Monday, May 31, 2010

A Window on New Orleans


This is not the greatest photo of this piece...I will
try to take some outside tomorrow. Anyway, I
finished it today. That is an old wooden window
frame with two dividers that make three long
spaces. I enlarged some of my New Orleans photos
and cropped them to fit inside the areas. I added
some paper collaged to the canvas around the photos.
This piece will join the other collage pieces of New
Orleans, hopefully headed to a gallery down there
soon!

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Skin Deep



The Bronx zoo is the largest in the nation, 265 acres.
The land was purchased in 1895 for $1000, and the
zoo opened in 1899.
These residents share some wrinkled skin...one very
young, and two a little older.

Pair of Oranges



Just a couple of more images from the Bronx
zoo. I put them together because of the shared
color. They were in the same place...the Butterfly
House. I love those things....lots of butterflies
surrounding you; blooming flowers; fountains full
of goldfish; and singing finches. They were playing
nice classical music as well. nice experience

Friday, May 28, 2010

Long on New Orleans




I started working on another New Orleans construction
piece: it has a large canvas as the base with an old wooden
window frame mounted on it. I am collaging these 3 long
altered photographs in between the slats of the window
onto the canvas. (i will try to photograph the whole thing
tomorrow!) Anyway, I had fun cropping these long pics
of New Orleans. I would really like to paint them...they
would make really neat watercolors. maybe later!

A Day at the Zoo






One of the things on my "bucket list" was a visit
to the Bronx Zoo. I got to mark it off during my
recent trip to NYC. I took all my camera equipment
in case I got to go. It is quite hard to pack all the
lenses, etc. They probably think they are bombs
in my luggage! Anyway, I rode the subway all the
way to the Bronx, and spent the day taking photos
of the wonderful animals and birds.
The snow leopard was exquisite. There aren't very
many of these in zoos, and I was lucky he was awake
and alert. It was almost like he posed for me.
The polar bear came right up to the edge of his enclosure.
He was probably very hot..it was a warm sunny day.
I really think he was watching for the zoo keeper who
had his lunch for the day.
There must have been "peacock love" in the air...for all
the males were stutting their beautiful plumes all over the
zoo.
Stay tuned for a few more in the next couple of days.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Dog Days of Summer


I agreed to contribute a piece to the silent
auction to be held at the CPSA convention
in California this summer. They always ask
the signature members if they would like to
participate. This is the piece I have decided to
send. I like to do the "RiddlePics" to try to
"brand" myself with them. I sent "Tiger Woods"
last year, and the timing couldn't have been
better on that one?! Anyway, since the convention
is during the dog days of summer, what better
one to send? hope they like it. (I am sure there
won't be a bidding war over any of my work, but
at least I am participating....)

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Getting Greek


Last year when I went to Paris, I did a postcard
ahead of time to take with me. It has all my
contact info on back, and advertises my printed
sketchbook that will be available after my trip.
I think this is the final design for one to take on
my upcoming trip to Greece. I will send it off
tomorrow so they can get it back to me by June
12th!

I am still getting some other things finished to
enter in shows. And working on the licensing
portfolio. busy, busy....

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Monday, May 24, 2010

Final Wonder

In the neighborhood where I grew up, there was
a creek (I believe it was really a drainage ditch...)
But anyway, my brother and I would spend a lot
of time down there...exploring, wading, splashing.
One of my favorite memories was catching tadpoles
in the spring. We would put them in empty mayonnaise
jars and take them home. And then, we would enjoy
watching them morph into frogs over the coming weeks.
We would take them back down there, and give them
their freedom.
When I look at this drawing, I remember some of those
simpler times. I guess we could all use some of those.
I will plan to enter this drawing in an upcoming
competition.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Wonder in the Water


I have several juried shows coming up, and I am
trying to complete a couple of things that I had
already started. This is one of them.
It is a pencil drawing of a curious little boy, playing
and exploring in the creek. I took this photograph
while I was doing an art festival in Denton, TX.
I always thought it would be a great pencil drawing,
and it is shaping up now. I will probably be able to
finish it tomorrow night.
The Natchitoches Art Guild annual show and the
Alexandria Art Museum September competition
are both coming soon. I don't know what I am sending
to which...will decide when finished.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Destination 4x4's



I have been so blessed to be able to travel
a lot during the last few years, and I always
take lots of photographs. I have been working
on a series of these "destination" photos for
awhile. I like the idea of four signature images
from a given location; images that are unique
to that location. As you know I am interested in
starting to approach some licensing companies,
and this series of images will be one of the main
series I plan to present. They would be ideal
for wall art, coasters, serving trays, pillows, and
any other square object they might need!
I would love to hear your guesses at which two
cities these are...surely, you will be able to! I
am currently working on a few more, and will
post soon (I promise Cheryl...)
Currently these images are available for sale as
12 x 12 prints or 5 x 7 notecards. If interested,
you will have to designate which city!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Chalk on the Sidewalk










In front of the Pea Patch is a large, wide sidewalk.
Earlier this spring, I had a conversation with the
art teacher (one of my former students) about
letting his students come and draw on the sidewalk
with some chalk. Well, they came, they drew, they
ate, and they smiled! and so did we. They seemed
to have a really great time. The customers enjoyed
watching them on their way in and out, and they
got to feel like real artists for the day.
I looked up some chalk artists on YouTube, and there
are many. There is a chalk art festival in California in
the summer. And there are many other competitions
and events as well as individual artists who do this medium
as well. Look it up and check them out..some of the art
is amazing.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Good News



I got a call from the Louisiana Pecan
Festival committee and they want to
use my design for their t-shirts. I wasn't
selected for the poster itself, but the t-shirt is
pretty good. At least my art will be walking
around on lots of people's chests! And I
will get paid for it, so it's all good.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Back from NYC






I am back from my little trip to NYC to take
the licensing art workshop taught by Cheryl
Phelps. These are some pics from the day.
That is the whole group; a very diverse bunch
of women all interested in learning how to do
and earn more with their art. That is me with
Cheryl. And that is the group viewing each
other's work.
It was a good experience. I did learn useful
information, and was encouraged about the
possibilities of marketing my work. Now, I just
have to follow through!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Portfolio Pages


I am through working on the portfolio I will
be taking to NYC. These are two of the pages:
one with t-shirt designs, and one with Paris
sketches. There are many more pages, and
hopefully, I will get some good positive feedback
on my work. If not, I can always enjoy a nice
bagel...

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Springtime in Paris




These are some more of the images I am preparing
in my mini portfolio to take to New York. These are
all from my trip to Paris last spring. I think the black
and white ones would make great coasters, and the
neon eiffel would be a neat t-shirt.
I have an interesting perspective about all this. I have
always been a "fine" artist; I have been trained to draw
and paint, and I have refined those skills over time in
all kinds of media, doing all kinds of subject matter.
As I have looked into gallery representation, they all
stress the utmost importance of working in one media
in one style (a "brand" I suppose). I find this so limiting,
and consequently, I do not have any gallery representation!
I believe that it is a valuable thing to be able to do all kinds
of artwork, and so I guess I have been looking for a venue
where all my skills would be appreciated. And so I will find
out this weekend during this licensing workshop and at the
Surtex show, if being a versatile artist is really worth something.
We'll see?!!
I would appreciate any comments on this subject!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Workshop Bound


I am leaving this Friday to attend a licensing
workshop in NYC. I am very excited, and I
am getting samples of my work together to
take with me. I have done so much work, but
I have not been the greatest about photographing
and cataloging (is that a word?!) all my images.
So I am spending lots of time trying to print out
samples to put in the portfolio. If anyone would
like to volunteer to be my administrative assistant,
record keeper, organizer, just let me know!
Flip Flop Trio acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 $50 each

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Tools of the Trade





I haven't been doing any art this week, but I
decided to show you my pile of stuff I have been
using to make the New Orleans collages. It is all
piled up on the back porch. Those are the tin ceiling
tiles, some of the beaded board, an old window, and
some great corner porch brackets. That is my new
pair of tin snips that I bought to cut the tin tiles with.
As soon as the weekend wraps up, I will be using
some of these to create some new things!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Hot Sauce


I am having so much fun with these New Orleans
things...I hope I can get them into a gallery down
there. If not, I guess I will be selling salvage collages
on Ebay?! This one is 16 x 20 with tin in the middle,
and beaded board on either edge.
New Orleans Collage-Hot Sauce 16 x 20 $75.00

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Peony Power




Aren't peonies beautiful? I didn't mention this
bouquet that greeted guests at the home of the
Rossi's where I painted on location last weekend.
Not only were they beautiful, but they had a sweet,
sweet smell, too. And I was able to start a pastel
drawing of them while I was there last Sunday.
I will try to finish it sometime this week. But I
thought you might enjoy the real thing, and the
start of the drawing.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Crawfish on the Square


I put this little thing together today. It is a
old tin ceiling tile with a collaged newspaper
edge, and a crawfish photo in the center. It
is 12 inches square, and is magnetic. Would
be cute in the kitchen as a memo board. I
am doing several more, and will post them
soon.
Photo Collage Tile 12 x 12 $25.00

New Orleans Flavor




These are some of my New Orleans photos that
I am printing to use in some collages. It is crawfish
season right now, and there are lots of crawfish
boil parties going on. And anyone in Louisiana, usually
loves his hot sauce, to spice up the good Cajun food.
I, on the other hand, did not grow up here! and I
don't care for crawfish or hot sauce!! But they make a
neat image, and should look good attached to some
old tin tiles.


And at last, I had an entry accepted into the CPSA
International Exhibition. It has been 3 years (I was
accepted several years in a row there for awhile, and
even earned my signature status.) Anyway, this
happy rhino will be on his way to Los Gatos, CA for the
show in August. You can go to the website: www.cpsa.org
and see some samples from other shows. There is an
online exhibit called, "Explore This" that features work
that combines colored pencil with other mediums. Some
really interesting pieces, check them out.