SPRING SENSATIONS ART SHOW AT 2ND HELPINGS GALLERY

Hey Friends, a reminder to let you know the Double Line Painters will be hanging the art show called SPRING SENSATIONS at 2nd Helpings Gallery on Williamson Rd. tomorrow, Tues. the 4th.

The reception will be Sat. the 8th from 1pm to 3pm.   

We will all be there and set up with our plein air gear to paint.  We hope you will be able to stop in and say Hi.  Maybe you can find an interesting gift for Mothers Day or Fathers Day.

Read the note above, maybe you will be the lucky person to win the cards.

Happy Trails

TRAFFIC ALERT !!!!! CRITTER SHOW SATURDAY TRAFFIC ALERT !!!!!

Hey Dear Friends,  Another quickie to give you this update on the Critter show at 2nd Helpings.

CNN just informed me........

Set your GPS for an alternate route (back street) to the All Critters Great and Small Reception from 1-3 PM on  Saturday at 2nd Helpings.  And look for detours around the intersection of Williamson and Orange Avenue as there will certainly be some at this busy intersection.  We don’t want you to miss our reception! 

The Western Virginia Water Authority will be working around the clock this weekend at the intersection of Orange Avenue and Williamson Road. Work will begin at 7:00 PM Friday April 8th and is expected to continue throughout the weekend, ending no later than 6:00 AM on Monday morning, April 11. During this time, all westbound through lanes of Orange Ave approaching Williamson and the northbound lanes of Williamson, north of Orange will be closed. 

This will affect travel to 2nd Helpings this weekend so please look for and use alternate routes!

So please take back roads to the reception from 1-3.

Happy Trails

2nd FRIDAY ART WALK AT GOOSE CREEK, BEDFORD, VA.

Hey Friends, I've been busy with a business class and almost forgot to post about Sally Koopman's beautiful show at the Goose Creek Gallery in DT Bedford, Va.

It opened this past Friday night and will be up thru sometime in April.

Don't know is you can see the red dots up top but I think 5 of them have found homes. I know she is super excited about that.

They had a pretty good sized crowd when I left.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Happy Trails

GORGEOUS DAY IN THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS

Hey Friends, Are you enjoying this fantastic little teaser Mother Nature is giving us?!?

Maybe she even has an early spring in store for us, good little artists.

Still hoping you guys are coming to Bedford tomorrow night.  To the famous Goose Creek Gallery in DT Bedford.

Shelly Koopman's Museum Series will be up.  There is always a ton of people to chat with.

See you between 5 and 8.

Happy Trails

Out Collecting Reference Photos with the DLP today

Hi Friends, Today was a beautiful, sunny day, BLUE sky.  So the DLP and I took a little trip to gather some reference photos to work from for a big exhibit coming up soon at the Arts Depot in Abingdon, Va.

Top is at Claytor Lake State Park and this (above) is where we started at the Draper Mercantile.  I had never been here (I really need to get out of the house more) and it is a really nice place with great food.  And they have live music on Friday nights and PIE !!

And here is a closeup of me and a couple tools and a cradled panel.  Getting ready to start slinging some paint for this show coming up !!

I will keep you posted so you don't miss it.

Hope you can make it.

Happy Trails

HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE AT POTENTIALLY CHIC AND NEXT STEP WITH THE COMMISSION

Hey Friends,  Last night I went with some of the DLP gals to the Holiday Open House at Potentially Chic on Brambleton Ave. here in Roanoke, Va.  It was a very enjoyable event and evening.  I finally found the perfect birthday gift for my sister.!  Really happy about that.  And the jewelry maker, the Velvet Peony, had the perfect gift for a dear friend in Florida !

And the photo above shows one of my paintings in one of their beautiful shop vinyettes. (spell check couldn't even correct this word-so I don't feel too dumb)

AND they sold this painting of mine !!  How cool is that?

They also sold some of the mini rooster blocks.

Thank you Ladies very much.

And lastly I wanted to show you this detail shot I emailed to the couple that commissioned the painting I began showing you yesterday.

I asked what she thought of this and a few more shots.  She replied "the hen looked as if she is wearing a beret and glasses."  I was real puzzled until I got back to the photos I sent her.

The interpretations other people see always amaze me.  I CAN SEE IT now.  But until she said that I never would have seen it.  So now I have some more work to do.  But I'm really happy she told me and I can correct I hope.

More fun to show you tomorrow.

Hope all of you are having a great December so far.

Happy Trails

Travel Well

ORIGINAL OIL FLORAL PAINTING and PLEIN AIR at the INN at RIVERBEND in PEARISBURG

Hey Friends, Wish you all could have seen what I saw today.  Come to the Jefferson Center in DT Roanoke after Nov. 16th and see all the handsome paintworks the Double Line Painters have up.

The one above is 18" sq. with deep sides painted black.

Today we had the terrific pleasures of painting at the Inn at Riverbend.  Above is just one view.

This is another view.  This gorgeous place has fantastic views in any direction.  That's the New River you see.  Trains go by pretty often down there on the right.

The inn keepers are Jeanne and John.  Wonderful pair that would love to have your business.

And we were all very grateful for their hospitality.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Trails

MY VISIT TO THE LITTLE GALLERY AT SML TO MEET #ROBERT SARSONY

 

Hey Friends,  I thought #Robert Sarsony was going to demo (a bit disappointed) but it's OK.  I enjoyed meeting Robert and his wife.  And he was busy talking with LG customers/collectors anyway.

 

And I got Pam Bryant (new owner of the LG@sml) to stop a minute for a picture with Robert.

Isn't she pretty?

 

So I thought why not just do a blog post on what I saw at the gallery today. 

 

Of course, the place was hopping so I can't show all the photos I took.

 

This is a very sweet lady that bought one of his masterpieces.  She said she was going to buy one of his every year.  Good news for him.  All the paintings on that left wall are his.

The 2 on the far wall, straight back, are #Bonnie Mason's.

 

And of course, I had to have a photo of a customer perusing #Greg Osterhaus's Cows.

 

Hope you enjoyed visiting my blog and all the pretty pictures !

 

Happy Trails

Fun in the Mountains

 

Hey Friends, Yesterday I delivered plein aire paintings to 2nd Helpings Gallery on Williamson Rd. which is close to DT Roanoke right off of Rt.460.  Pictured above.

 

After helping the DLP group work on our Barns of Bedford guitar (I'll show you tomorrow) I raced up to Mill Mountain to see what the beautiful sky looked like.  I sat on the curb close to the overlook and painted the above 5x7.

 

Then I raced home to get into shorts and an icy drink, then raced over to Greenhill Park in Salem, Va. on the Roanoke River to see what I could practice on.  The river is seriously low.  We will be calling it the Roanoke Creek soon.  Lots of rocks to include in paintings.

 

For the locals, aren't you surprised at how low the water is?  I knocked out 2- 9"x 12" panels and then hauled it all back up to the car.  Those rocks are hard on your knees !

 

When I got back to the car, the sky was so pretty I had to sit on the bumper and do another !

A 12" sq. panel of the treeline and beautiful clouds.  Most days I paint outside it is because of the sky.  I may not always put the sky in but that's what pulls me out there.  I would like to do a grand vista.  A large wide open valley with a big sky.  Some day soon.

Happy Trails

Travel Well

"C" is for Cat

Hey Friends,  Here is the C.  Now did you think I'd  pick Camel ? or Color? or........Nay, just the common old ordinary kat.  We have a black rescue kat, Miss Kitty (remember Gunsmoke?) and she threatened the youngest grand child if I didn't pick Cat !  Up 'til now she's been an ordinary, common ole Kat.

I'm enjoying these little pictures but I really need to move on to something bigger for the Taubman's Sidewalk Art Show.......it'll be here before I know it.

Happy Trails
Travel Well

"B" is for Bee's

Hey Friends  I deleted the last post about this painting "B" because I was trying to resize my images on blogger.  I got my instructions from Karen Marquilas, she is a pastelist and I love her blog but her instructions just will not work for me.   So if any one out there in this gigantic cyber world knows how to do this, please forword your instructions.  Maybe they will work for me.

I posted a week or two ago about this new series of collage paintings, using pages from an old dictionary I found at Goodwill.   Of course for me 'cuz I love painting Bee's anyway, B had to be BEE !  I printed some of my images on Sumi paper because it is translucent so a tad of the printed page can show through.

The canvas is gallery wrapped and initially painted my fav color, turquoise, before gelling the B page down.  I let that dry then apply a coat of off-white randomly, mostly using my hand.  Then I start gelling down bits of sumi printed images and cutouts.  I love to use the old timey paper doll cutouts, such as you see the bee's connected on the right side.  I emphasized these with marker lines.

When all is dry I varnish and finish the back and add the hanger, then it goes into my ETSY shop.

Happy Trails
Travel Well

UPS

Hey Friends, I've been really busy with the paints this week ! I don't know how many I've done or started. The busy bee's above and the fancy Dragon Fly below. I enjoyed painting the beads.

A lovely lady in Australia bought a painting from my Etsy store. So I pack it up the usual way and take it to the P.O. and the way I had it packed would have cost $35.00. So I brought it home and repacked. On my way back to the P.O. I decided to stop at the UPS store and see what their fee might be. After measuring and weighing, he said $169.64 !! $169.64.

I started laughing and he did too. This pkg. was ><>

I went on to the P.O. and mailed it for $15.00. Just thought you might enjoy that scenario.

Now I'm off to Etsy to list a painting or two.

Happy Trails.

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

Original 24x36 Painting

Hey Friends, Not to much to talk about right now so I thought I'd show you a painting I did a few months ago. I have not shown it yet because I can't seem to get it just right in photo shop.
I think the image above is as good as it gets (for me). It's almost exactly the same as the painting. I never would have dreamed that I could finally do this sort of thing with photo shop. I believe the answer is that I lost my fear of computers. If I screw up I just shut the thing off, and come back later.
The yard work is killing me, how about you guys? I was exhausted just from trying to start the mower! But it's all done and I get to paint ALL day tomorrow!!!
Now go read this post from Luann Udell - It should clear up a few things for you.

Happy Trails.

Original Paintings

Hey Friends, Cows! Now I know why I see so many paintings of cows. They are so easy and quick to paint! I mentioned in a post that I was shoveling snow and then painting for an hour or so, alternating the activity, trying not to hurt the old back. So I ended up painting 7 cows! They are 8"x8" so you know they came along pretty fast anyway.

I put 3 on this post so you could see how I tighten up as time goes by. The green one should have been the last one. Notice the first cow is pretty loose. The red one is fairly loose but the green one is pretty tight! Why do I do that? Don't have a clue. But it is something I need to pay attention to.

I also painted about 4 of birds, 3 of cats, a couple landscapes, and 3 Wabbits! I do love to paint! Now I must varnish and put on the backings and hangers.

This evening Gallery 108 (downtown Roanoke) is hosting a little party so the new members and original members can meet. I know this will be a good time. I'll post photos later.

Happy Trails.

MASA RICE PAPER-What's underneath

Hey Friends, Just a little random tidbit of interest - maybe. I scanned the above canvas which has Masa Rice Paper on it so you could see what the paper looks like before Painting on it. I had to make 2 scans and photomerge them in Photoshop. Too big for my scanner in one pass. Since it's too big the canvas doesn't lay flat on the glass and you wind up w/ that shadow on the left. Now maybe you've heard how much I hate Vista on this new computer, therefore I will not do any more experimenting until it's gone. Meaning, I won't take a crack at fixing that shadow.
The Masa paper has a wonderful batik-e look that I really enjoy painting on. You should get a sheet and PLAY! Daniel Smith Art Supplies sells it by the roll or sheets.
Also wanted you to see this paper before painting on it because I just finished a couple small paintings that started w/ this paper and I totally ruined them. The paper was wasted!!
I'll post them next time.
Happy Trails.

NO NEWS - CAN IT BE GOOD?

Hey Friends, I haven't posted for a while 'cuz I was away from home for a week, then had to jump back into my job. The other job, which I also love! LOL. Seriously, my baby girl is still sick, even after having her gall bladder removed. It's called gastroparesis, which means paralyzed stomach. The last 2 days seem to be a bit better. She got some new medicine on Friday and thinks that may be helping. She has lost a lot of weight but that will be OK if this is the end of her struggle with keeping food down. I love her.
While I was away a young lady left a comment on my last blog post, thanking me for the Painted Photo Collage tutorial. Hope she gets to use it soon and I wanted you to check out her blog, which is www.hayleyjudithegan.blogspot.com and then check out some of the blogs she follows. I clicked on a couple and found them very interesting, I'll have to check out more of them later. So go click on www.blackrosecreations.blogspot.com and www.doorno2.blogspot.com.
Tomorrow I'm going to paint ALL day so I don't want anyone ringing the phone, banging at the door, or blowing their car horns to get me to sell my art work. Sorry, It'll just have to wait 'til next week. I've got to finish a piece I promised to be ready last week.
HAPPY TRAILS!