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