Sunday, February 27, 2011

The Art of Home

Because I am an artist, people assume that I
have lots of my artwork hanging on my walls.
Someone this week was interested in what I do
have on my walls. So I thought I would share a
few. This top one is mine (the drawing in the
middle). This was an entry for the Ruston Peach
Festival poster contest years ago. I did not win,
but I like this drawing, and it goes with the antique
fruit crate labels.
This watercolor print is by Robert Guthrie, a New Orleans
artist. I love his work, and I bought this in his gallery in
the French Quarter before the storm. He drew the little
shotgun house sketch down at the bottom. You can check
out his work; I assume he is still painting.



This poster of one of VanGogh's iris paintings hangs
above our mantle. I traveled to New York for the
first time with my husband and daughter (when she
was about 12) to experience the city together, and
the Metropolitan was one of our stops. I bought this
poster, and I still love it. I have irises planted in the
yard, and they are one of my favorite flowers to paint
as well.

I do have some of my work hanging in the house.
But I love to support other artists as well. I know how
that feels, and I try to buy something from artists in
person when I get a chance. And I love the stories
behind many of the pieces. I will try to share some
more soon.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

enough said



I am inserting several little inspirational pages.
They speak for themselves.

Friday, February 25, 2011

The Blessings of Flowers




I did these two scripture photos today. I am
anxiously awaiting the arrival of the spring
flowers right around the corner. There are
already some bright yellow daffodils nodding
in my flower beds. And some of the other
bulbs are pushing up green shoots through
the dry leaves, looking for the warm sun.
We have put out lots of bright flowers at the
shop, and it really looks "springy" up there.
We have some new jewelry, purses, embroidered
shirts, and some new snacks called, "Funky
Chunky" all in. If you are in town, come by and
see us. We would love the chance to help you
find a special treat for yourself, or a gift for
someone else.
Pea Patch Gallery Hours 10-5 Mon-Fri 10-3 Sat.
Uncle Earl's Cafe 11-2 Mon-Fri
Scripture Photos: 12 x 18 $45.00
11 x 14 $35.00

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Book It




Still working on this little tea book. Here's a
couple more pages, and one page of random
designs used on the pages. getting closer!
I am still giving away the little LeConsulat
Watercolor posted awhile back. Just leave
a comment or email me to be in the drawing.
Will draw sometime in March.

Monday, February 21, 2011

A Welcome Invitation


The wedding season is starting, and with it, comes
decorated invitations. This is the first one I have
done this year. The bride is using peonies in the
wedding, so I decided to draw some of them. They
are in colored pencil. The invitation paper is pink,
and I didn't think that watercolor would work
very well on the colored paper. The colored pencil
blends in with the pink paper, and works well. I
am almost finished, and will mat it with a coordinating
color.
Painted Wedding Invitations $25.00

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Flea Market Fun




















Day Two of my antique escape. I am such a sucker
for a flea market. This fine establishment is on the
edge of Shreveport and is called the Greenwood
Flea Market. I have been there many times in the
past, and I have always found something interesting.
Although these days, there are less and less antique
things, and a lot more junk. But that is ok, too. I
kind of like junk. The bird was made by one creative
dealer among all his clutter. I came home with a
couple of new "treasures".
Enough wandering...it's time to get back to the
drawing table.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Antique Escape


I slipped away to do some antique shopping this weekend.
This is a great little shop in Arcadia, LA. I know the owner
very well. In fact, I painted these windows for her:
First Street Antiques. She reminded me today that that was
10 years ago! does time ever fly....
I shopped some out at the Bonnie and Clyde Trade Days,
located outside of Arcadia. It is acres of flea market stuff,
junk, tools, pets, kettle corn, etc. They were having a
Mardi Gras Parade today. It consisted of 4 four wheelers
decorated with streamers and balloons, and some colorful
characters tossing beads to the shoppers. what a hoot

I drove all the way to Texarkana, junking along the way.
The treasures will be added to those already for sale at
the shop!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Friday, February 18, 2011

French Coincidence




This photo is on the February page of my current
calendar, "Passport to the World" that graces my
drawing desk. I have enjoyed looking at
it all this month. (thanks, Katie) It is up on
Montmartre in Paris. I have stood in that very
location, and I did a small watercolor of the cafe in
my sketchbook while I was there. Of course, the
painting is kept simple...and leaves out a lot of these
details (in the spirit of the Impressionists who lived
and painted there!) I have decided to do another
small painting of this scene, and make it the giveaway
for March. This is the painting above. Leave me a
comment, and I will draw from the list. good luck!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

A Banner Day








The students at the YACA convention compete
in several different categories. One of the categories
is a banner competition. This year the theme of the
convention was "Art is Our Business". The banners
had to be an artist's business card. These are a
couple of my favorites.
The Warhol card is made of painted push pins..very
clever. Vincent's ear is 3 dimensional, and I adore
this card....Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists, ever.
The Michelangelo card was done by our middle
school students here in Winnfield. And the graffiti
card had dimensional bricks made of foam core.
I am not familiar with this graffiti artist, but the
students were. I am going to have to look him up.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

A Face Off










I am excited to share some of this student artwork
from the YACA convention. The quality of the work
was outstanding. I am always so impressed. The first
year that I participated with my students, we brought
some art for the show...just some conventional, traditional,
small paintings and drawings. I was blown away...and
realized we needed to step it up. These students were
there to compete!~ From then on, we brought some
more competitive and exceptional work.
I was asked to help judge the Senior High art, along with
another judge from Northwestern State University. It
was a tough job...but enjoyable nonetheless. These are
some of the winners posted above:
1. Large Portrait: a high school student painted this on
a very large canvas..it was amazing. It won Best in Show
2. I loved this elephant. It is done in scratchboard, a
medium where the white surface is coated with black
ink, and the design is scratched off with a sharp tool. The
detail on this piece was impressive.
3. This is the first place winner in the drawing catagory.
It is white pencil on black paper. The expression is
wonderful, and the rendering was excellent.
4. I was so impressed with this piece. It is a self-portrait,
and includes some images of the student's interests, etc.
It is done in colored pencil. There is no way I could have
done this when I was in high school! It won first place in
the Graphics catagory.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Watercolor Workshop














I had a great time at the YACA convention today.
These are some of the photos from the watercolor
workshop that I taught to the students. The
morning session was a beginner class and
had 20 students. The afternoon session was an
intermediate class with some of the students
from Winnfield, and the two art teachers that
teach in Winn Parish sitting in too.
We did not paint outside. The morning weather
did not cooperate, and we decided to just stay
inside. We still did paint the outdoor landscape
scene from the grounds, and some chose different
color schemes, and made the painting all their own.
They all seemed to enjoy it, and I hope they learned
a lot.
I also helped do some judging of the fabulous art
show, and I will post some of the entries tomorrow.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Have a Heart


I just couldn't leave Valentine's day without a
few hearts. Here are some more for the "heart
series". One of my winners already picked up
her little Valentine goodie!
Will be going down to Wesley Center tomorrow to
teach the watercolor workshop at the
YACA convention. The weather looks great!

Love and Grapes


Had a great day in the gallery today. I hope
your Valentine's Day went well too! I sold
two works of art today...this watercolor of the
grapes from Greece, and another colored
pencil drawing of a hummingbird. They are
going to be gifts to be given later today.
I also drew some names from the list of
comments, and I have some Valentine GiveAway
winners: Cyndi, Patty, Tina and Vickie. I will
try to get in touch with you, and you can let
me know how you want to get your goodie.
Congratulations!
love all around,

Sunday, February 13, 2011

blowin in the wind



I just finished watching the Grammy Awards. I love
music...all kinds of music. Since I am a baby boomer,
I am usually especially interested in some of the
performers from my era. I was looking forward to
hearing Bob Dylan...I guess it wasn't his best night!
My husband wanted to know how old he is...and he
is 70. While I was looking into his bio, I found out
that he paints as well. There is a current exhibition of
his paintings at the National Gallery of Denmark. It
is up through April 2011. These are a couple of his
works. I just don't know what to say?!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Life is all about Choice




Still getting prepared to teach at the convention
this next Tuesday. These are some more samples
I have been doing to give them an example. I will
probably use the top one. The pink one was an
experiment with color. There may be some adventurous
students who like the colorful one, too. I may be able
to give them an option. It's nice in life to have
choices!

Friday, February 11, 2011

Alexandria Museum of Art-Time to Visit



If you live in central Louisiana, you might want
to make a trip by the Alexandria Museum of Art.
I often lament that I live in an area with very little
culture! But the city of Alexandria is making some
real strides toward becoming an art center. And the
museum leads that charge.
They host a variety of events and exhibitions. On the
second Saturday of the month, (which is tomorrow),
they have an arts and crafts sale on the grounds.
They host a weekly lunch in
the Clementine Cafe every Wednesday from 11-1:30.
And there are ever changing exhibitions; the work seen
above is from the current show: Jacob Lawrence
"Toussaint L"Ouverture Series" . There is another
show: Hunt Slonem's "On the Bayou" through March 5.
There is always something interesting going on...check
out the website for more info: www.themuseum.org
I am gathering comments for the upcoming Valentine
heart art giveaway...will draw some names on Monday,
and ship some art to the winners!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Admiration for Gwen Fox









I came across this artist and her beautiful work
through LinkedIn. Her name is Gwen Fox, and
these are several of her paintings. She also gives
wonderful art advice on her blog, and I have
enjoyed reading her posts. I thought you might
enjoy seeing them, and you might want to visit her
blog as well.
I have 4 people who have left me a comment to
be in the drawing for the Valentine artwork. I
will probably give several away, so it is not too
late to enter by commenting or emailing me! I
will decide the winners next Monday!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

"Down by the Riverside"


"Gonna lay all my troubles down...
down by the riverside"

When I teach next week during the YACA convention,
we will hopefully be painting this scene at the Wesley
Center near Woodworth LA. I did these 2 possible
samples for the demonstration that day. I am
practicing painting the landscape, so that I will know
exactly what I want them to do. I am trying different
color schemes, and styles. I will probably show them
several options, and they can pick which one they
would like to paint. Should be fun...we'll see!

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Retreat to Paint


This is the view there on the grounds that we will probably
paint. There is a place where I am standing that the students
can set up (a concrete slab). I will now do a painting as a sample
for them of this scene. I will also demonstrate for them that day.

This is the beautiful Christ sculpture on the grounds. The egret is worshipping!

These are the dormitories. People were there for a retreat this week.


The main building of the retreat center. We will have the large group sessions here.




The Wesley Center is a retreat just south of Alexandria, LA.
The state YACA convention will be held here next week. I
have to do a workshop during the day for the students interested
in learning to paint on location! should be a hoot!



I snuck away today from the gallery late this afternoon,
and drove down to Woodworth, LA where this is located. I
needed to check it out before next week. A "good" teacher
is prepared! Now, I just need to check the long range
forecast...