Creative Finds

These great little reclaimed sculptures were done by
Gloria Burson.  She had them for sale at the Vintage section
of the Dallas Market.  I wanted to buy one, and they
were already sold!  You can see more on
her blog: www.amodernglo.blogspot.com

I also loved this booth.  Her name is Nancy Elaine Davis
and her business is called "Ella Elaine".  She also does
some reclaimed items as well.  I bought a little sign from
her that spelled out "joy" in re-claimed bits and pieces.

I had a great time at market in Dallas.  I learned a lot from several
other vendors and had a chance to meet with the leasing department.
I got a feel for some of the best selling items in the art arena,
and I have lots of ideas.  I will be home later tomorrow, and
will get to work!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Art at the Market

I am at the gift market in Dallas, and wanted to

post this booth I found today.  The artist is Mary

Gregory, and this is her line, Fig Marmalade.  She

does these adorable oil paintings, and then prints

them on tea towels, canvases, pillows, and aprons.

I am going to try to meet with her tomorrow and

get some ideas about marketing.  I love her whole

look here, and I am interested in trying to do

something similar with my artwork. 

sheltongail@hotmail.com

January "Blossoms"

 The Susan K Black Foundation "Blossoms" show

is opening in Florida today.  This is the show that I

entered that made me eligible to attend the workshop

in Dubois last fall.  The show has been at the Norton

Gallery in Shreveport for the last couple of months.

It is a beautiful exhibit, and you can view some of it

online at: susankblackfoundation.org 

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Forging Ahead

I am moving forward with my efforts to

produce and sell some of my art this

summer at the wholesale gift market in Dallas.

I met with my cousin who has connections

in this field, and he is helping me to finalize

some of the canvas art pieces.  These are

the first two I have finished today.  I have

been having to re-size, re-work the text,

etc to get them in the correct format to be

printed as 16 x 20 canvases. 

I like these scriptures; I think they will

"speak" to people, and the color schemes

go well with some of the current decorating

trends.  Hopefully, some retail gift shop

owners will agree!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

A Day with the Endangered

We started the day in Kaplan, LA at the
Sunnyside Motel...it was not sunny

White Lake in south LA;
home to the whooping crane project

Me, Mr. Bob, his son, Mark, and Lee all went to
see the cranes

With Sara, the crane coordinator of the project

We arrived at the site, and these young cranes soon
appeared...breathtaking

As the landed, you can see their leg bands that
identify them.  These young birds still have some
of their brown feathers.  When they mature, they will be
all white

This is an adult male from the program last year.  He
still stays around the compound

These are the blinds that we observed the birds from...
very nice.  We had to be quiet and fairly still so we
would not disturb them

Sara donned her "crane habit" and entered to restock their
food.  They eat a pellet with all the nutrients, etc that they
need.  They are making every attempt to keep the birds as
wild as they can.

This is the adult male again, preening.  They develop
the red marking on their head when they mature.  He
was about 4-5 feet tall.

This was our transportation coming and going, very
nice ride

Mr. Bob had always wanted to see the whooping cranes in
person, and planned to go to Aransas Pass, Texas.  When
he learned that this new program was here in the state,
he was able to arrange for us all to go.  They are not necessarily
letting many people in there, but were considerate enough
to allow us today. 
These cranes come from Maryland, where they are hatched, and
then transported here to White Lake.  They are acclamated inside
the marsh enclosure gradually, and begin to venture out as they
mature.  This is the second year of the experiment.  The goal is
to establish a non-migrating flock.  There are only about 300
living whooping cranes in the world.  When I was growing up
in Texas, there were only 15!  They have made some great strides
in trying to help this species recover.  It was thrilling to get
to see them, and encouraging to know that passionate people
are there trying to help them.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Black, White, and Blue

Favorite shot of the day...this small snowy egret standing

on the submerged log.  I was dicussing with a business

partner today about the reactions to art:

some are intimidated

some are inspired

some are insulted

some are intrigued

And we were also discussing the difference in interpretation:

This photo could mean "peace" to some..."solitude" to others,

"loneliness", "isolation" , or "stability" and "security".  Each

viewer brings their own feelings and meaning to the table...that

is part of what makes Art such a fascinating thing.  Many people

can see the same thing, and all see it differently. 

I see "peace" and "simple beauty"....symbols of God's perfect

creation and His infinite creativity.  I enjoy finding these quiet

moments and capturing them for others to see as well.

Let me know what it says to you!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Birds of a Feather

Great White Egret

A few white pelicans....

goose gossip....

more pelicans on the shore

sundown over the Mississippi

must be husband and wife...not speaking

Started on my whooping crane photo trip today...
just the first leg.  I am in south Louisiana, and I
took these today on my way through.  The
white pelicans only come south for the winter,
and you can find pockets of them staying together.
I wanted to get them out on the lake, but
they were all on the bank.  I like the
egret shot in the tree limbs...would be fun to
draw or paint. 

I meet the other photographer and friends
tomorrow.  We won't get to go into the reserve until
Tuesday morning, and it looks like rain.  We will
try to make a decision tomorrow.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Among the Clutter

I don't know about other artists, but I tend to

be slightly unorganized.  I spent the better part

of today straightening out the studio at home

and the studio at the gallery!  I think the Christmas

chaos took its' toll, and in my haste to get things

done, stuff was stacked and pushed aside.  Now

it is time to "de-stack", and I found all kinds of

things! 

I came across the little oil painting shown above.

It was painted by the young man in the photo during

my week in Dubois at the SKB workshop.  His name

is David Yeager, and he lives in Colorado, and is

college age.  He is quite the musical and artistic

prodigy.  He did the painting of the area known as

Horse Creek, in the photo above also.  I did not see

him paint it (I was in the watercolor class, not the oil

one).  However, at the end of the week, we all donated

some work for the silent auction, and I bid on his painting

and bought it!  And I un-earthed it today in the studio.

I will try to get it framed and hanging on the wall, so

it will avoid being buried again.  And I am enjoying

everything being in its' place...at least for the moment.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Next on the Drawing Table

Early every year, there are several show deadlines that

loom.  I enjoy entering several of the juried shows that I

have participated in for years, and they expect new work.

I have been going through some of my photos, and I like

these two.  I would do them in colored pencil or watercolor.

I think about my friend Raelene when I see these.  I took

the sea dragon photo at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium, one

of her favorite places.  And she always loved bicycle photos,

and had a whole series of them that she had taken.  I will look

some more, but one of these may be next. 

I have gotten a couple of really funny title suggestions for the

tiger drawing...keep them coming.

A New Adventure

I am getting ready to go on another photo adventure

soon.  My travel guide, Mr. Bob, has arranged for us

to get to see the Louisiana whooping crane population

down at White Lake.  It is an experimental group that

has been relocated from Aransas Pass in Texas.  The

Louisiana Department of Wildlife is trying to get a

group established here in south Louisiana to help
with the endangered species.  This is the second year

they have been at White Lake.  Several of the cranes

were killed last year, by predators and disease.  They

are planning to add to the flock to replace the birds, and

the new ones will be introduced this spring. 

There should be lots of other migrating birds there as well..

geese, ducks, and other shore birds.  So, hopefully, the

weather will cooperate, and we will get to see some history

in the making! and some pretty white birds.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Time for Title

I am happy to report that this drawing is finished!

Now it needs a title.  It was going to be,

"Rolling through the Tide"...Ha!  not a

possibility now :(

So, now I will take suggestions from the field.

I kind of like "Water for Tigers"

"Mike Takes a Swim"   "LSU Reflections"

Anyway...I am open to some of your ideas.

Please leave me some comments or email them.

(Brian, I know you have some in mind!)

sheltongail@hotmail.com

It was the Best of Times...and the Worst of Times!

I have been out of towm down at the BCS championship

game.  We had a great time BEFORE the game...I can't say

much about what happened later!  At least we were there

showing our support.  And there will be another season

before we know it. Now, we can just pull for the Saints!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

The Difference between Day and Night

This morning's early sun through the clouds....

....where I started earlier in the day on this drawing...

Where I am tonight.....

...and this evening's beautiful moon rise...

hope you all had a blessed Sunday

sheltongail@hotmail.com

New Year, New Plans

As the new year begins, we are bombarded with

advice about goals, plans, and dreams.  Artist Gwen

Fox advises to set goals and post them.  Make a

plan and set deadlines.  Think about "how" to achieve

them.  She says, "A new year is a frest start to give

birth to dreams."  Editor Kim Hall of Professional

Artist's magazine says, " Dreams are what drive artists

to see things in new ways and consider the possibilities."

I have some goals, and some dreams, and I hope that

I can work toward some of them this new year.  I will

share some of them as I go, and hopefully, you can

watch me achieve some of them.  Thanks so much for

following along on this artistic journey.  I so appreciate

the support and encouragement.  Happy New Year to

us all!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Still on the Draw

Making a little progress on this drawing;

will start adding some of the blue on the

left of the photo.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

"A Night in Louisiana"

 We are planning another dinner party/gallery talk

this year at the gallery.  This year's theme is Louisiana,

so we will have some great regional food, and I

will do a gallery talk on the Louisiana artwork.  The

date is January 28, 6:00 pm.  The tickets are $30

each, and the seating is limited.  So, if you are interested,

you can call the gallery and make your reservation:

318-628-3560  We look forward to entertaining you!

"A Night in Louisiana"  Regional Louisiana meal/gallery

talk     Saturday Jan 28  6:00 pm      $30 each 

\sheltongail@hotmail.com 

Into the Water

I am still working on this drawing, off and on,

and I have started on some of the water.  I have

to really study the reflection, and select the

corresponding Prismacolor pencils.  Some of the
colored pencils are pretty exact for certain colors;

and other colors have to be mixed by layering

several colors together.  The gold water is a

combination of about 4 colors: a light yellow,

a light umber, an orange, and a burnt umber.

It is fun for me to try to figure it all out...and I

love a challenge!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Gardens on my Mind

I just heard from the annual Le Jardins Garden Tour

that is held in Shreveport every spring.  They would like

me to paint in the gardens again this year.  I told them I

would love to.  And I just finished ordering the flower

bulbs above to plant now, so I will have some blooming

flowers in the backyard later this year.  I love irises

and agapanthus, so hopefully some of these will thrive

and bloom.  In the meantime, I am enjoying a day off,

by the fire, on a blustery, chilly January day. 

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Le Jardin Garden Tour

Shreveport, Louisiana  May 5 & 6, 2012

Tiger Progress

I am making a little progress on this tiger

drawing...will keep going.

Happy New Year to all!

sheltongail@hotmail.com