Saturday, October 10

Saturday is Chocolate Walk in downtown Lititz
I thought I would open the Studio so you can see some SWEET paintings!!

Saturday, October 10
Open from 10am to 5pm
at 4 N Spruce St. Lititz

Stop in, pull up a chair and watch me paint.
Chit-chat and questions are always welcome!
There is a huge selection of prints and originals.

2026 Sunflower #5

$145 (unframed) 4x6" mini original watercolor
Available to the 1st person to email
(framing 8x10". $35 - shipping available at cost)
If unsold by 10/9 the price goes to $225.

A clients wall of mini originals! 
I always like seeing how clients hang my paintings.

Annual Open House countdown: 43 days, sound like a lot of time, but the "to do" list is LOOOONG!  I picked up a load of larger frames.  There is a pile of framing scheduled for Friday.  Today we proofed the new Holiday prints. Discussed postage with the printer.   Ordered 100 frames for the Holiday prints.  Linda and Stacy cut down mat board for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, I have been drying out ALL the tarps and tents from the weekend rain.  Hosed off the rug. And I am working on my commission, had to have something approved before I could continue.  I got the OK!  Kinetic (our house phone company) was here to talk to our carpenter about running fiber in our crawl space. Something about conduit to run the lines and the cable lines through.   The iron maker was here to do a railing repair, the electrician has been here twice to fix an outlet  problem. Which meant we had to empty and move a large heavy hutch so he could get at it.   While everything was off, might as well clean it all...  The furnace cleaner person is coming back tomorrow to finish the job.  We had a chimney cap put on, had to be custom made because of the size.  I don't think there is room in the house for one more workman!  AND, none of it is anything nice or fun that anyone would even notice!  It has been a hectic few days.

2026 Landscape #13

$145 (unframed) 6x4" mini original watercolor
Available to the 1st person to email
(framing 10x8"  $35 - shipping available at cost)
If unsold by 10/8 the price goes to $225.

I have a "thing" for sheep lately.
Over the weekend I also finished this one...

2026 A Shepherds Moon 
framed 14x18       $850.00

2026 Sunflower #4 and more...

$225.

I am still working on Sunflowers...

________________________________
There is so much going on...

Another painting ready for my Open House:

Isle of Skye     framed 19x25"        $2000.



Annual Open House countdown:
Invites are designed and approved and ready to print!
More supplies have arrived.  Two more large piles of matts were cut.


Packing for:
2026 Waterford Fair
October 2, 3 & 4 from 10am to 5pm
Held in Historic Waterford, VA
My space is outside the Old School (up the hill!)
rain or shine!
discount tickets & info at: www.waterfordfairva.org

And most important...my boot is OFF.  Toe is healed, finally.  It felt like a very long 8 weeks.  I plan to go back to some PT to get my balance and strength back after I get back home from the Waterford show.  Will need a shoe insert to help with my neuropathy toes (due to chemo).  But my boot is OFF!

2026 Sunflower #3

SOLD!  $145 (unframed) 4x6" mini original watercolor
Available to the 1st person to email
(framing 8x10". $35 - shipping available at cost)
If unsold by 9/26 the price goes to $225.

Another sunflower...

2026 Sunflower #2

 
SOLD!  $145 (unframed) 4x6" mini original watercolor
Available to the 1st person to email
(framing 8x10". $35 - shipping available at cost)
If unsold by 9/25 the price goes to $225.

Sunflowers!  It is that time of year.

I am trying to balance a new commission (it is a surprise so I cannot show it), paintings for my Annual Open House (November 20-22)  and the occasional blog painting!

AND still squeeze in a few shows.  Waterford is a gem...

2026 Waterford Fair
October 2, 3 & 4 from 10am to 5pm
Held in Historic Waterford, VA
My space is outside the Old School (up the hill!)
rain or shine!
discount tickets & info at: www.waterfordfairva.org

Commission Finished!

My commission is finished, framed and my client is thrilled and already has it hung! 
I totally enjoyed this painting, there is so much to see in it and I love how it looks.

Annual Open House countdown:
Open House is 58 days away and that sounds like plenty of time! But it goes by fast. My job is to paint, paint and paint some more! Linda handles the rest and she is ORGANIZED! There is a long list hanging on her board with things to do by certain dates.
Already accomplished:
1. We have been to the printer for the design of the invitation.
2. We decided NOT to do a large print this year. This will be the first year not doing one, but we
are looking ahead to cutting back on shows and already have a wonderful selection of prints available. HOWEVER there are 2 Holiday Mini Prints and I am excited about them. They are at the printer now!
3. Huge amounts of mat cutting and framing to boost stock is happening.
4. Supplies roll in daily. I just picked up a pile of frames.
5. The menu is together and I was informed we are trying something different this year.
She did a dry run on two items. Both passed the test!
So we are on schedule!  

Save the date: Nov. 20-22 ANNUAL OPEN HOUSE
                       Nov. 27-29 Open Studio

Magnolia and commission update:

I took 2nd place in watercolor over the weekend for body of work!

I finished a painting:

2026 Magnolia      10X10 frame            $400.

AND, more work on my commission.
Washes on the porch ceiling and roof lines.  Detail on the farms in the background and on the grass on the foreground.  May not look like a lot but that little bit was hours of painting!

reminiscing...

 Somethings you just remember.    On September 11, 2001 we were having breakfast at the Chimney Corner Restaurant with friends James and Sandy Bock.  The TV was on in the dining room and we could not understand what we were seeing.  We went home and were shocked and glued to our TV for days.  

25 years has brought so many changes.  I long for the feeling of togetherness in the US.  I miss the ease of flying and traveling.  That old restaurant, Chimney Corner on Rothsville Road in Lititz is no longer there. Our good friend James is no longer with us.  AND 25 years has slipped by in a blink...

Back to my commission...

I think it is good to be away from a painting for a bit.  When I pick it up again I have a fresh perspective and see things a bit differently.  

I am playing at stone masonry!  Building the column a stone at a time.
Light washes and then building the colors.

I added a lot more detail to the 1st column stones .

Started the underpainting wash on the 2nd column and roofline.




I now added a wash over the wood on the 1st column.
A warm wash over the wood on the 2nd column.
Stonework on the 2nd column.


I can "see" how it will look when I am finished and I am getting close to the end!