Tuesday, February 28, 2012

A Few of my Favorite Things...



Going through all the photos from the trip...and these are
three of my favorites.  These are in Bryce...and the snow
really adds to the beauty of the pics.  I will probably get
at least one of these enlarged and printed on canvas. 

Monday, February 27, 2012

A New Day is Dawning







The morning we were at Bryce, my friend talked me into
getting up and photographing the sunrise, over the
bowl canyon.  The sun would rise in the east,
directly across from the observation area.  I agreed,
and we set our alarms.  I did manage to turn on the
weather report before we left the hotel....17 degrees
with a -1 wind chill!!  We went anyway!  My friend
was a real trooper, and stayed long into the sunrise...
I snapped the few above, and then I had to go warm up
in the car!  It was breath-taking, and I am glad I
went.  You can always get warm...you can't always
witness God's creation of another new day,
especially over such an awe inspiring place.










Water, Water, Everywhere







In Zion, the Virgin River flows through the canyon.
It was one of the main erosion factors in the development
of this beautiful spot.  The river is almost everywhere you
look in Zion.  I thought I would share some various river
images today.  I am back home, and back to work on some
art ideas for market.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Birds of Zion

raven in the pines

chickadee

another raven

stellar jay





wild turkey

Got to see a few birds while in the parks....
cool

sheltongail@hotmail.com




Friday, February 24, 2012

Sunset in Bryce

sunset over Bryce Canyon

Another view, same location

More sunset over Bryce

Facing the sunset (canyon is behind me)

We started the day in Zion, and we ended the
day in Bryce Canyon National Park.  The terrain
is very different; Bryce has what they call
"hoodoos"...rock formations that are tall 
and weathered.  We spent the whole day
taking photos all the way through Zion, and into
Bryce.  We stayed the night here in Bryce, and
spent this whole day taking photos all over the
park.  I will post them soon.

sheltongail@hotmail.com






Thursday, February 23, 2012

'Joy comes in the Morning"






Our cabins in Zion

 We got up fairly early this morning, and started
out to capture the sun.  Just the tips of the peaks
were catching the early morning rays, and the rest
of the canyon was in shadow.  In the case of the
white tree...it was against the dark rocks, and its'
bare white branches were in stark contrast.  We
drove through the whole park, and did some hiking
as well.  We left this afternoon and headed to Bryce
canyon.  We arrived there late in the afternoon,
and tomorrow I will post some of the awesome
sunsets we witnessed this evening.  So, daylight till
dark...all in a day's work!




Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Red Rock Cliffs of Zion











We made it into Zion National Park today.  We drove
up from Las Vegas this morning and entered the park
around 2 pm.  We drove all along the Virgin River, that
runs all the way through the valley of Zion.  The towering
red rock walls surround you on every side.  We saw the
mule buck right beside the road, and the raven was surveying
one of the campgrounds.  We are staying in the park tonight
at the Lodge, and we watched the sun set over the cliffs before
enjoying a gourmet meal in the restaurant.  The "roughing it"
ain't so bad after all! 

(we even have this wifi in the cabins...too cool)

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Paths That Cross




Some of Briant's watercolors
When I was teaching school, I took my students to the 
Red River Revel (great art festival in Shreveport every 
fall).  I always wanted to be on the other side of the 
fence and dreamed of exhibiting there someday.  When 
I retired, I did.  I was an artist there for 5 years in a row.
I met lots of different artists and craftsmen..a great time 
to visit and share ideas and inspirations.  

One of the artists that I met was Peter Briant from 
New Orleans.  He is a watercolor painter, and I loved 
his work, and especially his professionalism.  He was very 
organized and his booth and his work were first class.
Well, he visited the Pea Patch Gallery the other day in 
Winnfield, and enjoyed lunch and some shopping with his 
wife and some friends from Connecticut.  They were 
visiting and he was showing them the state...and they were
on their way to Natchitoches for the day.  He remembered 
that he had met an artist from Winnfield, and was happy 
to find I was still there!  It is wonderful how our lives 
are made up of connections and I am happy that paths 
often cross.

sheltongail@hotmail.com
Peter Briant Art  New Orleans

Saturday, February 18, 2012

More Art for Market

Poppy Design

SeaShell border

SeaShell Montage
Here are some more designs for possible printing on
merchandise.  Still working on more..
The sea shells would be on some tote bags, cups, and
wall art.  The poppies as well...I will keep on going!

Final Market Logo

This is the finished Farmer's Market logo.
The Market Fest is coming up on March the
10th.  This logo will be on the t-shirts and
their correspondence.  I like the way it turned
out..I hope they enjoy having it.

Time to Travel!




I have been out of pocket for a couple of days....
made some progress toward printing some of
my designs on some products.  I have been in
New Orleans setting up some scans and high
resolution photography...steps necessary to
the end products I want!  It's certainly a learning
process.
And I am getting ready to leave again!..this time to
go to Zion National Park for a few days of  photos
and fun with an old friend.  We are planning to see
Zion and Bryce Canyon, and do some hiking and
take some photographs.  The weather looks like it will
be great, and we should see some beautiful country.
I will try to post some along the way.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Time to Fly: Dragonfly

More details added..the dragonfly, etc

early in the design...just adding patterns and layers of paint
I am continuing to work on these designs to add to the
collection.  This dragonfly will coordinate with the other
blue and brown designs I have done so far.  I am going to
try to meet with my ad design person this week, and firm
up some of these designs on products.  It should be fun! 
getting closer....