Eastern Shore Back Road...

6" x 4" original watercolor
contact: andy@andysmithartist.com

Monday, on our way home from the art show we took
Rt 13 home from Portsmouth,VA. We spent the day
dipping in and out of the small towns along the Eastern
Shore of VA. This is the view of a back road leading to
the fishing village of Oyster.

I started my day with a great early morning bike ride.
Then spent the morning helping Linda frame. The
afternoon was spent replacing a tire on the camper and
then packing the van. My evening was spent watching
Obama's speech and painting my blog. The plan is to
leave around noon tomorrow and camp so we can get
up early for the show on Saturday. Its only a one day
show so we are home the rest of the holiday which is nice.
As you may remember, I was not juried into the local Long's
Park show... but do not remind Linda, she gets a little cranky
about it!

The show: Saturday, Sept. 30
Seaside Park Art & Craft Show
Held on the Boro Hall Lawn
6th & Central Ave. Seaside Park, NJ
10am-4PM FREE!!
This is a pretty crafty show featuring good art!

Window Study #14

5" x 5" original watercolor
SOLD

Almost monochromatic...
but then I added an orange pumpkin.

My week is flying by...
I had my Men's prayer breakfast at 6:30 AM
then I needed to mow the lawn. Next I tinkered
with my bike which needed a little attention.
Then came a few hours of painting and now its 9PM
and Linda has a list of glass I need to cut so she can
get framing done tomorrow.

Window Study #13

6" x 4" original watercolor
SOLD

Household items on shelves are being featured today.
I especially enjoyed working on the piece of glass
in front of the window.

The cleaning out the studio is over and there are
no old paintings laying around! Thank you to all
who bid but I could tell some of you had lots of fun.
Now I am back to the regular blog paintings. While
they are small they have all the detail of a full painting
and still take me 4-6 hours to paint.

I had another pretty good weekend, not super but OK.
Weather was perfect, it was full but not packed. We took
Monday to do a little photo taking of Olde Towne Portsmouth,
and then took our time driving home using Rt 13.
We stopped in several little Eastern Shore towns
looking for inspiration. We got home late Monday night.
While it was worth it, being away 4 days makes today
a bit hectic. Linda had lots at her desk to catch up and
I had to unpack the van and paintings. Ran a few errands
and we went to yoga. My Mom slid off the bed again
this morning and did not use her life alert button. I
found her on the floor. She did not hurt herself which is
a miracle. I am not sure what we are going to do...

Thursday check in

I am not getting any painting done. Rashetta was here
visiting for three days, she left at 8:30pm last night.
I had framing and shipping that had to be done. Pack the
van. Run to the library, bank and store, get the oil changed
in the van and I took a few moments to wash it. I have a
blog with some paint on it but there is not enough time
to get it finished. We leave tomorrow morning for
Portsmouth Virginia.

the show: August 23-24
Seawall Art Show
held in Olde Towne at High Street Landing
Space #56 on Water Street
Sat 10-6 Sun. 10-5 FREE
www.seawallartshow.org

Glass Jar Study

4" x 6" original watercolor
SOLD

This is a study for a new painting. I wanted
to practice the clear glass against a painted
white background. This helped me work out
the problems before starting the big one.


Here is the
drawing for
my next painting.
24x18"
All clear glass!

I am ready
to start
painting.


You probably noticed I missed blogging on Monday.
I had to get up early and drive to MD to pick up
Rashetta. Rashetta came to us when she was 7 years
old as a fresh air kid from Queens, NY. After the first summer
she came every year for the whole summer and we
managed to add holidays. Now she is 24, put herself
through college and has landed a good job with Intel and
is living in CA. We are very proud of her.
She is home for a short visit.

Rashetta
and a
proud Dad.





Man I love when my girls come home, Linda
does the Mom thing and cooks up a storm.
Every favorite food gets whipped up and I eat
like a king!! I did manage to paint today.

Friday update...

After having good intentions of painting a blog
piece everyday this week I realized it was not
possible. Yesterday I had some errands in the
morning and then had to pack the van. Somehow
the whole day just disappeared. Today, Linda
and I finished the last class of my Artist in
Residence. I had a great time. I was able to
spend the whole time painting plus collect a
little check.

After class we went to Mount Gretna, PA to
set up for the weekend show. I thought I
would enlighten you a bit about setting up
since I do not have a painting to show. The
good thing is the show is close to home, saving
gas and we sleep in our own bed each night.
But the hard part is, this show is one of my
hardest to do. The grounds are hilly and
you cannot park anywhere near your space.
No driving onto the grounds. This means 285
vans are looking for a parking space. You must
use a dolly or carry over uneven terrain...
pushing all my equipment and paintings quite
a distance.


Lots of trips
back and
forth!

Next comes laying out our new green rug
and then putting together two sets of tents
I have a double space, I think it helps to be
able to spread out.

One tent is up
and my lovely
assistant is
working on
the second...


There are sides to put up in case of rain.
Here is a photo of my new banner.


Love seeing
my name
in print!




New rug, new banner, new box for the prints.
Linda is trying to upscale the display.
Next I need to get the display racks off the
roof of my van.

This is why
I do my
sit ups
everyday!

Linda planned on 18 panels...remember I
am carrying them...a good distance!
So 4 hours later we are finished. The paintings
are covered and will be hung in the morning.
I never leave my work hung overnight. With
watercolors the paper soaks up moisture.
Don't even think about sneaking in and helping
yourself to an Andy Smith original. The booth is
secure and security is tight. Tomorrow I will
take a finished display photo for you, or
better yet, you come out to the show and
see it for yourself!

The show: Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show
August 16 & 17
Saturday 9am-6pm and Sunday 9am-5pm
My space is B234
This is a nice quality show, nice mix of work.
admission charged
http://www.mtgretnaarts.com/

Yellowstone's Lower Falls

4" x 6" original watercolor
SOLD

This is a view of Yellowstone's Lower Falls,
from Artists Point. An almost unimaginably
beautiful gorge. I choose it because of the
vastness and the colors of the rock walls that
line the sides of the river.
This area totally took my breath away.
Another "Tribute To a Beautiful Earth"

I had my day planned... Which reminds me I am not in
control. I started my morning with my men's prayer
group. Next came a comedy of errors... I somehow
spilled my whole bottle of perscription eyedrops. So I
called to order a new bottle, and of course I needed a new
perscription. Next I called the eye doctor and there was
no doctor on duty. I had to wait until the only one working
came out of surgery. So I went on my merry way to my
Artist in Residence program for three hours. That went well,
I had another full house. I was finished at noon and went for
a desperately needed haircut. I go to Champs in Lancaster,
they are a barber school, my usual guy was not there. I had
a young man who was deaf and I had to try to communicate
what style I wanted. It got down to "clip it all off"! He was a
bit rough with the clippers! I am finished and go to put on my
glasses and they are broken. This of course is my only pair since
ages ago I lost my spare pair on a bike ride. Now I am going back
to the eye doctor to get another perscription...
So now I need a trip to the mall, but needed to run home and pick
up Linda because I evidently need help picking glasses that look good.
I found a cool red pair... which I am gently reminded is why I needed help.
I now have a pretty stylin new pair of glasses and am several hundred
dollars poorer. I am back home and to be on the safe side I think I
should just head to bed!

Old Faithful

6" x 4" original watercolor
contact: andy@andysmithartist.com

I am back! I belong to the Daily Painters
Art Gallery and they requested we paint
"A Tribute To a Beautiful Earth" during August.
One of the most outstanding places I have visited
was Yellowstone. That is my painting choice today.
This view was from the back of Old Faithful looking
towards the Lodge. Steam is blocking the view
but if you have been lucky enough to visit here your
minds eye will fill in the background.
A truly inspiring piece of Earth!

I must have done a decent job as Artist in Residence
last week because the number of admirers doubled
today. I packed the room with 25! Here is the finished
painting from last week. If you follow the blog you
will remember I already painted two parts of this as a
study. Reference 7/29 and 7/17. This will be framed
in 24x18. Still untitled...any suggestions?

Today's subject was painting still life. I started with a
blank paper and they were able to watch the drawing
and the early washes while I answered questions.











I was back home by 1PM and did a bit of special order
framing and then painted the blog. Its almost 11pm and
I am just finishing. Long day, I got up at 5AM to ride
my bike... I am ready for bed.

Sunday check in

It was a busy weekend here. The kids got in
around 10PM on Friday. Linda stayed up with
them till 1:30 but I had to get to bed because I
was showing on Saturday. I had a pretty good
sales day and the weather was great. Sunday
we had our family engagement brunch. We had
a wonderful time, we all get along very well.
Here is a photo
of the happy couple
taken in the wine
cellar at
Olde Greenfield Inn.




Abbey and Ben

We spent the rest of our evening framing. I
finally have my suite of 4 landscapes finished.
I wanted to show you the gold frames but the
photo job is not great. They really should be
seen in person. They are vibrant!
But it will give you a general idea.
Framed in a gold 20x24" moulding that is 2 1/2"
wide with a 3" double white mat.

This last photo looks yellow but the mat is
white. The frame looks like gold on this one.
Remember I am a painter not a photographer!
They will be listed on my website under "Originals"


This week I have the Artist in Residence on
Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Plus get
ready for the Mount Gretna Art Show on the
weekend. I will attempt to get back to a blog
painting daily. Linda put the last "cleaning out
the studio" paintings on eBay tonight so I need
to get back to painting blogs.

Thursday check in

As you noticed I have not been painting a blog piece
all week. But I am working... hard!
Wednesday I took my Mom to the hairdresser; an all morning
affair. From noon till late evening I painted. I worked on
the final painting in my landscape series. Be patient, I will
share them with you soon. The new gold frames should be
here tomorrow. I am pretty excited.

Today, I returned to my "Artist in Residence" gig. Life as
as artist was the topic and I demonstrated from 9-12.





Wowing the ladies
with my
technique!



You can see progress with the painting...
click over photo to enlarge. Notice the
peeling paint, very well handled if I say so myself!











The tape around the painting is a little
distracting but I do not pull it off until I
am finished. I have about two more
hours of work on this but it is coming
along very well. The image size is 19x13".
It is 8pm and I am still at my paint table!

Tomorrow I set up in the park for the HUGE
Lititz craft show which is on Saturday. 900
spaces! You can find me in the park near the
parking lot. Abbey and Ben are coming home
to celebrate their engagement, so I am sure I
will not get much help from Linda on Saturday!
The kids and parents are doing a Sunday Brunch
together which will be very nice. They are going to
present their wedding plans. Should be interesting.
So get on eBay and start bidding...
I have a wedding to pay for!!

Tuesday check in...

Again I did not work on a blog painting but I am
painting! I spent several hours at Willow Valley
this morning as their "artist in residence". I chatted
about my style of painting while I worked on the window
painting I said I wanted to start. I had the drawing
ready so I was able to start layering washes of paint.
I return on Thursday so I will finish it then.

Here they are
watching my every
brush stroke! You
better be pretty
confident in your
skills to have this
group watch over
your shoulder!
Click the photo's to enlarge.

I think I do a good job teaching and am always looking for
places to lecture or demonstrate (for a small fee!). I am
willing to travel if the price is right. So feel free to share
my info with any art leagues you are connected with.

When I returned home I started the last landscape in my
series, I painted that until 5:00 dinner. Then we had Yoga
class and now that I am all limber I may paint a bit more.

Linda added a few more "housecleaning" paintings to
eBay so make sure you check them out.

Monday check in

No blog painting today, I need a few days to complete
my series of four landscape paintings I want to have
ready in time for the Mount Gretna Art Show. Three
are completed and I will start the last one tomorrow.
You will get to see them when they are framed. This
is my new series in gold frames, I am pretty excited.

Meanwhile, Linda is still adding other originals to eBay.
We are talking housecleaning prices so check it out!
Click here to see a listing: eBay

I am starting an Artist in Residence Program at Willow Valley
Retirement Community tomorrow morning. You need
to live in any of the WV homes to attend, it is free and
held in the Cultural Center Art Studio from 9-12.

Watercolor Classes at my studio will start in September.
Tuesdays: Sept. 9, 16, 23 & 30
Mornings from 9:30 to 11:30AM or...
Evenings from 7 to 9PM
Set of 4 classes held at the studio ~ $60.00
Call or email to sign up!

Our other great news is our daughter, Abbey became engaged
to Ben over the weekend! We are very excited. They will
be home this weekend so we can see the ring and get the
details. Ben did everything just right, he called and asked our
blessing, he bought what I hear is a beautiful rock, he went
down on bended knee and made Abbey, and us very happy.