The Eagle has Landed

On Wednesdays, I teach a beginner drawing

class. Here are some of my young students

with their finished pencil drawings of an eagle.

We were doing a lesson on shading, and they had

to do some light, medium, and heavy shading.

They also lifted some of the pencil lead with an

eraser. They all did a good job, and they were

proud of their efforts. Well done

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Gators Gone Wild

Still preparing work for the upcoming
Louisiana show. This is a watercolor of
a gator named "Boudreaux" that lived
near Mr. Duhe's camp down on Blind River.
He could call up this little gator, and he
would swim across the river and come
close. Then, Mr. Duhe would feed him
large marshmallows, and the gator would
chew them up right there in the water.
hilarious..
This painting will be available for sale in
the gallery, and will join the many other
"gator" items already there.

sheltongail@hotmail.com
Boudreaux Original Watercolor
15 x 30 $150 unframed $300 framed

Here's Your Sign(ing)

I spent the evening last night in Colfax

Louisiana signing the 2011 Pecan Festival

posters. There are 150 in the edition, and

they will be available during the festival

the first weekend in November.

I was really pleased with the poster. It is

larger than my original, and printed on a

really nice, parchment colored paper. I am

sure that the collectors will be pleased as well.

I hope it is a great seller for the festival. I

will get my copy soon, and will display it in the

gallery.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Louisiana Pecan Festival

Colfax, Louisiana

November 4-6

Christmas Open House...Poster

Whether we want to think about it or not,
Christmas will be here before we know it!

And so it is time to start getting ready for

our famous downtown Christmas Open
House. The merchants met tonight, and
ok'd the poster design, above. The date is
November the 10th, and it will be from 5-9.
There will be approx 15 stores participating.
So, put it on your calendar if you are in the
area...fun for all!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Rock of Ages

Thought you might enjoy some of the

various kinds of rocks in and around

Dubois, WY where I painted all last

week. I was very intrigued by them,

because, afterall, we don't have many

rocks in Louisiana. They served to

remind me of God's infinite creative

ability, and how His works glorify

Him wherever they are found.
Go ahead and sing a verse of

"Rock of Ages"....

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Time Out to Teach

Art Party today...Collage and Ice Cream These 3 young

artists did a collage today, and then we enjoyed our

ice cream sundaes!

This was my example I did for them today...on

the bird theme.

We will have another Art Party in October

where we will decorate a real pumpkin, and

then eat some pumpkin pie...

Should be fun!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Mountains, Fisherman, and a Legend

One of the guest artists at the workshop was

John Seerey-Lester. He is a legend among

wildlife artists. He is from Manchester, England,

and now lives in Florida. He is known for his

big game paintings of African and North American

wildlife. I was able to watch him do a demonstration,

and did this sketch of the artist.

This is a watercolor of the Tetons that I

added to the sketchbook. Mountains,

simplified...

One of the things I was very excited to get

to witness was a fly fisherman in one of the

rivers. I had always wanted to paint one, but

had never had the chance to photograph one.

And you know how everyone frowns on using

someone else's photo! So, here is a watercolor

sketch of one of my photos that I took along

Horse Creek outside of Dubois. I even asked the

man's permission!
The poem at the bottom says:

"There is not in the wide world

a valley so sweet

As that vale in whose bosom

the bright waters meet"

Thomas Moore

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Journal Con't

I am about to finish up my journal from

the trip. This is Brooks Lake where I

painted two days.

On Sunday, several of the participants dressed

up (for some of them, this is their usual attire!),

and posed for some of the artists. This is John

Phelps, quite an accomplished artist himself, in

his cowboy attire. He politely signed my page.

This is a close-up of his boots..very colorful!




John and his horse

Look up his artwork:

John Phelps Artist

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Quick Draw Pages

Downtown Jackson
My sketch of Jeff Ham and Sarah Webber
painting.
On Saturday night, back at Dubois, there was a silent
auction of artwork by some of us and our instructors.
I met a couple who had come from Jackson to attend
our auction. They mentioned that they had watched
someone sketching in the park earlier that day...
and that was me! funny..

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Quick-Draw in Jackson Hole

I found this online. It is some images of the Quick Draw in Jackson

last year. It gives a great overview of the event. I am trying to

finish up my sketchbook journal from the trip, and will post some

pages as I finish them.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Moose on the Loose

I had to drive today from the town of Dubois

all the way to Jackson (about 2 hours). I was

so thrilled, however, as I neared the airport

to see this fine fellow beside the road. I learned

last year that when you see a bunch of vehicles

pulled over, it usually means they are all watching

something! I spotted about 20 cars on the side

of the road, so I pulled over to investigate. And

sure enough, there he was, posing in front of the

Grand Tetons. A great parting shot!

I am back home in Louisiana, and I hope some

of you are new viewers that I met during the

trip. Welcome aboard.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Morning Out at the Lake

Mr. Quiller took us out to Brooks Lake in

the Shoshone National Forest early this morning.

It was 42 degrees, and the wind was blowing! This

southern girl was prepared with lots of layers on.

This is my initial sketch of the lake scene.



This is my painting near completion. I left
after this stage so I could find somewhere to
warm up!





This is how the scene looked that we were
supposed to paint today. Not a bad view.
While we were there, some Canada geese
flew over, honking, and landed in the lake.
A hawk soared high above us. And there were
a few snowflakes blowing around at one
point. A real Wyoming experience!






This is my friend Ronnie Kidwell working
on his oil painting out there with us
by the lake. He didn't stay long either!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Teton Majesty

Oxbow lake with Tetons in the distance

When I was here last November, I took some

really misty pics here...very different!

Jenny Lake




The Mormon Barn in the national park

Early in the morning on our way there

Another picturesque barn...quaint

mountain stream

Same stream...looking up

On this Sunday morning, I hope to be able to

worship amidst this gorgeous scenery as we

paint today...I have a feeling it won't be

hard to do.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Quick Draw in Jackson

Downtown Jackson

Today, several of us played hooky,

and drove into Jackson early this morning.

They were having their annual fall Art Festival,

complete with live music on the square. oompah...

Part of the festival includes a "Quick Draw".

Artists from the surrounding galleries are

given one hour to complete a painting that is

then auctioned off. Here are some of the

artists and their works of art.

A moose sculpture and a couple of little cowboys






It was a beautiful day...crisp and sunny.
Dubois, where the workshop is, is about
a 2 hour drive from Jackson. We left early and
were able to catch the artists during the
quick draw. It was great getting to see them
hard at work, and under a lot of pressure!
Their finished work was all excellent, and
the prices during the auction were extremely high.
Most of the pieces went for at least $1000,
and most went for several thousand.

We left around noon, and headed up into the
Grand Teton National Park to take pics. I will try
to post some of the best shots next.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Finished Paintings

Aspen leaves in watercolor

Along the Wind River watercolor ...this one is

being donated for the SKB silent auction to be

held Saturday night

Aspen trees in watercolor


Here are three of my finished watercolors completed

after instruction by Stephen Quiller. He stresses a

bold use of color...check. Simplify your subject matter...

check. Alternate warm and cool colors for

contrast....check. These were fun; I was intrigued

with working with the different color schemes
Now I am going to try to paint some of my Louisiana

subject matters in this style...should be

interesting!

sheltongail@hotmail.com