Greek Eucalyptus

Here's another Greece painting. This beautiful

old eucalyptus tree was right outside our hotel in

Naphlio. I took a late afternoon stroll down the road

and had taken this photograph. I loved the contrast

between the fluffy white blossoms, and the dark green

leaves. The lighting was not bad either. So I knew I

wanted to paint it when I got home.

I am using the "pour" technique again. I am only

using the blues and yellows this time, and they will

blend to make some greens. I used the masking fluid

on the blossoms. I used a very thin brush, and a toothpick

to make the skinny lines and dots. They will all be white

and I can paint freely over them as long as the mask is

on them. pretty cool...

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Final Santorini

Here's the finished painting with some of the

process along the way. I covered the entire

church and shoreline with the masking fluid.

And then I used the "pouring" technique taught

by Jean Grastorf. I soaked the paper and then

poured the three primary colors onto the paper

and let them blend together. The three colors:

red, yellow, and blue, will make beautiful colors

when they run together. Then I removed the

masking fluid, added a few details, and there is

the finished painting. now, on to the next one!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Santorini One 11 x 14 Original Watercolor $150.00

Santorini One

I am working on some of the art for the

Greece show coming up. This is one of

the famous blue and white churches on the

island of Santorini. I had seen photos of

these churches, and always hoped I could

take one myself. We were not on the island

long, and I was running around like a maniac

trying to get the shots I wanted. Luckily

there were several churches very close together. I

think this one is stunning in its' simplicity,

and a good subject for a Sunday.

The little bottle of masking fluid is a very

helpful tool when painting in watercolor.

Because there is no white paint, and the

paint itself is transparent, any white you see

in most watercolors is unpainted paper. The

masking fluid helps to save the white paper.

It can be painted on, and it seals the surface,

so you can paint freely around a certain shape

or area. When dry, you just peel it off, like

rubber cement. I will be using it on this piece

to save all of this painted section so I can paint

the ocean freely around it. We'll see if I can

pull it off!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

11 x 14 original watercolors: $150.00

Birthday Wishes

Whenever someone has a birthday, we

always ask them "what they want."

I have thought about that all day since it is my

birthday today! The things I want are not necessarily

things...I can remember when my mother reached

a certain age, she pleaded for us to not give her

"any more stuff". I have reached that age as well.

So what do I want for my birthday?

1. More Courtesy: I don't know if you have noticed

how rude people are these days, but I certainly have.

So if I get to have a gift, I want more manners, more

graciousness, more common decency.

2. More Time: I used to have a poster in my classroom

that said we all have the same amount of hours in a day

that Leonardo, Michelangelo, Shakespeare, etc had. I do

know that, so maybe I am asking for better use of my time.

I love the scripture that says, "teach us to number our days"

I would like to have more days, and learn to use them wisely.

3. More Faith: As I grow in years, I hope to grow in wisdom,

and faith. I want to learn to trust God during this journey,

and rely on His strength rather than my own.

So, there are a few of the things I would like for my birthday!

Thanks to many of you who wished me well today. I appreciate

your friendships and your love.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

(the photo is part of my studio)

Sunnyside Up

I finished up this sunflower design and

page today. I changed the vase to red,

the other one looked too "country".

I like it, but I like sunflowers. They always

look happy or cheerful.

There's a local man here who plants hundreds

of them along the highway near his home.

They are the large ones, and they are beautiful.

I have never been to Tuscany where they

bloom, or to the south of France where Van Gogh

painted his famous ones. Maybe soon...

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Fun in the Sun

I have been working on these sunflowers tonight,

and I am almost finished. The pot needs a little more

work, now that I see it in the photo! sometimes that

helps flaws show up. Anyway, I will do some coordinating

designs to go with this drawing, and then print out the

sheet for the portfolio I am putting together.

( I guess the "focusing"is working!)

I have started some more Greece art, too, and will have

some of that to post tomorrow.

I matted the give-away pastel today, and it is on display in

the cafe if anyone would like to see it. The matted size is

19 x 16. I will draw a winning name from among the list of

followers. And I will do it on Sept 1, so there is still time to

sign up as a follower. If you have any trouble doing that,

you can let us know, and we can do it for you.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Licensing Assignment

As far as staying focused on my licensing

project..this is the art I worked on for part of

the day today. I teach a private pastel drawing

lesson each week to a student, and today I

worked on this as a demo while she was drawing

as well. I will add it to the flower section of my

presentation when I am finished. It is part of the

series that the geranium I posted last night will be

a part of. Trying to stay focused! Now that the

studio at work is organized, it may help a lot!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Gail Shelton art

For info on Private Art Lessons:
Email or Call the Gallery: 318-628-3560

Fall Cleaning or (Very Late Spring Cleaning)

Most of you know that I own and help operate

the Pea Patch Gallery in downtown Winnfield.

I have a studio and a framing area as well in the

back of the building. This August we are starting

our 19th year in business! wow Anyway, I never

have had everything like I wanted it (what perfectionist

ever does?!) But I am a lot closer now that we all

have been working on organizing, installing shelves,

cleaning out, and arranging in the frame area and

the studio. I was able to get some shelving and some

other storage pieces, and move some things around.

And it is going to be so much nicer to work in.

( I certainly didn't do it all by myself...thanks to all my

loyal employees ( and some of Steve's) for helping!)

In the framing area, we added the shelves for the matboard,

my biggest storage problem. I re-arranged the set-up,

and it is very organized now. In the studio, we added the

storage shelves for completed artwork ( I literally have

about 100 pieces now arranged by subject matter: cityscapes,

landscapes, animals, still life, florals, birds, "Riddle Pics",

etc. I still have the classroom area, my computer instruction

area, and lots of storage for supplies and books. I am still

going to tweak a few things, and should be all finished by the

1st of September. I am thinking about having a "Studio Tour

Art Sale" ...art makes great Christmas gifts.

If you come by the shop for lunch or to shop, feel free to

walk through the studio area...I promise it will be clean and tidy!

sheltongail@hotmail.com
We do all kinds of custom framing, and have lots of matboard

and frame moulding to choose from. Bring your project by

for us to frame up for you. That always makes a great gift, too.

glory of summer

My grandmother always grew geraniums on

her front porch in rectangular concrete planters.

As a kid, I always thought they had the funniest

smell, but I loved the way they looked. And they

defined "summer" for me. I stayed with her

some in the summers, and those flowers were

always blooming. Red, red only..that's the only

ones she planted. I saw these geraniums while

I was painting at the garden tour this past spring.

It will be part of my "Flower Power" collection.

(I am staying focused on licensing stuff..!)

Thanks for the encouragement from a few of you!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

3 to 5 Veggies a Day

a couple more veggies....still working on some more.

I heard from another licensing artist today who is

helping me wade through these unknown waters...

She has already gotten a manufacturing contract!

How exciting! She told me that I will need to have

about 12 collections of around 4 or 5 designs, or

themes. I wrote down a whole list, and now I just

have to make myself work systematically through

them. That is so hard for me...I get pulled in all kinds

of directions.... commissions come along and side-track

me. Juried shows seem to call my name....my suitcase

beckons to me from the closet! I need to focus...need

to stay motivated...maybe if I can share the journey

with my friend, I will stay on track.

that's all for now...I have to go do the ironing!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Sketchy Fruit

I spent the whole afternoon cleaning and rearranging

my studio at the gallery. I am still not finished, but I

made a lot of progress. I ran across these little fruit

sketches in the process. They are watercolor and

colored pencil. I would like to work them up into some

licensing designs. Fruits and vegetables are always in

style!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Texting Rooster

Been playing around with this rooster design
just for fun tonight. I did the watercolor and
scanned it into Photoshop, and then added the
text. Will play around some more with it.

I learned how to do Photoshop when I took a
sabbatical from teaching school when I was
42. I attended Northwestern University and
took an advertising design class that taught
Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. It was all new to
me then, and I drove the TA crazy with my
questions. The instructor, however, was my
age, and we got along because I understood
his references and humor. I was by far the
oldest in the class, but I got an A!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

LIfe is a Bowl of Cherries

Here's another scripture photo for the

Greece show. We stopped at a fruit stand

outside of Kalambaka one morning, and our

tour director bought us all some of these

delicious cherries. I thought this scripture

would accent them nicely.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Fruit of the Spirit Poster 12 x 18 $35.00

notecards $4.00 each w/envelope

Pepper for Portfolio

I had a chance tonight to work on another

page for my licensing portfolio. I have lots

of these pepper paintings, and I just picked

up several from a friend in Texas. So I

decided to work them up into some possible

licensing designs.

I do the peppers with a Sharpie, and then

wet the inside shape, and fill with watercolor

that bleeds and blurs inside the shape. I add

the green stems, and then the little black

pepper dots. I did the stripe designs with some

Dick Blick Studio markers (which I love), and

then put the page together in Photoshop.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Dog Intermission

Someone called today, and needed this dog

portrait asap for a gift by the 22nd. She emailed

me the photo, and I got it done tonight. It is

only 8 x 10, and she wanted pencil. I had done

two other dachsunds for her last year.

I finished this collage today, too. I added some

other columns on top of these, mounted with

foam core..making it dimensional. It doesn't

show up in the photos, so you will just have to

come to the Greek Art show opening in November,

and see it in person!

I sold some art over the weekend, and it is always

so nice to have someone want to own my work.

I sold a Paris photo collage to someone who had

just visited Paris, and wanted a gift for a fellow

traveler. And a long time collector came by to

browse and left with two to add to his collection.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Column Construction

Progress on the column collage..some more of the

process.

Photo 1: the final design and the paper pieces

arranged and layed out

Photo 2: the Modge Podge process lots of glue

on front and back....adheres it to the

canvas

Photo 3: More Podge all over, and then wait to dry

The Modge Podge will dry clear, and acts like a

sealer. I will cover the whole thing with it. I did

paint the canvas first with some brown paint. Should

be all finished tomorrow. Any questions?

I teach Collage Workshops...if anyone has a group that

would be interested, please let me know. I can

come to you, or we can have one in the studio.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

3 Column Collage 24 x 36 $300

Scripture Photo -Greece

I started on the scripture photos for the

Greece show today. This is the first one

I wanted to do.

We were in the bus on the way to Metsovo,

when this group of sheep appeared on the

side of the road. We saw the sheep

dogs first, and the bus slowed to let us take

some pictures. Our tour guide let us get off

the bus, but told us to be quiet and quick...

she wasn't sure what the dogs might do if they

thought we were a threat to the sheep. And then

the shepherd appeared, walking slowly up behind

the sheep, carrying his staff. I think he was stunned

to see a dozen tourists with cameras pointing at him

standing beside a huge purple bus...but I got this

shot, and it is one of my favorites from the trip.

He finally figured out we were taking pictures of him,

and gave us this final little wave...perfect.

Scripture Photo: The Shepherd and The Sheep

12 x 18 fine art print $65 Notecard + Envelope $4.00

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Evolution of an Idea

I thought it might be neat to share some of

the process of a finished work: in this case,

a photo collage using some photography,

my computer, large format printer, collage

paper, some paint and a canvas.

I liked this photo of three columns (on the

temple of Apollo on the Acropolis). But that's

pretty boring...so, once I saw the gold, brown,

and red collage papers, I thought about using

these columns, only in those colors. So, I digitized

the photo using Photoshop, and printed large

prints of each column. I am in the process of

working out the complete design using the papers,

and some acrylic paint, etc. It will be assembled

on a large canvas, and all glued in place. Stay

tuned.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Loose Ends

Lots of stuff happening today....

1. Paula came by and picked up her free

watercolor. It was the give-away for

July. It is a painting of a window in Corfu, Greece.

She was happy!

2. I finished a collage with those cute papers I

posted last week. It has 2 of my Greece watercolors,

copies of the old money, stamp, and paper on canvas.

3. I also finished the pastel of the bay in Mykonos,

which will be my give-away in August.

I am working on a pencil portrait at home for a client.

And then it is back to Greek artwork. I will get some

of my photographs enlarged soon, and get them done.

There are so many that I would like to do..it will be

hard to just pick a few. I already have the whole

gallery layout planned, and I have gotten in

the Greek Christmas ornaments, ribbon, decorations,

etc. They are all aqua and royal blue. It should be

really pretty. And it will be here before we know it!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

An Open Mind

I wish I could say this is my painting, but it
is not. Let me start at the beginning...

At the gallery, almost every day, I have
someone tell me that they know an artist:
(their child, brother-in-law-, neighbor's
ex-wife...etc, you get the idea) For some
reason, I think they feel like they always
need to share that with me. Anyway, most
of the time I just file that info away, or I
might look them up just for fun. Well, today
this nice gentleman came in for lunch, and
on his way out, said to me, "My sister is an
artist in Baton Rouge...do you know Carol
Creel?" Since I am so out of the loop living
in this rural place, I said no I did not. And
he said, "Well, she is a watercolorist, and
she is really good." and he gave me her
website. Well, by golly, she is REALLY good!!
This is one of her pieces. Check out her site:
www.carolcreel.com I was so pleasantly
surprised...you never know what you might
learn, and I need to keep an open mind.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Bicycles and Brewery-Blue Star

I did a post the other day about the Blue

Star Art Center in San Antonio, and I had

some other pics I wanted to share. We had

lunch in the Cafe and Brewery, and the

food was good. They do brew their own beer

and there are several that you can taste.

I am standing in front of a modern sculpture

made of various blocks and pots..kinda interesting.

They also rent bicycles there to ride on the

riverbank, and I really loved seeing the

colorful ones for rent. If you are in town, it

is a good place to go and visit; there are several

art galleries and shops there as well.

Blue Star Art Center

San Antonio

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Note-Worthy

I decided to photograph a set of these Greek

notecards that are ready now. There are 8

cards (two of each design) along with the

envelopes. They are $15.00 for the set. If

you would like a different combination, I can

do that. They feature some of the Greek

photography printed in black and white.

They are about 6 inches square.

I also have Venice, London, and Paris designs

available. same price. Great gifts!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Greek notecards Set of 8 $15.00

New Greece GiveAway

I am still working on this pastel drawing, and I

have decided to make it the give-away for August.

It is 11x 14 on pastel paper, drawn with pastels

and colored pencil. I will mat it and display it at

the Pea Patch Gallery. I will draw a name from

my followers at the end of the month, and give this

artwork away.

I will be doing a lot more work from the trip to be

included in a show this fall.

sheltongail@hotmail.com