A Window on New Orleans

This is not the greatest photo of this piece...I will

try to take some outside tomorrow. Anyway, I

finished it today. That is an old wooden window

frame with two dividers that make three long

spaces. I enlarged some of my New Orleans photos

and cropped them to fit inside the areas. I added

some paper collaged to the canvas around the photos.
This piece will join the other collage pieces of New

Orleans, hopefully headed to a gallery down there

soon!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Skin Deep

The Bronx zoo is the largest in the nation, 265 acres.

The land was purchased in 1895 for $1000, and the

zoo opened in 1899.

These residents share some wrinkled skin...one very

young, and two a little older.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Pair of Oranges

Just a couple of more images from the Bronx

zoo. I put them together because of the shared

color. They were in the same place...the Butterfly

House. I love those things....lots of butterflies

surrounding you; blooming flowers; fountains full

of goldfish; and singing finches. They were playing

nice classical music as well. nice experience

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Long on New Orleans

I started working on another New Orleans construction

piece: it has a large canvas as the base with an old wooden

window frame mounted on it. I am collaging these 3 long

altered photographs in between the slats of the window

onto the canvas. (i will try to photograph the whole thing

tomorrow!) Anyway, I had fun cropping these long pics

of New Orleans. I would really like to paint them...they

would make really neat watercolors. maybe later!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

A Day at the Zoo

One of the things on my "bucket list" was a visit

to the Bronx Zoo. I got to mark it off during my

recent trip to NYC. I took all my camera equipment

in case I got to go. It is quite hard to pack all the

lenses, etc. They probably think they are bombs

in my luggage! Anyway, I rode the subway all the

way to the Bronx, and spent the day taking photos

of the wonderful animals and birds.

The snow leopard was exquisite. There aren't very

many of these in zoos, and I was lucky he was awake

and alert. It was almost like he posed for me.

The polar bear came right up to the edge of his enclosure.

He was probably very hot..it was a warm sunny day.

I really think he was watching for the zoo keeper who

had his lunch for the day.

There must have been "peacock love" in the air...for all

the males were stutting their beautiful plumes all over the

zoo.

Stay tuned for a few more in the next couple of days.

sheltongail@hotmail

Dog Days of Summer

I agreed to contribute a piece to the silent

auction to be held at the CPSA convention

in California this summer. They always ask

the signature members if they would like to

participate. This is the piece I have decided to

send. I like to do the "RiddlePics" to try to

"brand" myself with them. I sent "Tiger Woods"

last year, and the timing couldn't have been

better on that one?! Anyway, since the convention

is during the dog days of summer, what better

one to send? hope they like it. (I am sure there

won't be a bidding war over any of my work, but

at least I am participating....)

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Getting Greek

Last year when I went to Paris, I did a postcard
ahead of time to take with me. It has all my
contact info on back, and advertises my printed
sketchbook that will be available after my trip.
I think this is the final design for one to take on
my upcoming trip to Greece. I will send it off
tomorrow so they can get it back to me by June
12th!

I am still getting some other things finished to
enter in shows. And working on the licensing
portfolio. busy, busy....

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Final Wonder

In the neighborhood where I grew up, there was

a creek (I believe it was really a drainage ditch...)

But anyway, my brother and I would spend a lot

of time down there...exploring, wading, splashing.

One of my favorite memories was catching tadpoles

in the spring. We would put them in empty mayonnaise

jars and take them home. And then, we would enjoy

watching them morph into frogs over the coming weeks.

We would take them back down there, and give them

their freedom.

When I look at this drawing, I remember some of those

simpler times. I guess we could all use some of those.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

I will plan to enter this drawing in an upcoming

competition.

Wonder in the Water

I have several juried shows coming up, and I am

trying to complete a couple of things that I had

already started. This is one of them.

It is a pencil drawing of a curious little boy, playing

and exploring in the creek. I took this photograph

while I was doing an art festival in Denton, TX.

I always thought it would be a great pencil drawing,

and it is shaping up now. I will probably be able to

finish it tomorrow night.

The Natchitoches Art Guild annual show and the

Alexandria Art Museum September competition

are both coming soon. I don't know what I am sending

to which...will decide when finished.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Destination 4x4's

I have been so blessed to be able to travel

a lot during the last few years, and I always

take lots of photographs. I have been working

on a series of these "destination" photos for

awhile. I like the idea of four signature images

from a given location; images that are unique

to that location. As you know I am interested in

starting to approach some licensing companies,

and this series of images will be one of the main

series I plan to present. They would be ideal

for wall art, coasters, serving trays, pillows, and

any other square object they might need!

I would love to hear your guesses at which two

cities these are...surely, you will be able to! I

am currently working on a few more, and will

post soon (I promise Cheryl...)

Currently these images are available for sale as

12 x 12 prints or 5 x 7 notecards. If interested,

you will have to designate which city!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Chalk on the Sidewalk

In front of the Pea Patch is a large, wide sidewalk.

Earlier this spring, I had a conversation with the

art teacher (one of my former students) about

letting his students come and draw on the sidewalk

with some chalk. Well, they came, they drew, they

ate, and they smiled! and so did we. They seemed

to have a really great time. The customers enjoyed

watching them on their way in and out, and they

got to feel like real artists for the day.

I looked up some chalk artists on YouTube, and there

are many. There is a chalk art festival in California in

the summer. And there are many other competitions

and events as well as individual artists who do this medium

as well. Look it up and check them out..some of the art

is amazing.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Good News

I got a call from the Louisiana Pecan

Festival committee and they want to

use my design for their t-shirts. I wasn't

selected for the poster itself, but the t-shirt is

pretty good. At least my art will be walking

around on lots of people's chests! And I

will get paid for it, so it's all good.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Back from NYC

I am back from my little trip to NYC to take

the licensing art workshop taught by Cheryl

Phelps. These are some pics from the day.

That is the whole group; a very diverse bunch

of women all interested in learning how to do

and earn more with their art. That is me with

Cheryl. And that is the group viewing each

other's work.

It was a good experience. I did learn useful

information, and was encouraged about the

possibilities of marketing my work. Now, I just

have to follow through!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Portfolio Pages

I am through working on the portfolio I will

be taking to NYC. These are two of the pages:

one with t-shirt designs, and one with Paris

sketches. There are many more pages, and

hopefully, I will get some good positive feedback

on my work. If not, I can always enjoy a nice

bagel...

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Springtime in Paris

These are some more of the images I am preparing

in my mini portfolio to take to New York. These are

all from my trip to Paris last spring. I think the black

and white ones would make great coasters, and the

neon eiffel would be a neat t-shirt.

I have an interesting perspective about all this. I have

always been a "fine" artist; I have been trained to draw

and paint, and I have refined those skills over time in

all kinds of media, doing all kinds of subject matter.

As I have looked into gallery representation, they all

stress the utmost importance of working in one media

in one style (a "brand" I suppose). I find this so limiting,

and consequently, I do not have any gallery representation!

I believe that it is a valuable thing to be able to do all kinds

of artwork, and so I guess I have been looking for a venue

where all my skills would be appreciated. And so I will find

out this weekend during this licensing workshop and at the

Surtex show, if being a versatile artist is really worth something.

We'll see?!!

I would appreciate any comments on this subject!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Workshop Bound

I am leaving this Friday to attend a licensing

workshop in NYC. I am very excited, and I

am getting samples of my work together to

take with me. I have done so much work, but

I have not been the greatest about photographing

and cataloging (is that a word?!) all my images.

So I am spending lots of time trying to print out

samples to put in the portfolio. If anyone would

like to volunteer to be my administrative assistant,

record keeper, organizer, just let me know!

Flip Flop Trio acrylic on canvas 12 x 12 $50 each

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Tools of the Trade

I haven't been doing any art this week, but I

decided to show you my pile of stuff I have been

using to make the New Orleans collages. It is all

piled up on the back porch. Those are the tin ceiling

tiles, some of the beaded board, an old window, and

some great corner porch brackets. That is my new

pair of tin snips that I bought to cut the tin tiles with.

As soon as the weekend wraps up, I will be using

some of these to create some new things!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Hot Sauce

I am having so much fun with these New Orleans

things...I hope I can get them into a gallery down

there. If not, I guess I will be selling salvage collages

on Ebay?! This one is 16 x 20 with tin in the middle,

and beaded board on either edge.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

New Orleans Collage-Hot Sauce 16 x 20 $75.00

Peony Power

Aren't peonies beautiful? I didn't mention this

bouquet that greeted guests at the home of the

Rossi's where I painted on location last weekend.

Not only were they beautiful, but they had a sweet,

sweet smell, too. And I was able to start a pastel

drawing of them while I was there last Sunday.

I will try to finish it sometime this week. But I

thought you might enjoy the real thing, and the

start of the drawing.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Crawfish on the Square

I put this little thing together today. It is a

old tin ceiling tile with a collaged newspaper

edge, and a crawfish photo in the center. It

is 12 inches square, and is magnetic. Would

be cute in the kitchen as a memo board. I

am doing several more, and will post them

soon.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Photo Collage Tile 12 x 12 $25.00

New Orleans Flavor

These are some of my New Orleans photos that

I am printing to use in some collages. It is crawfish

season right now, and there are lots of crawfish

boil parties going on. And anyone in Louisiana, usually

loves his hot sauce, to spice up the good Cajun food.

I, on the other hand, did not grow up here! and I

don't care for crawfish or hot sauce!! But they make a

neat image, and should look good attached to some

old tin tiles.

And at last, I had an entry accepted into the CPSA

International Exhibition. It has been 3 years (I was

accepted several years in a row there for awhile, and

even earned my signature status.) Anyway, this

happy rhino will be on his way to Los Gatos, CA for the

show in August. You can go to the website: www.cpsa.org

and see some samples from other shows. There is an

online exhibit called, "Explore This" that features work

that combines colored pencil with other mediums. Some

really interesting pieces, check them out.

sheltongail@hotmail.com