I grew up in a very creative family. My father was a Jack-of-all-trades, and our family is full of musicians and artists.  For most of them it was a hobby, though there were a few who were able to make it a profession. I, of course, received the art gene and have been blessed to fulfill my childhood dream of making a living through my art. Many family members of the younger generation have also found ways to express that gene and make art a part of their lives.  Brittany has discovered her inner artist since the start of COVID. …

The Barnicott family just had an amazing weekend at Picklesburgh on the Seventh Street Bridge in downtown Pittsburgh. Maybe it’s because we’re so out of practice, but it seemed like more of a marathon then our typical show. Nevertheless, we were delighted as countless old and new friends stopped by to say hello and to browse and purchase my work. We quickly sold out of a brand new item that I created especially for Picklesburgh – two exclusive Picklesburgh stickers. One was “Pickle Fun in Pittsburgh,” and the other was simply the giant pickle balloon that I painted in “The Pickle is Back!”…

After doing quite a bit of traveling lately, Tom and I stayed home last week, and I pretty much lived at my easel. I can tell I’ve been putting in long hours in the studio because my house is falling apart just a little bit more each day. With Tom helping out once again with our grandgirls, this house doesn’t stand a chance! (But my garden still looks beautiful – priorities!) I am very close to finishing “Santa’s Book of Good Children.”  It’s funny… after completing ten paintings in the “Jolly Old Elf” series, I have painted Santa so many times…

Have you ever wished you could find a special place where you could go to relax… and just be? Maybe a place that is not too far from home and is comfortable to live in? Well, Tom and I believe we may have finally found that place for us. Not far from Geneva-on-the-Lake is a cute little cottage that is just our size. We were there at the end of April for a few days, and this week we returned, and it was as great as we remembered it! Lake Erie has a lot in common with Barnegat Bay (where…

We’ve been getting out and about quite a bit lately, making up for lost time. Last week, Tom and I decided it was a good opportunity to revisit my hometown roots, and we made an impromptu trip to New Jersey. Back in the day, from the time I was 9 until I got married, I spent almost every weekend except for the winter months at the shore. Together with our family and friends, we stayed in boats that my dad had bought or ones he built himself. The Tradewinds was the biggest one he built, a 38-foot cement-hulled sailboat. I was 12…

The big day finally arrived – the official “launch” of my nostalgic tribute to the Ship Hotel! I was so excited when my framer delivered the prints of “Lincoln Highway’s Historic Ship Hotel” for my customers.  The framed original was also ready for its new home, and we were able to set up a time to unveil it.  Bill, the client who commissioned the painting, had a fantastic idea – why not donate a framed print to the Lincoln Highway Experience – Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor Museum in Latrobe? You may remember that the Executive Director of the Museum, Lauren Koker, was a huge…

The American West is a place of incredible beauty and mystique. Western landscapes are uniquely stunning, with mountain vistas, multicolored canyons, wide open spaces, and a color palette all their own. This week I’m introducing three new paintings based on my travels out west, so if you’re a fan of western art, this may be your week! From our first vacation after our honeymoon in 1980, all the way up to 2001, our family car only knew one path to vacation time… due south to Florida! Eventually, we realized that our little family had just a few more years before…

Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope you enjoyed some of the warm weather we had last week before the rain came. I am very excited because all of our hard work on our gardens has really paid off. My flowers are blooming like crazy, and every day I feel joy when I look at their brilliant colors and inhale their glorious scents. I’m enjoying it this weekend, because I’ll soon be busy with a new project. (Not ready to talk about it quite yet – but I’ll tell you all about it next week!) You may remember that since the arrival…

Since we last talked, I’ve had quite a busy, fun, and eventful week… with a few surprises along the way! First, I added the enhancements to my artist-enhanced giclee prints of “Lincoln Highway’s Historic Ship Hotel” and brought them to my framer (Lee Heckman Gallery in Mt. Lebanon). Then on Tuesday, Tom, my grandgirls, and I drove out to Beaver to the Courtney-Laughlin Gallery and Frame Studio, to pick up the original painting now that it’s framed and ready for my customer. I just had to get a photo of Tom and the girls with the painting… especially considering they were already painted into…

After over a year of COVID isolation, who isn’t ready to just pack a bag and get away for a little while… but still maybe a little anxious about getting back out into the world? That was the case for Tom and me last weekend. Though we’re now fully vaccinated and reasonably safe, we were still cautious about our visit to Raystown Lake. So we rented a cabin and didn’t interact much with anyone but our dearest friends (also fully vaccinated), whom we hadn’t seen since 2019. Our cabin was very rustic – just a step up from camping. This…