My Sweetie Pies

Hey Friends, I'm back and I make no apologies for my absense. The two dolls above have kept me busy when not at work.
I admit I haven't painted like I should be doing, shows coming up etc. But I feel a little better knowing that one of my favorite professional artists has not blogged for 6 months either. I will not mention names, but like I said "good to know I'm not the only procrastinator".

I continue to walk as often as possible (a little bit of a woose in cold weather) and I see so much beauty, I'm inspired to do a series of landscapes within walking distance. We'll see.

And for my dear friend, Cat, I believe your email provider needs to up your bytes. Call them.

Happy Trails to ya!

Plein Air Painting

Hey Friends, I'll start this post with my Favorite Little Man above, Mr .Nic, such a happy boy.
Excited about SpongeBob and wearing Elmo Slippers! He loves to sing and dance too !
Today I finally got to meet up with friends for some Plein Air Painting !! Last week was too rainy. I just joined up with this group of crazy women and I love it already.
They weren't interested in painting the landscapes ! They were experimenting with new ways of slinging and pouring paint on unstretched canvas. I painted 2 small pieces and they are pretty bad. I didn't even think to photograph them for you. I've wanted to seriously knuckle down and paint from life for a long time BUT It's HARD !!! Maybe to hard for me but I'm not giving up after just one go. I used acrylics and it might be easier w/ oils 'cuz acrylics dry so o oooo fast.
Can you see the canvas' laying on the ground? Now they will pick out an area of the canvas and stretch it and then paint on top. Can't wait to try it myself but I need to order in some supplies.
This group is trying to find a name and several are on the marque, but not firm yet.

And I forgot to post about the reception held at Second Helpings last Sat. morning, to thank the artists that painted the table tops for their new cafe. I'll post some photos soon.

Happy Trails !

Hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Hey Friends, I'm posting a few photos from the hike I took Tuesday. It rained the entire day, so I was hiking under an umbrella. I'm sure the critters thought I was the oddest hiker they'd ever seen. The photo above is of one of the prettiest spots in the whole ravine or maybe it would qualify as a canyon ?!
And this photo of the lake is at the lowest spot. Look at that color and I didn't alter it in Photoshop at all. There is a lot of sulfur in this area of Virginia so I'm guessing that's the reason for such a beautiful shade of aquamarine.
And this photo was taken from the very top of the tallest peak. Doesn't look so high but it is. And it took a while for this TuTu to get up there.
This was taken from the same spot, opposite direction. Foggy! These Blue Ridge Mtns. are beautiful. Hoping to get some paintings started soon. I'm thinking I might do some of the compositional work from the photos and go back to this spot to do the actual painting. Just wondering if my colors might be a little truer. Oh, this last shot is 2 photos merged but I don't know how to clean it up.

Getting out there with nature is one of the best things you can do for yourself. If you're alone you won't have to worry about if the other person is tired, bored, hungry, etc. But if someone wants to tag along, you just might inspire them to keep walking too.

Happy Trails.

Commission Work

Hey Friends, Yesterday I had my favorite little man for 4-5 hours. The photo above is Nic in the swing and I'm laying on the ground clicking away. I was after reference photos for my swing paintings! He was pretty entertained by me laying on ground. He is such a sweetheart.
I thought I'd show you what I've been working on for a while. I haven't painted with oils for a long time so I'm pretty slow. I'm catching up now, I think. The photo above is the initial block in. Already I'm not happy with it. Everything is in a line. And even though that's pretty much how it is in real life - it doesn't make for a good composition. S0000-0-0-0-------
Here I've painted out the arbor bench and made the pond bigger. This seems to give more of an aerial perspective. So now I"ll put the bench back in, lower in picture plane and rotate it to the right. There will be 2 children and a dog in here also. And the pond doesn't look exactly like this, but I wanted to see inside so the beautiful Koi and plants show up better. The lady that commissioned this painting has worked real hard to landscape her yard and it is beautiful. Hope I can do it justice.
Happy Trails.

Gallery 108's 10th Anniversary Party !! !! !! !!

Hey Friends, Just wanted all of you to see the crowd and the good company we enjoyed at Gallery 108's Tenth Anniversary Party today in the Downtown Historic Market District of Downtown Roanoke, Va. Wish you could have been there.

Ten years for any business is nothing to take lightly. All of these artists have worked VERY hard to keep this gallery thriving for the past 2/3 years.

Not only because of the "economy" but also all of the renovations being done to this little district. Mainly the Historic Market Building itself, which is right across the one lane street and next to the gallery. ALL of these little streets have been blocked by construction. Few people made the journey through all that debris to get to the gallery.

Now the Market Bldg. is about to open again and the streets are clear and clean !!!!! So maybe things will get back to normal. Maybe they will even get better - Now I like that thought !

And just so ya know (in case you run into this fella above) He wanted to see my "Release Forms" for using his image on my blog ! You have to be on your toes around some people.

So - I'm just praying that I'll be ready when the business picks up. Yikes! I'm not fooling anybody - I've never been ready for anything !

Happy Trails.

Tenth Year Anniversay Celebration at Gallery 108

Hey Friends, Some photos I took Wednesday at the Gallery 108 in downtown Roanoke, Va. The shot above is the left window. Notice the face with the 3-D glasses?!
This is the window on the right. I always have a hard time taking a decent photo of these windows. Didn't even try the big main window. Some time I'd like to go by there at night and see what would happen with all the glare and such.
Here is the main stage upstairs with the main or majority of the 3-D images hanging. It's probably hard to see but at the top of photo is a little sign that says"It's a new dimension". This show is about looking at art with the glasses you normally would be wearing at a movie !! It's pretty cool. With the glasses on certain colors will appear to be floating or hovering out from their place on the painting. Mainly the HOT colors and it seems exaggerated with the use of Thalo Blue and green. Hope some of you can make it to the show. The big celebration party is Sunday August 21, 2011 4:30 to 7 pm by invitation only and only because wine will be served.
Some city law says when a spirit is served you must know their name or age or something. So if ya want to come, zip me an email and I'll put your name on the list.
AND - TA Dah - My favorite little Man in the world - The handsome Mr. Nic !!! Trying to master the 3-D glasses so he can critique the new works !! His fav was the big red heart floating on the sea.
And now he is ready to play hide & seek !!! Have you ever seen such a cutie pie !!!
Happy Trails !!

Morning Walks

Hey Friends, Love my morning walks !!! Every morning some Doves are perched on wires. In the very same spot. Usually two, sometimes three. I try every morning to get a photo. This one isn't too bad. One day all 3 will line up just right, just for a photo.

Much further into WildWood Road, I came across this beautiful scene. A dry creek bed. The stones here in Salem, Va. are gorgeous ! BUT then................................

When I looked directly down (I'm standing on a little stone bridge) at a small puddle of water, that seems to be churning !!! I'm thinking must be a spring making the water move !

UH - Uwwwww.......Yukkie............YUK.............YUK.............Sorry folks .... I can't stand SNAKES!

I know they're good for something, but I still can't stand the thoughts of them. And I hate to look at "em. Can you see it in the upper right??

I'll post something a little more pleasant next time. Have a great weekend.

Happy Trails.

Wabbit

Hey Friends, I'm posting this, mainly, for Lillie. We went for our walk to the pond and I told her I saw a little brown wabbit nearly every morning sitting beside the pond. So as we are walking, she is praying,( with eyes closed and still walking) that the bunny will be there. I believe she thought she would be able to catch it. As expected, there was no bunny. This was an evening walk and I see the wabbit on my morning walk.

I explained, the wabbit had gone home. It has to be real careful about getting home before it gets dark so the coyotes and foxes can't find him. That made sense to her and she was glad the wabbit was safe.

SO o o o o o. Lillie !!!! Here is that silly Wabbit !!! I saw him this morning .....I Love You.

Happy Trails.

New Books !!!!!!!

Hey Friends, A quick post to let you know I'm still hanging on. Doing well inspite of the 100 degrees that keeps hanging on too. Still walking, early in the mornings. Still loving it !
I just bought the two books pictured above, from Mr. Schmid's "Stove Prarie Press" site.
Fan-tab-ulous !!! Love their work. A tiny bit disappointed in Ms. Guzik's book. It is so minimally (is that a word?) illustrated. And I know she has painted a bazillion pictures so they could have included more. As it is there is one pictured on one page, nothing on the backside of the page except titles,etc.
Of course Mr. Schmids is big in size (love that) and lots of paintings pictured (love that) and it cost 3 times as much as Nancy's.
So the point is they could have done more with her book for a little more money.
Blah Blah - Like I know anything about making money or paintings.

Hope every last one of you are having great summers ! School will be back soon.
Happy Trails.

Are you a Walker?

Hey Friends, I've been walking every day for about 5 weeks maybe. This morning the Family of deer were out and about. First Mom crossed the road. Then .................

This baby came busting through. It looked scared. I guess Mom was too far away. Then ........

This baby came ambling out. Seemed pretty unconcerned that Mom was so far ahead of him. These critters are so pretty. But they are little monsters in the garden.

I walk about a mile. That's about all I can take. The heart and or lungs don't seem to be much better than when I started. I will not give up 'cuz I know it takes forever to change anything !!

Speaking of change, I've been wanting to join DPW for a long time. I keep sitting on that fence. Not getting any younger so I better do it NOW! Right after a shower and a full day of shoe selling. No rest for the wicked.

Happy Trails