All is Calm

Hey Friends,   Today has been an unusual day to say the least.  I spent the day with my youngest daughter.  She has been sick off and on for several years.  Yesterday and today was pretty hard on her, so we just hung out together.   We made one little trip out to pick up the last gift I needed at 2nd Helpings.  We dropped a couple things off at my oldest daughters.  Etc, etc., I think we go too long without seeing each other.  "I" need to change this.  "I" need to take the lead and make her carve out time for her mother.

She will get better.

And we will have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

My wish for you is to have as great a Christmas as I will have.

Happy Trails

Travel Well

Birds at 108

 Hey Friends,  A couple more shots of  my birds.  These are at Gallery 108 in downtown Roanoke on the market.

Go by and see them in person - They are way cute.  And great gifts with their fancy little easels.

Go check out the post on the Double Line blog about a workshop at 2nd Helpings.

Happy Trails
Travel Well

Beautiful Birds

Hey Friends,  I had the good fortune to see both of these beauties this morning !!!  Even found this tiny little feather.  Can't say for sure that it's a woodpeckers feather but it sure looks like it. 
On my way to work I had to stop for some suet to offer these beauties.  I want them to hang around so suet should do the trick.

I also painted about 5 more Wood peckers  and I've started listing them in my DPW gallery.  The starting bids are low and they make sweet little gifts.  And they come with their own little handcrafted easels., which you can see by scrolling down a bit.

Happy Trails
Travel Well

Art by Night at Gallery 108

Hey Friends,  A photo I took just a couple hours ago while at the LAST ABN for Gallery 108 forever.

Seems pretty sad in so many ways but most of the artists are already anxious to try new venues and new shows.  Most are happy for a change especially the original founding members, they have been working all the details behind the scenes, long hours !

So as a good-bye the gallery is giving you a 20 % discount on everything in the gallery - everything!!

I know you can find some beautiful gifts at good prices.  The doors close on Dec. 31st.

Now come out to TINKERINGS on Main Street in downtown Salem tomorrow, Sat. the 8th.  The Double Line Painters will be demonstrating IN the window.  It will be fun, and Tinker has beautiful handcrafted gifts too.  Support your local business'.

Happy Trails
Travel Well

Hand Crafted Easels

 Hey Friends,  As promised I'm showing you the little easels I have made for my miniature paintings.

 I used 20 gauge silver coated wire with gold  beads or pearls or glass beads.  Back view above.

Hope you can get a sense of the size and structure.  The mini painting of the robin is 3'x3".  I suppose you could say this easel is more feminine most.  Not at all like the wooden things I've seen for sale.

Happy Trails
Travel Well

Mini Bird Paintings at DPW

 Hey Friends,  I just put these 3 little specimens in my DPW gallery for sale.

The short 3 day auctions start at $29.00.

I made the auctions short so they can be shipped in time for holiday gifts.











They come with a little hand crafted silver jewelry wire easel to display.  And yes, I made them because I can't find any ready made easels except clunky wooden ones.

I will take a photo of one on the easel and show it to you tomorrow.   But they are very nice looking, I'm told.

If you want these can be wrapped in a small box and sent directly to someone on your list.

No extra charge !








Happy Trails
Travel Well

Mini Bird Paintings

 

Hey Friends,  I've been busy since Thanksgiving painting miniatures of my favorite subject - Birds!!

I scanned a couple groups to show you I haven't been slacking totally.  Some day soon I will learn how to make a collage out of my paintings, but this will have to do for now.

I have to decide now where to take them.  I have four galleries I could take a few to each but I'd really like to post some on DPW.   This is the part I really dislike - deciding what to do with my work when they are ready to fly.

I painted so far 34.  Some are 2"x2", some are 3"x3" and a few are 2"x4".  I've got to make a decision today !  Or Christmas will come and GO !

Happy Trails
Travel Well

Happy News

 Hey Friends, the Salem Museum has the holiday wreaths up now !  All ready for us to bid on !  I'm just showing a few here.  I saw some bids already and they were $25 and $30 so we can afford them and help the museum at the same time.

 The reception is this Friday the 17th until 7pm  so come out and bid on a beauty and check out the beautiful art work upstairs and on the tree in the gift shop.  Unique gifts in deed !!

 And the good news is........A lovely lady from Georgia bought my art work above titled " the Snow is Ending " (with the cardinal).  That made my day !

So I scooted on over to the museum and hung " Magpie " above, in the empty space.  I love painting birds so I had better get busy.  Hope all of you have a fabulous weekend.

Happy Trails Travel Well

Painting at the Sedalia Center ..................

............with the Double Line Painters today.!   The weather was fabulous and the company was great!  I painted 4 (maybe 4 starts) but I think the first is done/finished.  What do you think?  I love rocks/stones so my first impulse is to paint the stones and not the landscape.  But ............

 I did paint 3 more of the landscape.  This magenta canvas panel above has a fence row and a red tree on it now.  I'll get some photos tomorrow.

We all took some extra pieces finished over the summer and laid them out on a blanket/sheet, just like the REAL painters do out west.    Guerrilla painters?!
This is a lovely Art/Cultural Center in Bedford,Va.  and most people are hoping it becomes a regular Nov. happening.

Happy Trails Travel Well

Holiday Shopping starts NOW!

 Hey Friends,  A wee bit of news.  The annual UUC artisan show started tonight and continues tomorrow, Sat. 11-3-12 from 10 til 4pm.  A photo of my set-up above.  It's a pretty casual show but very tastefully run by the staff at Unitarian Univeralist Church (hope I spelled correctly) at the corner of Apperson & Grandin, across from Patrick Henry High School, in Roanoke, Va.

 We are serenaded with lovely piano music and vocals.  They were pretty lively so photo is blurry.

The evening/opening preview was pretty busy.  A decent crowd for a Friday evening, after work, type of thing.  There were lots of appetizers and hot cider to share.
Now if these folks go tell all their family and friends to visit tomorrow,  we may all go home happy campers.
A little bit of everything, for everyone on your list.  Jewelry, clothing, hats, wood art, pottery, stained glass, watercolors, pastel, oil and more.  

Happy Trails Travel Well