Ole Man River

What could be more "southern" than the

Mississippi river and cotton? When I

came home the other day, I drove through

Natchez, Mississippi. I stopped along the

river walkway that they have built up on

the bluff in downtown Natchez, and this

was the view out over the river. It was

a beautiful day, and it was hard to believe

that just a few short months ago, this

river affected so many with flooding. This

day, however, it was peacefully flowing

with barge traffic pushing up and downstream.

The cotton is ready for harvesting, and I

stopped to take a few more pics of it as well.

It is such an iconic Louisiana image, I will

print some up for the art show, too.

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Bird in the Hand

Starting to work on a couple of small bird

collages, using some of the birds I found

this past weekend. They are on 12 x 12

canvas, painted a tan color. I am going to

paint some bird nests on top of some of the

paper. Will keep working...

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Treasures to Include

While in St. Francisville, I visited a couple

of antique stores. I am always on the lookout

for paper items to scan and include in some

collages. Above are some vintage postcards,

and a Cafe Dumonde ad that I scanned and

printed on that 12 x 12 sheet. I will use them in

some New Orleans pieces.

Because the city was the home of John James

Audubon for awhile, I looked for some bird

images as well. I bought the Audubon Bird

Guide book at a great little shop, and these are

a couple of the bird plates. I have already painted

the canvases, and I will start working on these

tonight.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Plantation Playtime

Rosedown Plantation is located in St.

Francisville, a great little historic town

north of Baton Rouge. It is surrounded

by beautiful gardens and fountains....

Statues line the oak alley...this is "Spring"

All four seasons are represented

This is the main house, which dates from the

late 1800's. The whole area is now a state

park, and is well kept and preserved. There

are daily tours of the house and grounds.

This is the Underwood Oak..the oldest on

the property. It is 250 years old...wow

This little pond is located where one of the

vegetable gardens used to be. I loved the

layers of color in the photograph...from purple

flowers to green, to blue, to brown; would

make a great watercolor or pastel

The Spanish moss gives everything an

eerie appearance. I was virtually alone

walking the grounds, and it was bordering

on creepy....

the bees were still busy with the last of

some of the blooms. These were in the

beds in the formal gardens next to the

big house

so were these great little yellow butterflies

I spent about an hour here today, walking the

grounds, and taking lots of photos. It was

virtually deserted...the vacation season is over.

The girl in the gift shop said it had been really

quiet. But that made it especially beautiful and

peaceful. It is such an iconic Louisiana image...

will make some nice additions to the show.

Rosedown

This is Rosedown Plantation in St. Francisville,

Louisiana. I am on the road this weekend,

taking some pics for the Louisiana show. This

will be one of my stops.

It is famous for its' oak alley...a tree lined

driveway up to the house.

Audubon stayed at this home and worked on

his bird series.

There are so many facets to the state of

Louisiana....so many different areas, interesting

cities, different landscapes and terrain. I

am trying to capture a few of them in the

upcoming show. I have in no way covered the

whole state, but perhaps I can add to the

show over the next few months, and strive

to capture more of this fascinating place that

I live in.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Out of Pocket

I am out of town for a few days...
will be back soon!

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