As many of you know, moving into our new home has been quite a long and complicated project. Finally all the furniture and clothing and pots and pans are in the new space. But as an artist, a house doesn’t really feel like home to me as long as there are empty walls, and my pictures are sitting stacked up in a corner, hiding their inner beauty. The thought of hanging all those paintings is very daunting – much more so than when we moved into any of our previous homes. That’s because Tom and I have always lived in…

Time really does fly when you’re having fun, and it’s hard to believe that we’ve come to the end of another year at the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show. We have a tradition where every year after the last piece of art goes into the truck, we take an annual photo. The smiles on our faces reflect a job well done, another year’s show successfully put to bed… not to mention how exhausted we all are after loading up my entire booth into that truck! It also makes me smile when I think about how lucky I am to have…

Can you believe Spring is here? It may not feel like it outside, but inside the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, it sure looks that way! Yes, it’s that time again… today is Opening Day of the 2019 Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show. This year promises to be bigger and better than ever. In fact, the 2019 Farm to Table Conference is now a part of the Home and Garden Show, adding a whole new section – including live chickens! I’ve spent the last few days getting the booth set-up for the show. Ready or not, the doors open at…

The first robin hasn’t appeared yet, and there’s still snow on the ground, but Pittsburghers know Spring is just around the corner when billboards for the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show start popping up. Opening Day is tomorrow! It’s hard to believe that this year will be my 25th anniversary at the Home and Garden Show. It brings back so many memories of my very first time as an exhibitor… could it really have been a quarter century ago? Because I was young, inexperienced, and broke, I actually shared my booth with another vendor, Black Swan Gallery.  Booth rental that…

As an artist who owns her own business, it’s sometimes within my power to make someone’s wish come true. And on this Florida vacation, I had the opportunity to do just that! During the holidays, I was contacted by a customer who was interested in purchasing one of my paintings. She wanted something to remind her of her Pittsburgh home while she was at her condo in Florida. Eventually she decided on “Waiting for You Under Kaufmann’s Clock” – she had fallen in love with it after seeing it on a new metal piece I had at the Chalet. But…

We’re only one month into 2019, and it’s already been a year of big changes for Tom and me. In the last few weeks, we have moved to a new home, Tom has officially retired, and as of this past weekend, we’re on a much-needed two-week vacation. All this in about four weeks! Not to mention planning and successfully pulling off a surprise retirement party with over 200 friends. So needless to say, I’ve been a little busy. So busy in fact, that last night as I was sitting in the car waiting for Tom to run an errand, I…

Have I told you that I’m moving? Now that the holidays are over, I can think of little else! On the 23rd of January, we’re moving the whole Barnicott operation – not just our personal home, but my studio as well – to our new location in Brentwood. Though preparing for the big move has been a lot of work and perhaps a little stressful, I have to say it’s still very exciting. The reason for the move is that on January 31st, Tom will officially retire from the church after 36 years of ministry. Of course, he’ll never truly…

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Though the holidays are my favorite time of year, I still look forward to settling into my normal routines again when January rolls around. As I attempted to get back to my painting yesterday, I had a lovely moment that I’d like to share with you. Our granddaughter Aria, who is all of 2 years old, was at our house for a few hours yesterday, doing what she usually does – playing, running around, and making a lot of noise. I had slipped away to my studio for a few minutes to…

Looking back, it seems those 38 days in Market Square passed in the blink of an eye. But we were still pretty pumped on December 23rd when we emptied the Chalet, packed up the van, and took our traditional final “that’s a wrap” picture. We are done! So what happens next? Every year in the aftermath of our hectic holiday season, Tom and I often wonder…who received a gift of my art? Did they like it? What did they think when they saw the painting? Well, this year I got some idea when I happened to receive an email entitled “Happy…

Can you believe Christmas Eve is only 9 days from now? Before we know it, Santa’s Big Event will be upon us. Somehow despite our hectic pre-Christmas busy-ness, Tom and I managed to schedule a day to play hooky from the Chalet down in Market Square to indulge in a festive new tradition – cutting down our own Christmas tree. We decided to try cutting down our own tree for the first time last year. It was really pretty, but we thought it was maybe a little too small. So this year, of course, we had to overcompensate, and perhaps…