Easter Sheep etc

I often have "surprise" emails from friends who send wonderful and even fanciful images of sheep who have come across their paths.  They are sent for "my pleasure" but I am going to share them with you too...just for fun!

These freshly dyed sheep can be found in view of the highway near Bathgate, Scotland. The sheep farmer has been dying his sheep with NONTOXIC dye since 2007 to entertain passing motorists.  HAPPY EASTER!

Some more ...

From a store in France

Close-up

Streets of St. Tropaz

"Sheep Building" in New Zealand

Here is the piece de resistance.  Just recently, someone introduced me to "SHAUN THE SHEEP." It is a British stop-action animated children's television series starring, of course, Shaun, the sheep. 

What a hoot!  Great for kids, grandkids, and the young-at-heart.  For a sample, click on:  Shaun the Sheep - "Ewe've Been Framed"  Just google "Shaun the Sheep" to find other episodes.

Harvey's Farm

I just returned from a trip to Michigan.  It was lambing season and I spent an afternoon with Harvey and his sheep.  I took hundreds of pictures and will have many wonderful images and memories from which to paint.  Harvey had a cute little Lincoln lamb that was 3 weeks old and already posed very nicely.  There was also a set of triplets that were just 3 days old.  So cute!

So stay tuned for the paintings...



Off to a great start...

I got some exciting news that I just have to share! I have sold my first painting at Anne Neilson Fine Art in Charlotte, NC.  Even better...the gallery hasn't even opened yet. Whoohoo! 




THE very first painting sold at ANNE NEILSON FINE ART



L: Anne Neilson, gallery owner, with the collector who bought my painting

R: Elise Bainbridge, Awesome Art Director 

I'm off to Michigan tomorrow.  My trip is definitely going to include a visit to Harvey's Farm.  When I spoke with him several days ago, he reported that now is the perfect time because he has lots of little lambs.  Looks like there'll be more lamb & sheep paintings!  Stay tuned.

Be sure to check out http://anneneilsonfineart.com/

 

The Sequel

Deb's Little Blue Box

Special Delivery from Privas, France

Perhaps you remember my post from New Years Day 2014.  I sat down with a cup of cocoa and opened up the "Little Blue Box" in which I had stored all my tidbits and treasures for the year.  With great excitement, I read notes & emails, records of special happenings, and anything I had deemed noteworthy at the time...  

...Yesterday I got a very special delivery.  It was an envelope from France and its contents were definitely "Little Blue Box" worthy. It was such a wonderful surprise from Claudette. She included a 20-30 year old postcard from Privas with a hand-made onionskin key to the various pictures and locations.  Of special interest was the location of her home which was my great-great grandparents' home.  She sent a postcard of cute little goats and on the back was her own story of taking care of goats when she was a little girl (carefully handwritten and painstakingly translated from French into English).  Most of all, I love the little package of dried "mimosa" with the note that said, "for the small blue Box!"  I have to tell you, it made me cry!

 

 


These are some pictures I took of Claudette's home when we visited her last spring.  Knowing this was our family's homestead many, many years ago, she graciously invited us to visit.  We had a wonderful afternoon with her, her husband, and son.  They gave us a tour, told stories and served a delicious homemade cake with juice and coffee.  It was a special day where some wonderful memories were made.  And now ...the story continues.

Divine Perfection

"A true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection."

-Michelangelo

Yesterday was a bitterly cold day here in Denver.  But the frost on the trees, shrubs, and grasses was just too beautiful to pass up.   So I bundled up in all the clothes I owned and headed out with my camera. An hour and a half later with a cold red nose, stiff fingers, and minus one lost earring, I was rewarded with some lovely images that I'm sure will become future paintings. Please enjoy these 4 examples of "Divine Perfection."   

For Your Pleasure

I have a very special friend (Philippe) from Metz, France who periodically and regularly sends me beautiful photos that he has taken, gifts me with wonderful music, and provides video tours of places I would enjoy just "FOR MY PLEASURE."  And enjoy them all I surely do! They "make my day."  Philippe has a special way of making something extraordinary out of the ordinary.  Here are his latest photos and a link to a tour of the Sistine Chapel.  I am passing them on "for your pleasure too."

CLICK HERE To Take A Tour of the Sistine Chapel

I encourage you to share something of yourselves with others...just for their pleasure.  It is a wonderful gift.  So think outside the box.  It could be a handwritten note, a call, something homemade, something unexpected or undeserved.  It doesn't have to cost.  It just takes a little thought, a little time and some effort.  It's priceless!

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

Ahhh...you thought I was gonna comment on Peyton Manning and our Broncos' play at the Super Bowl.  Nope, not going there.  But I do have something to say about the commercials. The near 50 30-second, $4million commercials included the serious, the bizarre, the movie star endorsement, the off-the-wall, the really?, the I don't get it, the cute, the artsy, and the Ahhhh commercials.  It was most interesting to review the analysis that determined what made for hits or misses.  Budweiser again won the USA TODAY'S Ad Meter for Super Bowl Commercials with "PUPPY LOVE".  Coming in second was Dorito's Kid Dressed as a Cowboy Riding a Big Dog Lassoing a Bag Of Doritos.  Generally speaking, focus groups went for a "KINDER AND GENTLER" genre.  The consensus was that winning ads "touched the depths of my soul."  Often there was no dialog, just music, and great images.

Funny how that "kinder and gentler" phrase keeps showing up.  I think there just might be something to that.  In my own world, I've noticed that those are the paintings that keep flying off my walls.  Good thing is that it feeds my soul too.

"Late Fall"  24x30" Oil on Linen ~ $4800 (w/custom frame)

So here's my latest.  "Late Fall" will be one of 5 paintings going to my new gallery in Charlotte, NC.  Anne Neilson Fine Art is a brand new gallery opening its doors in early May.  I am pleased and excited to be represented by this classy new gallery in the heart of the historic district of Charlotte.  Please check out and visit when you can:  http://anneneilsonfineart.com/