Putting his Stamp on It

This is the new Louisiana "Forever" Stamp...a

commerative stamp put out by the USPS.  The

photograph was taken by C. C. Lockwood,

a prominent photographer here in the state.  He

has published several photography books, and

continues to work for the conservation of the

wetlands and other endangered environments.

He co-authored a book, "Marsh Mission:

Capturing the Vanishing Wetlands" with Rhea Gary,

a Baton Rouge artist who specializes in painting

the waterways of south Louisiana in bold, colorful

oil paintings.  I have seen her work, and have always

liked it.  And his photography is outstanding as well.

You can look them up, and let me know what you

think.  And go out and buy some stamps!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

www.rheagary.com/book

www.cclockwood.com

To Draw or Not to Draw

Trying to get back in the groove here...I have

several more drawings to do for people for

Christmas.  These are two adorable sisters,

and this is for their grandmother.  That is my

simple drawing desk...where all the "magic"

happens..ha!  I sit there for hours at a time,

depending on what I am working on.  It feels

like "home" to me, and I enjoy looking out the

window at the world outside.  Maybe it will

keep me seated and focused!!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

For info on Children's Portraits:

email me

Gratitude

 "Come before Him with thankful hearts...

 Let us sing psalms of praise....

 For the Lord is a great God, the King of

all the earth....

He controls the formation of the depths 

of the earth and the mightiest mountains."

Psalm 95 

Enjoyed a great weekend with family, giving thanks

for all our blessings.  Hope you and yours were able

to do the same. 

sheltongail@hotmail.com

What a Day of Football

As most of you know, I am an LSU fan, and there

was a very important game today!  The LSU team

managed to beat the Arkansas Razorbacks today

in a very exciting match. 

And then tonight, our local Winnfield Tigers were

in a playoff game as well, and they won in overtime!

Whew...I am worn out.  It is just too much excitement

for an old lady!!

Geaux Tigers!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all enjoyed a great Thanksgiving day

with family and friends.  We always try to take our

Christmas card picture while we are together.  This

is our selected shot for this year.  We had a lot of

fun traveling around and posing in the beautiful

autumn woods around our home.  I use the timer on

the camera, and then run and get in the picture...

which leads to laughter in itself quite often.  I will

save those "out takes" just for us!!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

River Oaks Events

I dropped off the artwork at River Oaks

today.  They are also having a Porch Sale...

which involves art from dozens of local and

regional artists.  It will all be on sale on Saturday

December 3rd from 9-3pm.  Unique Christmas

gifts, ceramics, paintings, photography, jewelry,

and lots more, on the porch of the Bolton home

and the studio annex building.

I also took a couple of watercolors for this

sale, too.  It should be good fun!

River Oaks

1330 Main Street

Alexandria, LA  318-473-2670

Mini Show

River Oaks Art Center in Alexandria sponsosrs

a miniature art show every December.  I did

these little watercolors last night to enter in the

show.  This year's entry had to include a quote.

I used two bird quotes that I am fond of:

"No bird soars too high if

he soars with his

own wings"

"The bird does not sing

because he has an

answer;

The bird sings because he has a

song."

I noticed that a lot of galleries sponsor miniature

shows around the holidays.  I believe patrons are

more apt to purchase small works as gifts, and

these are more appropriate for gift giving. 

You can check these out:

www.saksgalleries.com  Small Gems

www.evergreenfineart.com  Miniature Masterpieces

www.abendgallery.com  Holiday Miniature Show

www.legacygallery.com  Holiday Small Works Show

The show at River Oaks has an opening reception on

December 2nd from 5-7.  The dates for the exhibit and

sale are November 29-January 14, 2012.  Business

hours are 10-4 Tuesday thru Friday   Saturday 10-2

River Oaks Art Center

Downtown Alexandria, Louisiana

Child's Portrait

I finished up this drawing last night, and I talked

to the client today.  She is coming to pick it up

early in December.  I may still tweak a little!!

For info on Children's Portaits:

sheltongail@hotmail.com

11 x 14 Pencil Portrait  $150

Can be custom framed

Go Tigers...plural

I live in a town where the high school mascot is a

tiger.  I also live in a state where the state school

mascot is a tiger.  So, I can market and sell this tiger

print in two different color schemes!!  The red is

for the Winnfield Tigers, who are undefeated, and

are in the playoffs;  and I can also sell purple and

gold matted tigers for the #1 LSU fighting tigers!

So, all you tigers out there, get fired up! And do your

best this Friday.  Make us all proud! And come in

and buy a print for your favorite tiger fan.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Tiger Prints  Matted 12 x 16  $40

Loose Ends

 I can get so many things going at once, it can

become overwhelming.  As the "token" artist in

town, I am "commissioned " to do lots of things for

people...like paint a grandbaby's name on a rocking

chair....

 ...this is for Kate for Christmas from her

grandmother....

 ..this old wooden box now is adorned with

a daughter's monogram...(that paint in the bowl

looks like a fried egg?!)...

...and now this old door is a chalkboard and corkboard

for someone's office.

I spent the afternoon finishing up these projects so I can

concentrate on the children's portraits I have to do! 

My problem is that I can't tell anyone "no", and

this time of year, I just want everyone to be

happy.  I do enjoy having a hand in someone's

special gift at Christmas...I think that is what

the season is supposed to be about!

For Info on any special ideas or projects

you may want done:

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Little Boy Blue

I started working on this cute little boy

tonight.  Will continue on the shirt (ugh, I

hate plaid!)...and tweak a little more.

For Info on Children's Portraits:

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Final Molly

I think I am finished with this drawing, and now it

is on to the next one!

For Info on Children's Portraits

sheltongail@hotmail.com

A Time to Draw

With Christmas fast approaching, I have to get

busy drawing several children's portraits for gifts

for several clients.  I work from the customer's

photograph or take some myself.  If it is a color

photograph, I scan it and print it out in black and

white.  It is much easier to see the shadows and

draw them with a black and white subject. 

It always seems like I get to this point in the year

with many to do!  But most of the customers don't

think to commission me until the holiday season

turns their thoughts to portraits...so much for trying

to get them done in the summer!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

For info on Children's Portraits or Pet Portraits:

email me   (can't guarantee Christmas delivery now)

Mentor Time

I am sure I have talked about the Senior Project

class they offer in the high schools here in our parish.

The seniors select an area of study that they know

very little about, and then enlist a mentor to teach

them about that subject.  They must meet with the

mentor a certain amount of time, and then they must

complete a project from the study.  And they must

write a paper about the experience and the subject.

I think it is a great program, and I have been a mentor

for several students over the last couple of years.

I currently have another one.  Emily wanted to learn all

about photography, and then do a finished print as her

project.  We have been meeting for a couple of weeks

learning about the camera, photography techniques and

lighting, and composition.  Sunday afternoon we were

able to get away for a little while and actually take some

pictures!  Here she is out at the Kisatchie National Forest

taking in the fall foliage.  I liked the ones of the trees

reflecting in the water, cool.  Now we will get together

and edit some of these in the computer.  ( I enjoy getting

to teach a little without grading papers or checking roll!)

sheltongail@hotmail.com

LSU and USA

We had a great time down at the football

game over the weekend.  The band did a

wonderful salute to the USA in honor of

Veteran's day, spelling out USA and displaying

the American flag.  You can also see the

fine "eye of the tiger" that they paint on the

field.  That is all the "art of the day" I can

share today!  Hope you had a blessed

Sunday.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

LSU Bound

The Tigers play at home again tomorrow night,

and hopefully I will be there to watch them win

another one!! Geaux Tigers!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

A Closer Look

I have been studying and examining these swamp

photos trying to decide where to crop, etc.  Look

what I noticed!  Right there on that log is a water

mocassin, sunning himself a few feet away from the

egret.  Luckily, it was very cool...so I am sure the

snake was moving slowly...not that he could swallow

that long legged bird!  But he might like to try!  yuk

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Homes, Oaks and Gardens

 We also had time on Monday to visit a couple

of the historic plantation homes between Baton

Rouge and New Orleans.  This is Houmas House.

 This is the famous Oak Alley, located near the

town of Vacherie.  These oaks are close to 300

years old.  wow

 Houmas House has beautiful gardens, and this

lovely water lily was still blooming, even in

November

 The water lily was near this Japanese water

garden and bridge

 This is a different view of Oak Alley.  I have

a customer who wants a large photo on canvas

of one of the plantation homes.

This is my friend and guide on the trip,

Mr. Bob Carroll.  You can really see the scale of

the trees with him in the picture!  They are quite

astonishing.  There were lots of tourists there for a

Monday, and I had to wait a long time to be able

to take a photograph of the house without any

people.  I managed to get a few in between tours,

and I hope the client will want one of them.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Houmas House Plantation Tours

Oak Alley Plantation Tours

Favorite Pics

 Here are some of my favorites from the

other day spent in the swamp....this

egret caught on the fly...

 ....this smiling gator who managed to

stay away from Troy...

 ...this balancing act performed by this

lovely heron ballerina...

and the cream of the crop...these two

magnificent eagles..a nesting pair that we

pursued through the swamp until I managed to

capture this moment on film (so to speak...)

I have begun printing these images and they

are all available for sale.  Some of them

would make a great gift for the sportsman or

outdoor enthusiast in your life.

Prints:

Small  6 x 9  $35.00

Medium  11 x 14  $55.00

Large  12 x 18  $75.00

They can also be custom framed.  I have

several examples at the gallery to choose from

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Falling for Cypress

 I wanted to visit the south Louisiana swamp

areas again this fall for this reason:  the cypress

turn this beautiful rust color...

 of course, some trees have lost all their

leaves, and found some birds...

 the colors reflect in the water

all look really cool...

I just returned from the short trip, and here

are just a few of the landscape photos.

I love the colors in the fall, and these

display it pretty well.  This was

early in the morning out in the water.

sheltongail@hotmail.com