Saturday, April 30, 2016

Marshall, North Carolina Strolling

Today we went to Marshall, NC to look around. It is a very small mountain town (with the closest Wells Fargo Bank, which was why we visited the first time). We liked the place! There are several eateries, a junk store that is called the Junk Store, and an art gallery, with crafts and art, and art center, and one or two antique shops, and hardware stores. The entire downtown is probably three or four blocks total.

Today we visited with a lady in one of the hardware stores. She was a hoot. She had the perfect accent, so we weren't surprised when she shared the store was her Dad's and he'd had it for years and years, which meant she was home. She teased us about just looking around the big town of Marshall. Loved to hear her talk.

They had supplies for bee keepers, which was good for my husband to know as he's going to have a hive again. He's had one before but lost his bees. There aren't many places near by that sell what he needs. They also had Red Wing shoes! My father always wore those because he could get the extra wide width he needed! There was a pair of shoes on display exactly like the ones he wore! Made me miss him. He went to "Heaven a Shoutin'" as the song says, in 2000.

As we were leaving the hardware store, and we heard the lady ask a couple, "So, you're just strolling through Marshall today?"
They said yes and our clerk asked where they were from.
"We're here from Sweden. And, we came here because we heard about your store."
Toooo clever and cute. Of course our delightful clerk loved them!


I took pictures on my phone our first visit to Marshall. And, this is the only one that I have now. Trying to transfer my photos from my phone to the computer, I lost 'em! Very aggravating, since I have about 10 duplicates of stuff I should have deleted!

To me this looks like an ocean scene, with mountains and a cloudy sky. When I saw it from a distance I thought it was a mural, done deliberately. It was not. It's just a wall that the stucco had fallen off of or been scraped off for some reason and patched!
(I am easily amused you see.)

Our first visit we ate at a little restaurant there. We ordered a pizza, half with no cheese (I can't eat cheese, darn it). The lady said she would split the dough, make one regular pizza, and for me she'd make a calzone with everything but the cheese! That was delicious! The woman was the owner, waitress, cashier and cook! She was good at all of it!

So, if you are anywhere near the tiny town of Marshall, in Madison County of western NC, visit. It's an interesting place, it even has an Island!

Pet Portraits - Next Endeavor This Beautiful Spring!

While wintering in a warmer climate an oportunity to do a pet portrait for a nice lady presented itself.
The photo sent for me to go by. 
As you can see, one pose Asia has her long hair, 
and the other she's been had a trim! 
My watercolor painting of each pose.


 The robin painting, also in watercolors, is for the same lady. 
Her grandmother loved robins so she asked me to paint one.
She said loves it and can remember her grandma 
every time she looks at the painting.


To practice the pet portraits, I'm planning to paint my two daughters doggies.
Of course, I'll be posting them as they are finished.
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It's a beautifully sunny day right now here in the mountains of Tennessee, but it's supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow. We will have even more beautiful flowers I betcha!
 
First Iris to bloom this year, and the first year the snowball bush has had blooms! It is indeed a beautiful spring up on the mountain!


Thursday, April 28, 2016

My Art & Shows 2016

Happy Spring!
It's a good day to begin blogging
and make art once more.

For the last couple of years my creative energy has gone into making quilts and throws for friends and family. It was great fun and I'll share some pictures and talk about, why sewing took over nearly all of my creative time, in a future post.

"A Study of Quilting"
Watercolor Painting

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At the beginning of the year I was involved with a Thursday morning art group in Friendly Acres RV Park. The pictures below were the works from the couple of months I attended the sessions. They were in a group show we had towards the end of our meetings. The little blue bird sold.  I'll post larger pictures at the end of this post.

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Before leaving our winter home I was fortunate to be included in another art show the Desert Artists had in an old church building, Saint Paul's, in the downtown of the small town where we spend the winters.





There were about a dozen artists in this show. The building was a bit rough looking and a lot dusty. The owner was on site that day. She explained she was having to replace the roof and so had scraped out as much as she could because demo had begun the week before our show. A bit odd, but the show drew a few folks and each artist sold at least one piece. My "Tea and Cookies" sold!

The little lady on the right in this last photo has been in the Desert Artists for some years. She ran a gallery, as I did when I lived in this town, for several years. At this show she and I were talking. She shared her age with me. She is 93! The show was several hours in this chilly building and she was fresher at the end of it all than any of the rest of us. So, don't count folks out because of their ages. Some folks never stop enjoying their lives and do all they can until God calls them home! Norma here, is one of them, and I'm planning to follow her example!
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The Art
each piece was done in some combination of
pencil ~ watercolor pencil ~ watercolors ~ ink pen










Prints are available of any image for $10.00 plus postage - $4.00.
Originals of all except the Blue Bird and Tea and Cookies are available.
Most images are approximately 5 x 7 and are framed in simple black frames with wide white matts. Those are $40.00 plus shipping - $10.00 (includes the container and cost to mail) or unframed $30.0 plus postage - $4.00.
The Swan on a Golden Pond, Polar Bear Mama & Cub, Island Girl and Flowers in an Emosssed Vase are all approximately 8 x 10 and are framed as well.
They are $60.00 plus shipping - $10.00 or unframed $50.00 plus postage - $4.00.

If you are interested in any of my art please leave me a message. You can find me on Facebook and send me a message as well.

I will be doing more art similar to these, which will also be posted on this blog. Please come back often to see the new work. My current plan, which I am excited about doing, is a series of swan pictures. 


Janet Toney