Christmas Portraits

I have started working on portraits for Christmas.

This is the first one...it is still in progress. Will have

to tweak it a little more.

These drawings are very reasonable, and can be

done in time for Christmas from your photo.

for info on Children's portraits (and pets or houses)

email me:

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Sundown Reflections

I have loved watching the sun set for most of my

life. It is always such a peaceful time, and a time

for reflection on the events of the day. This

was the sunset from my back porch this evening.

One of the reasons I love to see the sun set, is I

believe I am one day closer to Heaven. I have some

very special people waiting for me there, and I look

forward to seeing them, especially during this time

of the year. Our youngest daughter, Hillary, died on

Thanksgiving day 20 years ago this year. And

every sunset brings me that much closer to that

happy reunion. A lot to be thankful for...

sheltongail@hotmail.com

A coffee Monday

I am at the shop, and we are all dragging today...

it is a dreary, cold Monday, and we all need some

coffee!!

An "Open House" Invitation

My Sunshine's gifts and Cyndi's cute pink and green stuff

Caroling quartet from FBC

favorite things in "Favorite Things" booth

A Bitz of Glitz...Jodie's jewelry

Uniquely Yours decorative accents

Raelene Pell's photography

Monday's Child booth with lots of toys

some adorable sock monkeys and friends

More watercolors and our mercury glass tree

Some of the Paris artwork in the gallery

Our country French tree, with lavender sachet ornaments

Christmas Open House 2009 has come and gone! It was

Thursday night, from 5-9, and 13 downtown businesses

were open, decked out, and ready to start the season.

We had a great time at the Pea Patch. I tried to take

a photo in each booth: I have 9 dealers in my building,

each with their own unique merchandise to offer.

We served our peas and cornbread in the cafe, along

with some samples of jalapeno jelly, "reindeer food",

and chow chow. If any of you would like a detailed

description of any of these, just leave a comment, and

I will fill you in! We had a huge crowd, and everyone

seemed to have a wonderful time.

The shop is open Monday-Friday from 10-5, and we

serve lunch from 11-2. We are open Saturdays from

10-3 (no lunch on Sat). Come and see all we have to

offer, and get a jump on your Christmas shopping!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Lake Claiborne

One of my missions today was to get some fall

photos for some of my scripture prints. Lake

Claiborne was my first stop. It is west of Ruston

Louisiana, and there is a very nice state park there.

It was literally deserted...a few boat trailers were

parked. I guess the fishermen were already out

on the water. It was very peaceful and beautiful.

There was some color in the leaves, and these are

a couple of my favorites from the morning photo

shoot. It's a tough job...

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Murals of the Day

It was a beautiful fall day today, and I took to the

road. I left early this morning, and drove north.

I stopped at Lake Claiborne, then Magnolia,

Camden, and finally El Dorado, all in Arkansas.

These wonderful murals were in Magnolia and

Camden. I always admire murals; I have no concept

of what it must take to paint one. The scale of the

whole thing would boggle me, let alone the logistics

of ladders and scaffolds, weather and wind, bugs

and onlookers. Our little town contacted an artist

one time, and he wanted $50,000 to do one...

maybe I need to look into it!!

Fall Out

I snuck away today...down the road to the town of

Winnsboro. They were having a 25 mile garage sale,

and I wanted to check it out. I also wanted to see some

pretty Fall foliage. I found some...along some of the

swampy areas on the way.

I didn't find much at the garage sale..but I didn't get

to go far. Winnsboro is a nice little town, very clean.

I enjoyed my short time away.

I am sneaking off tomorrow as well. I think I will make

a round up into Arkansas, and check out the foliage, and

shop for some antiques. Should be nice...

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Celebrate...dance to the Music

These are some of my happy family members at

the wedding. It was so much fun to see everyone

else having so much fun! I will post some more.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Painted Invitation

I finally got around to painting Hannah's wedding

invitation. One of my dearest friends wanted to

give it to her, and I will frame it also. I decided to

do it in autumn colors, instead of the wedding

colors. I figured they will have lots of wedding

photos in their home with all that purple, so this

will be a little different.

If you have received an invitation, and would like

for me to turn it into a hand-painted gift, please

let me know. I only charge $20, and can do any

flower or color scheme. Or if you have an old one

from a special wedding, I can do it as an anniversary

present, etc.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Painted Wedding Invitation $20

Monet Bridge Collage

I finished this large photo collage tonight of Monet's garden.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Monet Bridge Collage $250.00 24 x 36

600 Post Give-Away.. and the winner is...

600 posts...wow! I know these look wierd; they are

greeting cards before being folded...these are just two

of many I am printing up for the Paris show. I had

decided to do a give-away of one of the cards (they are

5 x 7, printed on art card stock, and frameable). And

I drew a name from the followers, and Brian Hindelang

is the winner!! So, Brian or Karen, you can let me know

which card you would like. I can print any one of the

photographs or even one of the paintings on the card.

Thanks for being a loyal follower! I appreciate your

support.

shcltongail@ hotmail.com

"Let Them Eat Cake"

Here's to Cake!! The classically beautiful white

traditional bride's cake: white cake with toasted

almond frosting; and the wonderful LSU groom's

cake: chocolate through and through. yummy!

Let's Dance

I heard a statement this week about the act of dance:

that it enables "joy rising" in us. I felt an overwhelming

sense of joy as I watched my beautiful daughter dance in

the arms of her new husband. I hope it will be a precious

memory for her and our guests that night, and that joy

will continue to rise in their lives together.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

At Last...some Wedding pics

When you are used to taking all the pictures, it is a

different situation when you have to BE in the picture.

So, you have to wait for someone else to get the shot.

My brother in law, sent me some of these wedding

shots, and I will start to post some now. Thanks, Mark.

There is one of the happy couple with the two of us.

Then there is my whole side of the family, a lot of

Hindelangs. And that is Hannah with her Winnfield

cousins, and her grandfather. These are just a few.

I will put up some more.

Stay tuned...

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Black-Eyed Peas

Speaking of trick-or-treat, here we are at the Pea Patch

today...the "black-eyed p's"...ha ha. Happy Halloween!!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Soggy...

If you have watched any weather this week, you know that

we in Louisiana are getting more rain...It rained 23 out of 30

days in September, and the first 11 days of October. We had

a couple of days of sunshine, and now it is flooding everywhere.

They called off school today, and the Courthouse is closed;

mainly because our rural roads flood, and the school buses and

employees can't get home.

We probably will have some soggy trick-or-treaters!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Turn, Turn, Turn

Awhile back I did a post about my wind sculpture that

was installed right before the grand wedding reception

at our home. It finally quit raining long enough for me

to get a photo!

This copper whirligig turns gently in the breeze, and

forms different patterns as it turns. I purchased it in

Santa Fe from the Wiford Gallery on Canyon Road.

The artist is Lyman Whitaker, and you can check out

a lot of his work on the gallery website. They will

even ship it to you (which is what they did for me).

If I had a video camera, and knew how to do any of that,

I could show you how it turns. But you will just have to

use your imagination, or come visit!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Next Giveaway...Free Photo Card

I am here dreaming of warmer, spring days spent in

Paris and Giverny...this is Monet's home. It is really

cold, wet, and dreary outside; I am ready for the rain

to stop.

I am working on making cards of lots of my Paris photos:

some of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc, Notre Dame, the flower

markets, etc. They will be on sale beginning November 12

(the night of our big Christmas Open House).

I'd like to give some of them away for our next freebie.

I will draw a name from among the followers at the end

of the month, and you will get a free photo card. So, sign up

to be a follower!

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Knock, Knock

I got a wild idea on Saturday at the gallery. We had

just gotten all these old, solid wood doors, salvaged from

an old house. I decided to hang them on the wall of the

gallery, and then hang some of the Paris artwork on them.

I think it turned out really neat. I am not quite through..

I still have to frame a couple of other things to hang in a few

spots. I have some left over, and I would love to paint

on them...like giant solid wooden canvases. we'll see if I have

time. I also want to do something with the glass panels on

those two; a collage on the glass would be fine. will have to

see what I can do.

sheltongail@hotmail.com

Monet Squared

When I was at Giverny, I took lots of photos, but there was

not one single image that I thought captured the spirit of

Monet and his beautiful home and gardens. So I thought I

would combine some of my favorites into a photo montage.

I ended up with two...each with a "french hen" (I know, one

is a rooster) in the middle. The chickens were there in the

garden as well. Anyway, you can see of the great pink and

green house, the gardens and individual flowers, and the

Japapnese gardens and waterlillies. I loved the way they

turned out.

Pair of Monet Montages 12 x 12 unframed $50 each

sheltongail@hotmail.com