Two More Pages

Still working on these pages for the teacup book. Had

a friend help with the bio page...it is very hard to write

about yourself?! Still doing lots of editing and revising;

something this personal is tricky. I don't want to sound

too sappy...or too preachy. I am used to doing it as a

speech..and I adlib a lot. It is a challenge to get to the

heart of the message without a lot of wordiness (is that

a word?!) My life as an author may be short and sweet!

Any suggestions are certainly welcome.

I did find out that the saying about women and tea

originated with Eleanor Rosevelt. And Hillary Clinton was

known to quote her. Interesting!?

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Flag Day

I have been working on these designs for some

flags. They are watercolor and ink, and then

the text is added on the computer.

Speaking of watercolor, I have been asked to

teach at the State YACA (Youth Art Council of

America) Convention next week. This is an

organization that we belonged to when I was

teaching art. The art students from all over the

state come together for 3 days of art and fun.

They bring artwork, a banner, and a scrapbook

to enter into competition with the other chapters.

They attend workshops, and do a demonstration

of an art project for all the members. It is a fabulous

opportunity for the students, and lots of fun.

I am supposed to teach watercolor outdoors on

location (weather permitting). I am getting all the

supplies together, and I will try to go to the location

to prepare what we are going to paint! The convention

is being held at Wesley Center down in Woodworth, LA.

It should be lots of fun.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

I've only gotten one comment for the Valentine GiveAway...

so if you want to win, you can leave me a comment or email

to be entered in the drawing. Thanks!

After the Thaw

"Sometimes a rough and rocky road,

Is gonna take you to a beautiful place."

Wayne Watson

The sun finally came out today. And the ice

sparkled in the light. It would have been a

winter wonderland, except for the ice crashing

to the ground from limbs and the roof. I

spotted the deer out in the pasture...I think

they were avoiding falling ice, too! The cats

were terrified to leave their shelter, and slunk

across the patio, dodging icicle bombs on the

way. It's supposed to warm up...I am looking

for that early Spring, Puxatawny Phil!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Watercolor Break

We had a "snow day" today, well, actually

an ice day. We opened for a light crowd at the

cafe, and then I had the afternoon at home.

I decided to do some colorful watercolors to

brighten the dreary, cold day. I always like

florals, bright colors, happy watercolors.

Images like this I can hopefully turn into

flags, cards, stationary items... will do some

more.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

"Eat That Frog First"

I found this great article in a trade magazine today,

and since a friend tells me I am so organized (not!),

I thought I would share it. There is a book by Brian

Tracy where he shares 21 ways to stop procrastinating

and get more done in less time.

Strategy #1: Eat the biggest and ugliest frog first.

The old saying goes..."If the first thing you do when you

wake up in the morning is eat a live frog, then nothing worse

can happen for the rest of the day!" The "frog" is the most

difficult item on your "to do" list, and if you get it out of

the way early, then that momentum will carry you through

the rest of the list!

Strategy #2: Apply the 80/20 Rule to Everything.

Develop an extensive "to do" list, both personal and

professional. But before you begin, ask, "How important

is this?" The 80/20 rule says that one item on the list of

10 tasks is worth more than the other 9 put together. That

should be the frog you eat first. Do the critical 20%.

Strategy #3: Pick 3 a Day

As you survey your list each day, pick the 3 tasks that you

would like to accomplish that day. Do not consider the workday

over until those 3 things are done. If you keep them at the

forefront during the day, despite interruptions, you will get

so much more accomplished.

I can be a procrastinator at times. I know many of them.

I do try to get certain things done each day. But from now

on, I will think of the frog meal, and hopefully, tackle things

in the right order. This info may be "old hat" to some of

you, but it was delightful advice to me. I hope you apply

it to your frogs starting tomorrow!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy

Article in SouthEast Marketing: Robin's Retailer Corner

"More Tea, Please"

Still working on tea things...did these tonight.

One of the scriptures that served as a basis for

my whole presentation was this:

"And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of

all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will

Himself, perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."

I found that verse when I needed it the most. It holds such

a promise that our suffering is brief afterall, and that He

intends for us to be better because of it. I know many of you

have found that to be true as well. May we all learn to let Him

strengthen us even more!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

"Hot Water" progress

I spent some time working on these pages for the

little "hot water" book I am putting together.

I have several more to go. The text is from a

presentation that I have been doing for years for

church groups, women's clubs, etc. But it is hard

to adapt it to the written form. I am having to edit

and adapt. And then add the illustrations. It will

all come together.

The cat mystery is solved. My cat is at home, and

my neighbor's cat came back to her house. So,

"Socks" and "Huey" are two different animals. ha!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Leave me a comment to be in the drawing for

an original watercolor to be given away on

Valentine's Day.

For the Love of Cats

I was asked today to draw some pet portraits

of these two black cats. I have to do one of each

of them, and then a drawing of both together.

They are very similar in appearance; one has

longer hair and larger eyes. My daughter has

a cat that looks very similar to these. It is a

challenge to draw such black animals. You have

to add some color to distinguish their coats,

some blue, purple, white and grey.

This client is the same one that I drew the dogs

for before Christmas. She does not need the

drawings for awhile, so I will start on them in

a couple of weeks.

I had an interesting conversation today with my

neighbor. She called to say her cat was missing. She

called him "Socks" and said he was grey with white

chest and feet. She also said he had just started coming

up to the house, and she had been feeding him. But he

disappeared on Saturday, and she wondered if he was

over at my house. I told her I had not seen him. But then

I started thinking about the situation. I have a grey

and white cat, Huey. He stays gone all during the day,

and is usually the last one I put up at night. I am

beginning to wonder if he is "Socks" to his other family!

I will have to get to the bottom of the cat mystery....

sheltongail@hotmail.com

All You Need is Love

As I look out my home studio window, it is a grey,

rainy, dreary day. But I love Sundays...time to

worship, fellowship with the family, take a nap!

And I usually get to draw or paint something. I

got a few more of these heart designs done. And

I am still working on the book.

I am going to give some of these away on Valentine's

Day..so leave me a comment, and I will draw the

winners from the list.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Valentine GiveAway

This is the next give away...in honor of Valentine's

Day coming up! It is an original watercolor and ink,

about 5 x 6 inches. I will double mat it to fit an

8 x 10 frame. I will draw a name from the next

20 people who leave me a comment. I won't draw

till Valentine's Day.

I might just paint several more, and draw several

names...so leave me a comment. I would love to

send one of these to you! all in the name of love....

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Page One

I am still working on this tea cup book for
Leanin Tree. I am just getting started. I have
done a lot of page elements like the dots at the
bottom, some stripes, small images to add to
the text as I go. I will probably edit a lot!
But it is a start! and that is always the hardest.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

RounTooIt

Are there things in your life that you tell yourself,

"I'm going to get around to that some day...."

I can those things, "rountooits". I have whole lists

of them.

I received a really interesting gift at Christmas,

however, that should help me get around to one

of my tasks. This is the Stratford Labs negative

scanner; a fascinating little device that scans

negatives into your computer and converts them

to a digital image! wow! I only started to take

digital images with a digital camera about 4 years

ago. Until then, all of my photos were taken with

a Canon SLR on film. (some of you may wonder

what that is?!) Anyway, I must have 10,000

negatives filed and stored away. And some of them

are priceless images, at least to me. So, the white

azalea you see above, was the first of many I hope

to scan into my computer. It will be time consuming,

but I hope to do a few a day, and at least get "rountoo"

some of it!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Stratford Labs Negative Scanner: scans all sizes of

negatives and slides Check Amazon.com for prices

and availability

Back to Work

I am finally getting back around to working on some

of these licensing designs. The first set of things I

am going to do is this tea cup series. I plan to do

some card designs, stationary stuff, some flag designs,

coasters, etc. These are just the sketches for some

of the finished pieces. I also plan to do a digital photo

book with some text from a tea cup presentation that

I have done for years. It deals with handling adversity,

and how as women, "we get stronger in hot water."

It will all coordinate, (hopefully), and I plan to send it

to Leanin Tree and several other companies.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Watercolour Ponies by Wayne Watson

Another great song by Wayne...it will touch your heart. Having lost a child, the reminder that our children are out of our lives quickly, is especially poignant for me. I shed a tear everytime I hear this one. May it make us keenly aware of how much we need to make of the time we have, with our families, our friends, and those we need to reach out to.

www.waynewatson.com
You can check out Wayne's site for upcoming concerts, his blog, and his music.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Touch of the Master's Hand - Wayne Watson

Last night I attended a small concert by Christian singer Wayne Watson at the BCM at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston.
My husband and his sister went to Tech and knew Wayne and his girlfriend, Lynn, who was from Winnfield. Wayne married Lynn, and my sister in law was in the wedding. We have all
admired his talent and listened to his music over the years. He is an incredible singer, and his message is always so heartfelt. It was so special to get to see him in an intimate setting, and we got to visit with him before the show, and he spoke fondly of old times with his friends at Tech. My niece Caroline is very active in the BCM, and she got to meet him as well, and enjoy hearing his wonderful music.
Here's one of his most popular songs. It has a great message about the worth that God imparts to each of us through the salvation He provides through Jesus. I hope you enjoy it. Have a
very blessed day.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

A Real Treat

The "Evening in Greece" at the gallery last night

was a real treat. I didn't really get to take many

pics (I was busy serving plates and waiting tables!)

But I did manage to take a shot of this yummy

dessert.

Here's the entire menu:

Appetizer Course: Tsatziki Sauce (cucumber yogurt)

Greek Salad (cucumbers, tomatoes,

olives, onions)

Pita Bread

First Course: Shrimp with Orzo

Main Course: Roasted Leg of Lamb, Vegetable Medley

(eggplant, zucchini, onions, tomatoes)

Roasted Potatoes

Dessert Course: Walnut Syrup Cake

Greek Yogurt, Fruit, and Honey

There were some special guests there last night. My

cousin and his wife from New Orleans were able to

attend. And my old friend, Dr. Bill Spillers, from

Shreveport came and brought three friends,

including a Greek native, Dimitri, and his daughter

who is majoring in Art at LSUS. It was quite intimidating

to do my Greek presentation about the trip in front of

someone who grew up there! But he nodded his

approval after every pronunciation made by me, and

I was quite relieved to hear his compliments at the

conclusion of the evening. And he loved the food as

well, so Pete was very pleased. My daughter also did

lots of the cooking...she prepared the appetizers, the

Greek salad, and baked the little walnut cakes. They

make a great team, and I am so proud of them.

Speaking of trips, it is time to put a deposit down for the Charleston and Savannah trip. The deposit is $300. If any of you are interested, you can let me know and I can get you signed up.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

And a Good Time was had by All

We had such a great time tonight. The Evening

in Greece was spendid. My son in law, Pete, really

outdid himself with the food; it was delicious. I will

have to post the whole menu tomorrow night...along

with pics.

I believe everyone enjoyed themselves; experienced

some different tastes; and learned a little something

about Greece as well. We can't wait to do something

similar again. stay tuned....

sheltongail@hotmail.com

One for the Money, Two for the Show

Two more that are going to be entered into a

show. The Tom Peyton Memorial Art Show in

Alexandria is coming up, and the deadline to enter

was today. I entered these two. You have probably

seen them before. They were done last year, and

were entered in various shows. So now this year,

I will shuffle them around and enter them in

different shows! You try to get the most bang

for your buck out of some good pieces, and enter

them where they might earn some money. So,

hopefully the judge will find them worthy, and include

them in the exhibit.

We are all set up for the Greek night Saturday night.

We are expecting 30 people, and it should be an

enjoyable evening. Will try to post some pics from the

event tomorrow night.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

A Day of Painting

Watercolor on Canvas Workshop

These smiling faces are proudly holding their

watercolor creations that they finished today in

the workshop. It was a group mostly from the

Art Guild in Natchitoches. Some were experienced

painters, and some were real beginners. This was

a new medium for all of them however, and we

had a great time learning the new techniques. The

subject matter is the Royal Street Grocery in New

Orleans. I think they all did a super job!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Too Many Hats

It is the start of the spring show season in the

art world. And even though I am actively pursuing

the licensing angle with my art, I am a fine artist

at heart. And I have so many good pieces that I

just can't help entering them in a couple of shows.

So, this one went out today. "All That Jazz" is a

colored pencil drawing and it is now entered in this

show out in Texas. The juror is Marileigh Schulte

from Rancho Santa Fe in California. She enjoys

figurative work in an impressionistic style, and likes

dramatic light and deep rich color. So, I thought

this piece would grab her attention. Hopefully

she will select it for the show.

I am busy finishing up my presentation for

the Greek evening this Saturday, and I am

teaching a watercolor on canvas workshop in

the morning at my studio! whew... it will be

time to rest on Sunday for sure!

sheltongail@hotmail.com