously need to finish it, but it's a pretty good start.  Plein-aire painting is a lot harder than you'd think!

 This is about my view, peeking around the trees.  I just wanted to leave the trees out.

But as you can see I'm over whelmed by all the green !!!    I'll probably just pitch this one.  I don't think I can save it.   You try it.  And let me know what you did with all that green.

I'm changing my sign off tonight - just a bit.

Happy Trails-Travel Well

POND

Hey Friends, This painting was done from some photos I took at the college my youngest daughter was attending. Maybe you have heard of it - Hollins College - here in the SW mountains of Virginia. She graduated this past May "08 so I'm guessing I painted it in 2007.
The sun was setting and casting long shadows. Everything was really green, with a few flowers blooming here and there. I gathered them all up into the foreground. It is one of the prettiest campus' you will ever see. I must find those photos and make some more! Click on this.
Happy Trails. BTW-it is 8"x 16".

POND

Hey Friends, This painting was done from some photos I took at the college my youngest daughter was attending. Maybe you have heard of it - Hollins College - here in the SW mountains of Virginia. She graduated this past May "08 so I'm guessing I painted it in 2007.

The sun was setting and casting long shadows. Everything was really green, with a few flowers blooming here and there. I gathered them all up into the foreground. It is one of the prettiest campus' you will ever see. I must find those photos and make some more! Click on this.

Happy Trails. BTW-it is 8"x 16".

POPPIES & APPLES

Hey Friends, I'm still listing stuff in my Etsy shop that I found while cleaning the studio! My sale bin might get really big - Go check it out.

I can't remember exactly when I painted this-probably 3 years ago. It's a cute, bright, happy liitle gal. Would make a nice gift for that little country girl you know, or that teacher, or that antique collector. You could probably name a dozen more types.

I'm going to add this to Etsy now and then I need to list some paintings on Design Style Guide. This is a fairly new site that markets to designers and decorators. http://www.designstyleguide.blogspot.com/ If you're an artist you might want to take a look.

Happy Trails