The Art of Cooking part 2



Hard at work, and concentrating!

Showing off their fruit creations

yummy....

raw materials

proud plate

enjoying the "fruits" of their labor!

Chef Jessica

All of the cooks

We had our second cooking class today at the Pea Patch.  These young chefs
made some fruit cup treats, their own pancake batter and pancakes with
blueberry syrup, and sausage.  It was a breakfast brunch theme today,
and Mrs. Carolyn Lang did a great job teaching and supervising the
cooks in the kitchen.  My great niece is still here, and she got to join
in the fun too.  I just watched all the activity, but I did get a little
taste of some of their finished creations...thumbs up!

We will try to keep everyone posted about upcoming classes for
kids.  We have several more in the works.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Gift Book



As most of you know, I do a travel sketchbook on most

of my trips.  I thought it would be cool to do one for my

great niece, Jessica, while she is staying with me for 10 days.

We spent the first four days in New Orleans, and these are

some of the pages.  We ate at Cafe du Monde, took a French

Quarter carriage ride, dined at Cafe Adelaide, and went to

the Aquarium.  I am continuing to work on the book, and

will post when I can.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Watercolor World

Watercolor Class July 11th

We had our little beginner watercolor class today in the studio.  Here are
the artists with their finished paintings.  They learned the basic watercolor
techniques, and then practiced them.  Then they painted this landscape,
one stage at a time along with me.  They used all of the techniques that
they had practiced to complete their painting.  We all had a good time,
and I think the students learned a lot!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Art Show and Sundown

Our first entry for the Anniversary Student Show...Carrie Brazzell

 late afternoon in the woods today

We are still planning to celebrate our 20th anniversary at the gallery
with a student art show in August and September.  The top photo is
the first entry that I have received...from my former student, Carrie Brazzell.
The other two photos are from around the house this afternoon.  I
love the late afternoon...it is my favorite time of day.  My great
niece is still visiting, and we drove around the pasture today just
for fun.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Swamp Tour Extravaganza



All smiles before the Swamp Tour



Away we go!

A Shrimp boat along the bayou

Our first gator sighting...just a small one

A blue heron along the way

Our guide started feeding them marshmallows!  in the rain!

And this is "El Whoppo"...a 14 footer that they guide found for us to see

He is eating hot dogs!

Aaaahhh!!

This is the other boat on the tour beside us

And this is "Black Jaw"...another huge gator that came up to the boat
when the guide called to him, and offered the hot dog on a stick!

Wow, what fun on the swamp tour!  We all survived! and saw some

great alligator action.  We used the Honey Island Swamp tours, and

our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly.  There were lots of us

on the boat, about 25 people or so...all ages and from all over.  It rained

for a little while, but then cleared up.  We got to see quite a show as the

gators came out of the water to reach the dangling hot dogs.  Jessica

will never forget it!  Just one more true "Louisiana" experience.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Aquarium Antics

We also enjoyed the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas

while we have been down here in New Orleans.  We saw

all kinds of  God's amazing creatures: from seahorses to

jelly fish, sharks to sea turtles, sting rays to lobsters.  They

have a super facility...lots of kid friendly exhibits and some

hands on activities.  We all really enjoyed it...our next

adventure...the swamp tour!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Doing the Zoo

Up close with a 22 year old tortoise

You always wonder what they think of us...?

hum.....

We loved watching him swim...happy!

We did the Audubon zoo yesterday as well.  It is a great zoo with lots
of unusual animals.  Here are just a few of our favorites.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Beignets and a Band

Cafe DuMonde's famous, delicious beignets...yum

There is a famous photograph of the waiters at the
cafe all reading the newspaper...times have changed!

Me and the band on Jackson Square

This man has been playing tuba there for years...I have drawn
him several times!

We are still down in New Orleans.  I am entertaining (I mean
babysitting! ) my great niece for the next week.  We are having
a great time showing her some Louisiana life down here. 
She will also get to see Winnfield as well (wow). 
Anyway, we started the day yesterday with Cafe Du Monde
and beignets (fried donuts + powdered sugar).  And then
we took a stroll through the square where she took my
pic with the street musicians.  fun.  Check out the
guy's tuba...reckon it has seen some hard times?!
Perhaps it survived Katrina...certainly looks like it!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Window Shopping

A streetcar on Canal

Saks 5th

yum


I am down in New Orleans for a couple of days...will try to post a few touristy photos!

sheltongail@hotmail.coim

Window on Paris

An old window...just waiting to become a "work of art"!

The finished window with a view of the Eiffel Tower


I was home all day today, so I had time to work on a project.  I have a collection
of these old windows.  I try to buy them whenever I can.  This one is rather
large: 23 x 38  I thought this photo of Paris would fit nicely into it.  So, I
enlarged the photo on the computer, and then divided it into 8 equal pieces.
I printed them out, and then glued them in place onto the glass. 
I sealed the whole thing, and will add a hanger tomorrow. 

I have another window this size, and I am going to do the
Arch de Triompe in it.  I'm working on it now...will post
when finished.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Peru Travel Journal

Click here to view this photo book larger

I have finished this digital copy of my Peru sketchbook.  You can

flip through the pages here, and check it out.  I will be placing an

order for them...you can let me know by July 15th if you would

like one.  They are $75.00 a copy plus shipping ($8.00).  Thanks!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Mercy and Hope...Enduring and Rising



Mercy endures

Hope rises

I finished up these two canvas prints.  I have used the photos that I took of
the thistle and the nautillus shell.  I added the text on them and made
them black and white.  I would like to do a couple more along this line...
I am still looking for circular objects (beside flowers). 

I am almost finished with the digital copy of the Peru sketchbook as well.
I need to add a few more pages and do some tweaking.  I will post
when it is available...if you went on the trip/ you may want one. 
If you just love Peru and would like to have a book of photos and
paintings...then it's for you too!

sheltongail@hotmail.com