A New Year in the Landscape World

Brewster Farm
20x24 inches
acrylic on wood panella
See my paintings HERE

Thanks to so many for taking advantage of my December sale of small plein air paintings. 20 of those paintings have new happy homes!!

My January Browse Bin Special is in progress HERE through January 31, 2010. These are larger older paintings from my bin. All are 250.00 with free shipping.

This year will be full of activity and full of new work. I am focusing on wonderful trees and our rural lands of north Florida for 2010. I have changed my palette a bit and am tweaking that now. This palette has a more subtle color harmony with more rich grays and color accents for my new year.

I'll be on the road starting March 1st for a series of paint outs around north and central Florida. More about those later.

Happy New Year dear collector friends. I am so grateful for your support and interest in my work.
Love,
Linda

Out and About

Wekiva River
30x30 inches
oil on Birch panel
2000.00
shipping 95.00
Purchase on my web site HERE

I've been home in the studio for a week, so I decided to get out for a drive today with my dog Henry (AKA Studio Dog) We headed out to Evinston, one of my favorite places in the world, about 40 miles from my house. We stopped at the Wood/Swink first, Florida's oldest working post office, to chat with Freddie and Sue, my good friends who own and run the post office and store. It is a wonderful place, here everyone meets to catch up on neighborhood news and to pick up fresh produce from Freddie's gardens. Today I bought a huge head of Romaine Lettuce, just beautiful, along with carrots fresh pulled from the garden,red onions and sweet potatoes. There were rows of beautiful purple cabbages, vine ripe tomatoes and fresh beets there as well. My purchases cost me a hole four dollars!! It is the place for fresh produce in this part of the world.

We made our way down the road to Fair Oaks Farm, a paradise for nature lovers and painters. The color was flabbergasting for me after having been away traveling for over a month. When I left in late February, everything on the farm was brown and rust colored. Today on arrival, it was emerald green, just spectacular!!! I do so love the seasonal changes here in North Florida. Henry and I took a lovely walk around the farm, deciding that it was just too windy to paint today. We will go back tomorrow, hopefully in calmer weather. The pond was an amazing turquoise blue and green and had beautiful purple and white Iris blooming profusely at the edge. What a great time to be there. Thanks to my dear friend Rick for allowing me to enjoy this beautiful farm. I feel so privileged to be there whenever I want to go.

I'm going to roast the lovely carrots I bought at the Wood/Swink tonight,leaving them whole, first coating them in a bit of olive oil, fresh thyme,salt,pepper, the onion I bought, diced,a few slices of ham, and a couple of whole potatoes. I'll put them all in the cast iron skillet in the oven to slow roast, and make a pan of corn bread. Then I'll make a simple salad from the lettuce I bought with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. There is nothing better for dinner than that!! Yummy!!

Restaurant Review

Sunday I spent the day out with my two daughters. We had a lovey day of shopping and then took a break for food at a new restaurant,downtown in Gainesville, Florida. It's right on the corner across from the state attorney's office, and there is a parking lot next to it for great parking. It is called the Big Burger

It is a charming little place with walk-up counter service and take out. The dining room is cute with black and white tiled floors, red topped tables and chairs in the old retro style, and very nice urban and musical themed posters on the walls. It is very clean. The food is very good. The burgers are homemade to order, there is a nice variety on the menu, including about 10 burger combinations in various sizes, salads, vegetarian food,hot dogs, various side orders, and a good Philly Cheese steak and Chicken Philly. The chicken wings are excellent, not greasy at all and they come with a nice variety of toppings. They offer a New York style cheesecake for dessert. What else would you need? The prices are extremely reasonable and they also have a special. I met the owner who was charming and gracious. The staff is friendly and the service is very good. A winner for a small limited menu restaurant.

Big Burger
352.380.0001
21 West University Avenue
Gainesville, Florida 32601
Web Site HERE

Visit Art Studios for Insight into an Artist's Work

North Florida Cattle Ranch
20x24 inches
oil on Birch Panel
Wired and ready to hang, unframed
Sides are painted a neutral color.
Purchase HERE

Do you ever wonder about the process of art? How does an artist come up with the interesting paintings he/she produces? Are you curious about his/her life? What it's like to be a professional artist? Would you like to expose your children to a real artist's work, not just old masters paintings in museums?

The easy solution is to arrange a studio visit with an artist you admire. In fact, many artists enjoy studio visits from patrons and those who are simply curious about real artists.

I welcome and encourage friends and patrons to come to my studio as often as possible. It is home for me, really much more than my real home. It's a cozy old building behind my house. I always get excited about visitors. I make a snack and provide a nice, comfortable atmosphere for them with soft music and all the time in the world for a great visit. I consider my patrons to be true friends and I want to hear all about their children, hobbies, and their dreams, just as they want to hear about mine. I always have the newest work available in the studio, and encourage questions about technique and subjects.

A studio visit is really the best way to get to know an artist and to gain insight about the process of their work. It is much more relaxed than an art opening. Most painters prefer a studio visit to a gallery opening because there is no stress.

You are always welcome to come and visit and there is never pressure at all to purchase.

I have a studio party coming up in two weeks. Please come and enjoy the drive. I live North of Gainesville, eight miles from Alachua and 6 miles from Lacrosse. You will find directions from Gainesville on the contact page of my web site. HERE

Linda's Annual Chili Party
February 7, 2009
Saturday
10 AM - 6 PM

Enjoy a bowl of homemade chili and see my paintings from St Augustine Beach, The Color Fields Series and the Florida Farms and Ranches series.

Don't be afraid to contact and ask for a visit with an artist you admire. They will most likely be delighted and flattered that you wish to meet them. If you don't know how to contact them, the best way would be to do a www.google.com search of their name. If they have a web site, and most professional artists do, you will likely find their email on their web site. That is an easy non-intrusive way to contact them.