Happy Halloween!

This is me with ghosts on my head, and that

is Crystal, one of my employees, having fun

handing out candy at our annual Trick or Treat

down Main Street! Oh, the things we do for

the community! Hope all your little ghouls and

goblins had a great time!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Sweet Home Louisiana

Here are some of the show pics...this is the "egret

wall"! I love the metal pelican sculpture (not mine...)

These are some of the black and white pieces

hung all together

And here are some of the collage pieces with some

metal accents.

And these all have a "kitchen" theme

The rest of of the gallery is decorated with

the "swampy" Christmas theme with

lots of burlap, greenery, spanish moss,

and cypress knees. We are just about done,

and will have time to spare before the opening

day! yea!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Sweet Home Louisiana Art Show

Opens November 10 5-9

During Downtown Christmas Open House

Something's Fishy

Thought I would try painting some fish on
some of these salvaged green boards...here's
a white perch. I am working on a largemouth
bass, but he needs some tweaking!

I am almost finished setting up and hanging
the Louisiana show. It is all coming together;
you always hope it will, but until you get out
the hammer, stepstool, and nails, you really
aren't sure! I will try to post some photos
tomorrow of the show as a whole.

sheltongail@hotmail.com
fish plank acrylic/wood $45.00

Start to Finish

Finished collage with some Royal Street

motifs....from New Orleans. It is the street

known for its' antique stores and quirky shops.

I mounted a small canvas between the old

beaded ceiling boards, and then painted the

canvas. I collaged all the papers and photos

onto the canvas and the beaded board.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Royal Street Collage 16 x 16

$65.00

Raw Materials/Finished Project

Just finished working on this Cafe Du Monde

sign. It is painted on an old drawer front,

complete with old green knobs. And there

are several more pieces of the old dresser,

drying after getting a good scrubbing. I plan

to do some more before November 10th.

The sign can be used to hold keys, etc in

your kitchen, entryway. Would be great in

a bathroom to hold hand towels...just a few

ideas.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Cafe Du Monde sign $50.00

Signs of the Times

Two more little Louisiana painted signs:

Fresh Crabs and Tabasco. These are painted

on wood salvaged from an old green dresser.

The dovetail section of the drawer is across

the top. I will attach a hanging wire and they

will be ready to go. Look for them up in the

gallery with all the Louisiana stuff!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Finishing Touches

Finally got around to painting the words on

this Community Coffee sign. I will distress it

a little more (looks pretty distressed already?!)

and then I will seal it. It is for sale, and will

be on display up at the gallery.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Community Coffee Sign

28 x 20 inches

Distressed Wood/Acrylic

$100.00

PreView

Just a glimpse into the work we have been

doing at the gallery, setting up for Open House....

here's a few metal pieces....

The tree is coming together...


and here are some great little twig
deer all dressed up for the holidays!

Downtown Christmas Open House
Winnfield, LA
November 10 5-9

Canvas Photos

I heard from my printer this week, and these

canvas photographs are ready. I will have to

go up to Monroe to pick them up. The top two

photos are about 30 x 40 inches. But the bottom

photo has been divided into three sections...a

triptych, and each piece will hang side by side,

completing the whole image. I can't wait to see

them...it is always fun to get to see them printed

so large. They are the last large pieces that will

be included in the upcoming Louisiana art show.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Sundown at Saline

I stopped by Saline Lake the other day right

about sundown, and took a few pictures of the

lake. I have been waiting for the cypress to

turn that beautiful rusty red color, and they

are not quite there yet. I will have to plan to

go out there in another week or so. In the

meantime, you can enjoy these sunset shots.

I am participating in the Mentor program

again this fall with a high school student

interested in photography. We are planning

to go somewhere tomorrow and take some

pictures. This might be a good destination

for her as well.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Community Coffee

I had put together these boards, and thought
I was going to paint a brown pelican on them.
But then I thought this coffee sign would be
better, so I am in the process. I have the
lettering to finish, and then I will add it to the
show.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Fall at the Arboretum

I saw an article in Southern Living magazine about

the fall displays at the Dallas Arboretum. I came to

Dallas this week to pick up some things for the shop.

Here are just a few pics of the many pumpkins on

display...

That's a hungry squirrel...hopefully he doesn't plan

to nibble on that big one!

Lily pads in one of the water features...peaceful





Part of the pumpkin village..too cool

I had never seen white pumpkins before...

here were lots of them!

There's a princess looking out of

the window

And this lovely visitor ignored all the

big round orange things, and went

for this orange and yellow petaled

thing!

The Dallas Arboretum is located on Garland

Road, north of the State Fairgrounds, and

south of Loop 635. If you are in Dallas in the

near future, be sure and come by and

check it out. Or make plans next fall to

come and wander among the fall bounty. It

will be worth the visit.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Leaves have left the Building

I had some people in the gallery Saturday that were

very interested in buying a piece. They were interested

in some of the colored pencil pieces so I showed them

several ( some tootsie pops, pinwheels, sunglasses,

and suckers). Then they wanted to see some of the

photos on canvas, and they looked at some of the Paris

images, Greek images, and finally, this Costa Rica photo

of some fallen leaves. And this is the one they left with!

I always like it when the viewer has some response or

reaction to the piece, and then they end up taking it

home. It is my hope that they will enjoy it for many

years, and feel good when they see it.

Most artists have a story behind their work, and if I get

the chance, I enjoy sharing the stories with the customers.

I believe it to be a selling point sometimes, because if they

relate to the story or like it, they will repeat it when other

viewers see the piece. They seemed to enjoy my story

about seeing these leaves in Costa Rica, floating in the

pond, artfully arranged by God. I stood on a bridge over

them, and photographed them. Then I reached down

and re-arranged them several times and took some more.

This image was the original, and the one I liked the best.

My feeble attempts to arrange them were no match for

the random pattern made when they fell.

I guess you could read some spiritual meaning into all

that....It is always much better when God arranges elements

in our lives instead of us. We just need to learn to recognize

His hand, and leave things alone! Hope you have had a

blessed Sunday.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Kid-O-Lanterns

We had our "Pumpkins and Pie" art party

today, and these are the creative efforts of

the group! aren't they adorable?

Here are the class members hard at

work; sketching on their pumpkin faces

and getting started.

They didn't just use paint...they added push pins,

upholstery tacks, netting for hair, and a little

glitter glue here and there

matching smiles...








too cute...

a "bowhead" pumpkin!

and this is the push pin queen!

"and a good time was had by all"

sheltongail@hotmail.com

A Cup of Coffee

We serve Community Coffee in our cafe, and the
company supplies these vintage signs to their
customers. I have two of them...one is outside as
you come in the door, and the other one is hanging
in the cafe over the coffee pot. I can't tell you how
many times I have been asked to sell that sign! And
I have SO MUCH inventory in the shop...everything
from original art, to jewelry of every kind, purses
and boutique clothing, antique furniture and collectibles,
picture frames and pewter...well, you get the idea. And
I believe I could sell 25 of these signs.

So, I think I am going to paint some coffee stuff for the
Louisiana show! I will add a small coffee section to all
the other Louisiana-themed areas
which we are busy arranging and re-arranging
now.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Posts and Twigs

Thinking outside the box...or canvas. This is

a canvas framed with 100 yr old beaded board.

I will either do a painting or a collage..still thinking.

My daughter gave me these great porch

posts, so I thought I would think of different

ways to use them. Here I suspended the pelican

painting from one with a chain. I like the

white bird and white post, and the contrast in

their shapes.

And I have been saving these twigs and branches

as they fall to the ground in the yard. I knew I

wanted something "woodsy" with this one, so I

attached the twigs as a holder at the top, and

added some at the bottom to balance it out.

I am having fun putting all these concoctions

together. "out of the box" is my thing.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Pelican Post original acrylic ptg $50

Twiggy Egret original acrylic ptg $50

1300 and Counting

1300....I thought you might think I was going to

say I had 1300 pieces in the Louisiana show!...or

that I had 1300 comments...no, actually, I have written

1300 posts! wow...they have all been fun, and I hope

you have gained something from at least a few of them?!

I am busy putting together a bunch of "junk" to paint

on. These boards came from a house that we tore down

(beside the Sonic!). I am going to paint a brown pelican

on them.

I also finished up this window collage today. The

top two sections are canvas that I attached in the

glass openings. Then I collaged onto the glass in the

bottom two sections. The fleur de lis and the

wooden scrolls are all glued on.

My daughter salvaged a great old green chest

of drawers, and I was able to dismantle it. I am

going to use the various pieces to paint on, etc.

Here are two that I did tonight...a white pelican,

and another egret. I am going to

hang them with some

wire and some twigs...too cool.

Vintage Wood Paintings / Scrap Art!

Pelican $40.00 Egret $40.00

Window Collage $150


sheltongail@hotmail.com

In honor of 1300, I am going to be giving away some

art this week...stay tuned.

High Cotton

Just playing around today, and drawing some

cotton from some of the photos I had taken.

This is colored pencil. I will keep working on

it, and finalize some detail, etc.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

His Eye is on the Sparrow

I finished these two bird canvas collages

today. I added the stripes on the edges,

and glued some buttons in place. I painted

the little bird nest onto the brown paper

and overlapped it onto the canvas too. They

are going to be added to the "bird" themed

area of the gallery in time for Christmas

gift giving! They would make a special

surprise for the bird lover in your family...

or for yourself to decorate that nook or

cranny.

Pair of Bird Collages on Canvas

12 x 12 $50.00 each

sheltongail@hotmail.com