AVOCA MUSEUM IN ALTAVISTA ON THE PERFECT SPRING DAY

Hey Friends,  Hope you don't think it's TOO weird to start a post in a cemetary?!

The Avoca Museum in Altavista has a beautiful little round plot enclosed with a rock wall.  And the first thing to catch my eye, was the picasso-ess or ish female in mourning.

I think she is beautiful.  Maybe I need one.

After leaving all the merri-makers (DoubleLinePainters) in Altavista, I chugged on over to the Smith Mountain Lake State Park to see what was blooming.  I had to go through Huddleston to get home and don't ya know, there is gang after gang of cows !  I was braking all the way.  And of course the cows didn't know whether to run or cry.  

It always tickles me the way they struggle to stand up and just look at you.  Don't move a muscle.  They must think I'm a predator.  Can you see me from their point of view?

Wind whipping the white hair all around and a purple camera for an eyeball.

Funny Enough.

Now I hope all of you will go take a look at my new website !!!

I like it ( alot) even though I'm not finished.

www.suefurrow.com

Tell me what you think.

Happy Trails

PS--I have done everything I can think of to make the address clickable.  Nothing seems to work. 

So please just type it in the bar up there, thanks.

ORIGINAL LANDSCAPE FARM PAINTING PLEASANT GROVE FARM

Hey Friends,  I have listed this in my ETSY SHOP. Click There.

This was painted this spring at a paint out at Whitney Feldman's ranch.  Sponsored by the Blue Ridge Land Conservancy.  One of the prettiest farms you will ever see in Botetourt, Virginia.

Thanks for stopping in.

Happy Trails

CAT FOR AUCTION AND PLEIN AIR PAINTING IN BOTETOURT

 

Hey Friends,  Found a few more pieces for Ebay in the studio.  This is called "Ms. Kitty and Her Aquarium".  We all know how much cats love to watch fish go by.  CLICK HERE for details in EBAY.

 

Today Linda and I had the great pleasure of painting at the Pleasant Grove Farm in Botetourt.  Mrs. Whitney Feldmann and her husband graciously opened their beautiful home and property for about 12 painters from the local area to capture the many beautiful views.  Above Mrs. Feldmann even hung some laundry on the lines just for me!  I told her how much I loved to paint laundry drying on the line.  You so seldom see this anymore.  What a generous lady.

 

Here is Linda in the shade of any old maple.  Mr. Feldmann said it was planted in 1955.  He had quite a few stories to pass on.  Their gorgeous home was built in 1830"s if I remember correctly.

 

This is the view that Linda was trying to get on the canvas before lunch.  She will have to tweek it before giving to Whitney for the BIG auction in Sept.

Can you see the cows?

 

And here is me!  Starting a third one.  I usually just do "Starts" when plein airing and finish later from memory or photos.

I will decide which to give to the auction after they are finished.

I have not looked yet but assume you can find out more about the auction in Sept by going to www.blueridgelandconservancy.org

 

We had a wonderful day and hope to go back soon.

Thank you Mr. & Mrs. Feldmann.

 

Happy Trails

PEACOCK PAINTED AND PLEIN AIR PAINTING AND NOSEY COWS

 

Hey Friends,  A post about what's been going on here in SW Va.   It is spring, glorious spring time, here in the beautiful mountains of the Roanoke-Salem Valley.

This beautiful, noisy peacock is up for auction in EBAY. click there.

 

Yesterday I went with my group the DLP's to the beautiful arboretum at our local community College. Virginia Western Community College.  This is a beautiful, well maintained garden of unusual trees that create a canopy for all the shade loving plants.  You will find many.  Everything has a name tag so you can find them for your garden.  The photo above is poor quality but you get the idea of what I painted.  The blooms just didn't show up at all. 

 

After the arboretum and lunch, I went to the Little Gallery at Smith Mountain Lake to exchange artwork.  I'll show what I took later because I want you to see these silly, cute cows.

I was headed home through Hardy, Va. to avoid the Windy Gap Mtn. (my car is being a pickle).  When I saw a glimpse of these black and white cuties, I slammed on the brakes and turned around.

This is how I found them.  It appeared to be their private little campground minus tents.

 

They stayed on the ground for maybe 2 minutes but their nosiness got the best of them.  They ventured this close and stood there until I left.  HOW I wished I had a flute or bango.  Next time I go that way I'll need to remember music and apples for these sweet faces.

I'm dying to paint them but I must get ready for a big day tomorrow.  The www.BlueRidgeLandConservancy.org is sponsoring a plein-air paint out at Pleasant Grove Farm in Botetourt County tomorrow from 9 to 4.

Mrs. Whitney Feldman has graciously opened her farm for us to use.

 

Linda and I are hoping for nice weather and anticipate a lot of fun.  I'll let you know tomorrow night.

 

Great times

Happy Trails

ORIGINAL PAINTING OF LAZY COWS

 

Hey Friends,  Slightly different take on these cows.  Saw them in Bedford when hunting for barns.  They moved so slowly you would have thought it was freezing cold or they were a bit DAFF !

 

None the less, they were pretty cute.  I especially like the blond cows.

CLICK HERE FOR EBAY.

 

Hope your weekend has been smooth sailing.

Thanks for stopping.

 

Happy Trails

ORIGINAL PAINTING LANDSCAPE RIVER EDGE WITH COWS AND REDBUDS

 

Hey Friends,  This was painted from photos and sketches I took last summer while watching my

GranBabes play along the bank of the Roanoke River in Greenhill Park. 

There is a small herd of cows, I see from time to time, across the way.  I"ve always wanted to cross the river and get closer photos.

I can't seem to spot a place on the other bank to get out of the water.  It all looks too overgrown and snakey.

 

This is painted on gessoed mat board so it should be matted and under glass.

Check it out in EBAY.

 

Hope you are having a great weekend.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

HAPPY TRAILS

ORIGINAL LANDSCAPE PAINTING OF RURAL VIRGINIA

 

Hey Friends,  This is a study more or less, trying to decide if I want to make it BIG.  There is so much stuff I want to paint that it seems almost redundant to do something more than once.  But the professionals will tell you how much it helps to do a study.  For choosing colors mostly, then design or composition.   I SHOULD give it a try.

CLICK HERE for the EBAY auction.

 

And please take a minute to read the Double Line Painters blog by CLICKING HERE.

Hopefully, it will be of interest to you.

 

Happy Trails

ORIGINAL PAINTING - "WINDIEST DAY EVER"

 

Hey Friends,  I have been a wee bit busy - just painting !!  YAY, love it when I get to paint all day.  That makes winter bearable, for me anyway.  What do you like to do during the winter?

 

Over at the DLP blog,  you can see what some of the members like to do during the yucky gray days of winter.  CLICK HERE.

 

Now the painting above is for auction in EBAY.  It is scheduled to go live tomorrow night.

Click the Ebay word above.

 

Thanks for stopping in and looking around.

 

Happy Trails

New Listings

 

Hey Friends,  Posted a couple new items in Etsy and Ebay.

"April Showers" is in Etsy,   CLICK HERE.

 

And this first in a series of Autumn Colors is in Ebay,   CLICK HERE.

I'm in a hurry to get to work on my commission, so not much commentary today.

 

Happy Trails

Travel Well

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

Tire Trough - From the Barns of Bedford Project

 

Hey Friends,  This is available at auction on EBAY.   Don't you wish it was green outside again and we were all out there painting away the hours?  Can't you just hear the birds and feel the sun going in and out of the clouds?

Sweet Dreams

 

Happy Trails

ENDING SOON !

 

Hey Friends,  Thought I should let you know these two little paintings and a couple more are ending on Ebay soon.  They could be unique little gifts for your favorite people.

Click Here for the lake painting.

 

Click Here for the Cowgirl.

 

Happy Trails

Travel carefully

Searching for the Cattle

 

Hey Friends,  This little guy is going to end soon on EBAY.

Give him a good home.  CLICK HERE now.

And thank you for reading my blog and sharing in my daily journey.

 

Happy Trails

"Two Cows"

Hey Friends,  This little mini is for auction in Ebay also.  When you scan a mini with high pixel count, the texture of the canvas weave really shouts.  I don't think the original looks this grainy.
 For miniatures it is real nice to use Masonite panels.  They are smooth.  Click Here for ebay.
Happy Trails
Travel Well

"Farm in Bedford"

Hey Friends, This painting is for auction in Ebay starting at one penny.  Click Here.  And Hope to see some of you at the Blue Ridge Vineyard tomorrow !  It's supposed to be a beautiful day.
Happy Trails
Travel Well

Osterhaus at Little Gallery

Hey Friends,  Sunday I went to the Little Gallery at Smith Mountain Lake, here in SW Va., which is in Bedford, Va.   I had the timing wrong, I thought I would see Greg Osterhaus demonstrating, but I was there just in time to see everyone walking away!  That's the finished demo above.  He will finish later, I'm told.  He is very loose and expressive and colorful.  If he isn't the top seller at LG then he's second, is my guess.  I love his work.

This was his set up on the boardwalk/deck just outside of the Little Gallery. Look at that huge paint layout !!   Wow - makes my set up look miniature.  I can foresee some changes coming soon.

Here is the Mr. O chatting with some collectors.  He never knew I was there and thats my fault.  I hate to interupt anyone esp. if I think they are talking business.

And here is a couple of his famous cows, hanging outside close to his demo.  See how colorful and energetic!

After this event I went for a little ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Only from Vinton to Floyd.  I 'll crop some of those photos and show them to you tomorrow.  The Double Line Painters will be meeting in the morning at Green Hill Park early so I will post after that.

Happy Trails Travel Well

ALL THE COWS ARE HOME NOW . . . .

Hey Friends, No big news around here just yet ! But I thought you might enjoy seeing my cows again. I finally listed all of them in my Etsy shop. Take a gander - HERE.

For sometime I've been contemplating opening a 2nd shop on Etsy. Just to see if anyone would appreciate my "other side". My grandbabes are motivating me to do this. I hate being on the fence about anything, so I need to get on with it-one way or the other.

Hoping you all had a pleasant weekend. I did.

Happy Trails, Sue

ART BY NIGHT at GALLERY 108

Hey Friends, If you are in the area (Roanoke, Va.) come out for the Art by Night in downtown Roanoke in the market area. Some areas call it an Art Crawl but it means that the galleries all stay open 'til 9pm. Refreshments are served while you browse the new works and a featured artist. At Gallery 108 it is Revelle Hamilton. She has beautiful watercolors on display tonight.
This morning I changed my work. I had birds up but now my cows are hanging. I like all the bright colors! Maybe someone will fall in LOVE with my bovines.
Have a great weekend.

Happy Trails.

Original Cow Paintings - Last Two

Hey Friends, These are the last of the cows. For now. Gotta move on. Love painting their little faces so I'm sure I'll be back with more. That brown fella (gal) above was a real odd looking cow. I tried to sweeten it up a bit.

Of course, this gal was more fun to paint. I just like the black and white. She might be the famous California Happy Cow from the commercials.

Now all I need to do is list them on Etsy. Sheeesh - that'll take hours! And I'm feeling the spring-forward daylight savings time thingy.

Do want to mention that I have a small show to be hung first of May at the famous Mill Mtn. Coffee Shop in the famous little town of Salem, Va.! More later. Have a grand week!

Happy Trails.

Original Paintings and a visit to Art Quiver

Hey Friends, More Cows! I think I may be off this jag - for now. I have 2 more after these 2.

I'll post them later. Don't want to bore you too much on this fine start to the weekend.

A couple days ago I visited the studio of T. Lawson, whom my daughter models for real often. He has a beautiful studio, one most of us wish for! And I love, love his art work!!! His mind works totally different from mine. He's Pablo-ish. So I put a link here for you to easily check his work. His gallery is on Art Quiver. I've heard of this sight before. Don't think it's the route for me mostly because of the return policy. I can't see the advantage of that, can you?

Go look and tell me what you think. Have a great weekend.

Happy Trails.