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.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

enough said

I am inserting several little inspirational pages.

They speak for themselves.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

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

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Scripture Photos: 12 x 18 $45.00

11 x 14 $35.00

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.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

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

sheltongail@hotmail.com

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.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

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

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!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

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.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

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.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

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.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

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!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

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,

sheltongail@hotmail.com

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?!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

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!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

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!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

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.

www.gwenfox.com

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!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

"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!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

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...

sheltongail@hotmail.com