Back when I was painting my Kennywood series, I would often see my friend Jim when I passed through the Group Sales office. For two years, every time I walked in, he never failed to look up from his desk and tell me the same thing every single time… that there was a Pittsburgh landmark that I had so far neglected to paint.

He was referring to Gus and YiaYia’s ice-ball and treats cart in West Park, a beloved North Side institution that has been delighting people for decades. And every time, I would say, “I will… someday.”

I suppose he realized that I needed a push and maybe bit of inspiration, because one day I received a very thick packet in the mail. Inside I found a ton of photos of Gus and YiaYia and that legendary ice-ball cart.

Thanks to Jim, I knew immediately that it was time to paint that piece! I bundled my young girls into the car and headed for the North Side. I was nervous about meeting Gus and asking if I could paint him, but it turns out my fears were groundless. He is truly an angel on Earth, one of the kindest, most authentic people I’ve ever met.

As a matter of fact, he wouldn’t let me leave until the girls and I had ice balls, and he had loaded us up with popcorn and peanuts. When we said goodbye, he looked at me and asked, “Can I have a hug?” Despite juggling an armload of treats, I smiled and said “Sure!”… and somehow we managed.

I’ll bet many of you have fond memories of when you first met Gus and Yia Yia or had your first ice ball in the park. It’s a North Side tradition! As always, if you have a favorite story about Gus and Yia Yia’s, I’m all ears.

Mother’s Day is close at hand, and Father’s Day is coming up soon, not to mention graduations and other events. I can’t think of a better way to bring celebrate warm summer memories than with a nostalgic “visit” to Gus and YiaYia’s ice-ball cart.

From the time I was just a new arrival in Pittsburgh as a young bride and now as a grandmother, one of my favorite places to visit around Easter and Mother’s Day has always been Phipps Conservatory.

Tom and I had many romantic dates there, and sometimes we would go with friends. Then later when our children came along we would bring them, too, and introduce them to the beauty of the flowers. There’s just something about flowers that makes your heart sing no matter what your age.

Many years ago, long before the remodel of the entrance, I used to dream of painting Phipps one day. At that time, my favorite spot was the side facing Schenley Park. There was a lovely pond near the side entrance, and it made a perfect composition with the beautiful 19th century building in the background. I took some photos, thinking “Someday I will paint this view.” Almost 15 years later, I finally did – and I called it, “The Oasis of Beauty at Phipps.”

At least that’s the official title – actually, with the Impressionist style of the painting (and especially the water lilies on the pond), I think of it as “My Monet.” I had a lot of fun painting it, and it’s always been one of my favorites. Because I love it so much, I’ve recreated the image in many forms…

“The Oasis of Beauty at Phipps” is available as a key chain, an ornament, coasters, mint trays, and sandwich trays, as well as the 8 x 10 print and the full-sized print itself. It’s the perfect painting for an unforgettable Mother’s Day gift!

Everything is available on my website except the 8 x 10 print, which you can order by email (linda@lindabarnicott.com) or just pick up the phone (1-888-748-8278).

I hope you had a wonderful Easter. I loved celebrating the holiday with my little family. After we all attended church together, we drove over to Aria’s house, where there was an Easter basket full of little gifts waiting for her.

My granddaughter, (wearing a 1980s sweatshirt over her dress because Grandma just had to do it) walked through the door and in her loudest voice exclaimed, “Oh! Presents for me!” I’ll never forget the look on her face and how excited she was.

Memories that are made with family are the ones that will last a lifetime. Let me know if I can help you make this Mother’s Day special with a gift of “The Oasis of Beauty at Phipps,” or any of my other art or gifts.

Mother’s Day is just around the corner. I’m glad that once a year we set aside a day to celebrate women who care for others… a special day when we remind them how much they’re loved and appreciated.

As a grandmother, I have another generation of little girls to cherish, and the love that flows between them and my daughter makes my heart smile. There’s nothing that makes me happier than seeing my little granddaughter Aria give her mom hugs and kisses – without even being asked!

Just this week, I spent some time at my daughter’s home, helping her with a few gardening chores (and hanging out with my girls, of course!). Working together to help make their home a nicer place is another thing that makes my heart smile.

As we pulled weeds and helped wake up the garden from its winter nap, we talked about our plans for Easter Sunday. We looked forward to going to church together and then later on celebrating with dinner at their house, including an Easter egg hunt for Aria. Again, more smiles!

Think about your favorite memories of your mother or your grandmother, or perhaps another woman who helped nurture you. Like maybe how you and your mom used to dress up for shopping trips downtown … or the fun you had on family outings to Kennywood, West View Park, or Storybook Forest… or maybe it was attending games together at Pitt Stadium, Three Rivers, or PNC Park (or even the local Little League field), eating hotdogs and cheering for your team.

If you have a favorite story about one of those special women in your life, I would love to hear it. As an artist and a friend, I’m inspired by listening to your memories and stories of love and family.

A gift of art whose subject is meaningful for both of you is a beautiful way to share the love of Mother’s Day. A painting is a treasure that will last a lifetime, and giving the gift of a remembrance of happy times can bring great joy to someone who means so much.

Meanwhile, get out there and enjoy the fine spring weather… maybe even dig in the dirt with your loved ones and make some new memories!

This week was Opening Day for the Pittsburgh Pirates as well as the start of a new chapter for our little family. Tom put on his uniform for the first time on Monday and reported for his new job at PNC Park. His retirement didn’t last long!

Though the opener didn’t end the way we would have liked, Tom was in his glory! Of course, on his first day on the job, the game went into extra innings, so it was a very long day at PNC Park. But Tom didn’t mind one bit!

Thinking about him up in the Suite section talking to fans reminded me of when I painted, “Let’s Go Bucs at PNC Park.” When I painted Bill Mazeroski and The Great One, Roberto Clemente, I had a lot of help from the Pirates with gathering resources for the paintings. My dream, however, was to find the perfect view of the Park.

Tom and I went location scouting and decided that the top of the Renaissance Hotel would provide the ideal vantage point. We walked right up to the desk and told them about our idea. Not only were they most generous and helpful, but they even gave us the key to the Penthouse Suite! It was a gorgeous room with an amazing view, and we took tons of photos. It was a picture-perfect day!

(Fortunately there was no game that day, or PNC Park would have been full of people, and we would have been out of luck!)

The next Pirates game day found us parked in the Sixth Street Garage. We had a great spot overlooking the river and the Park, where I was able to take photos of the players on the field and some of the activity.  Dave Arrigo, the team photographer, also very graciously provided photos of the first Opening Day at PNC Park showing lots of activity both in the Park and on the river.

One of the parts of the painting that folks often ask about is how I painted the crowd. So how did I put all 38,362 people in the park as well as the players?

In my studio, I have all different shapes and sizes of soft pastels. Some are very soft, and some are very hard, including pastel pencils. To create the crowd in the painting, I grabbed as many of those pencils as in as many different colors as I could hold in my right hand. Then I simply picked up a color and made a few marks for each person (a little heavy, naturally, on the black-and-gold clothing).

Tom has been a Pirates fan for as long as I’ve known him (and trust me, that’s a long time!). As it is for many other families, the home opener has always been a special time for Tom and our daughter Alyssa. So you might say that painting “Let’s Go Bucs at PNC Park” was a labor of love. And now that Tom’s living his lifelong dream of being a part of the Pirates organization, it’s even more significant to us.

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 homes provided by the church, usually “midcentury” homes that were built in the 50s and 60s, and the style at that time was boxy with plenty of wall space. This house, on the other hand, is a beautiful pre-war (built in 1935) brick home with built-in bookcases, fireplaces, and stained glass windows. And speaking of windows, there are so many in this house that for the first time in our lives, we didn’t have enough wall space!

When we were first married, the lack of wall space didn’t matter so much because most of my work at that time was painting portraits. Those commissions went home with the customer, and we had little artwork of mine to hang. All we had on our walls back then were things we won from Kennywood (which we have lovingly kept all these years and still hang on our walls).

But now it’s a different story… some might even say I’ve painted too much! Even counting all the originals I’ve sold over the years, there are more than enough paintings to hang and enough to occupy every spare inch of wall space.

So where to begin?

Well, remember this guy (my favorite model)?

Lucky for us, he just happened to be passing through Pittsburgh and stopped by the house to lend me a hand. Of course, he’s really good with tools – after all, toy-making is his specialty. It was definitely the best (and earliest) Christmas gift ever.

With his help, Tom and I were able to hang each and every one of my paintings! When he was done, it felt just like Christmas all over again. Ever since then, as I walk around my home, I can’t help but smile. It’s amazing how much more it feels like home when surrounded by my art with everything in its place.

However, now I have a new problem… I’ve used every last bit of available space, so I guess now I’ll have to sell a few more originals before I can paint more. Can you help me out?

Finally, here’s a little update on the GrandGirls. As you can see Aria has been watching Grandma and Grandpa, and she’s creating her own artworks to deck the walls!

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 so much support from family and friends who help me with this massive task year after year.

Thanks to every one of you who helped make my 25th Anniversary at the show a big success. I’m not just talking about numbers – I’m talking about friendships, something you can never put a price on. Each day was filled with smiles and conversations that will remain in my heart for a lifetime.

Some of my biggest sellers this year were my new giclée 8 x 10s. I now have prints in that size for more than 20 of my paintings and at a good price for a high-quality print. (At this time, the giclée 8 x 10s are not available on my website and can only be purchased in person at one of my shows or my studio.)

Another best seller this year was “Mazeroski’s Magical Moment.” My favorite thing about this painting is listening to the stories of folks who were children at the time of the 1960 World Series, especially the sparkle in their eyes when they describe what that memory means to them.

So now that the show is over, Tom and I have shifted back into “Move-In Mode.” That’s right… it’s been going on since January, and we’re STILL not 100% moved in! However, we’re making progress. I spent this morning hanging as many paintings in our living room as I could by 11 a.m. You see, today was the first time that I had scheduled clients to come to my studio/home to pick up their orders. Fortunately, everyone seemed to understand that we’re still in the process of making this Brentwood house our new home.

Once in a while, it’s fun to have a change of pace, and last Saturday, I presented a program for a women’s group at Hawthorne Avenue U.P. Church in Crafton. It was a lovely day, a lovely church, and a delightful afternoon.

It was the second time this year that I was invited to speak about my art at a local church. If you know of a group that is looking for a program like this, please think of me! I really enjoy getting out and about, especially at this time of year when there aren’t many shows.

Just have them contact me at 1-888-PITT-ART (1-888-748-8278).

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 10 a.m. this morning!

If you’ve been dreaming of Spring, I recommend a visit to the Home and Garden Show. It’s just the thing to cure your cabin fever.

The 38^th Annual Pittsburgh Home and Garden show runs from Friday, March 1st to Sunday, March 10th, at the David L Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown Pittsburgh. You can find me at Booth 3146-8.

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 25^th 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 year was $1200, which seemed like a fortune to this struggling artist. I also had to come up with the cash ($800) to advertise my Home Show debut with smudgy black-and-white ads in the Sunday Pittsburgh Press. Sounds a little primitive, doesn’t it? But at the time, it was the most effective way to reach the most people, especially former Pittsburghers who now lived somewhere else and subscribed to keep up with hometown news.

It was a huge step to be striking out on my own, and participating in the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show was a big deal for me. I was nervous about making the investment, but I figured that my $1200 would buy me 10 days to show my art to over 300,000 people. I wrote the check, but not without a lot of anxiety!

Then (to my surprise) two days into the show, I realized I had already earned back my investment! I remembered being in shock, looking at Tom and saying, “How did that happen? We still have eight days left!” To me, that first Home and Garden show was when my career as a serious artist really took off.

How many of you go back that far with me?

The show runs from Friday, March 1 to Sunday, March 10 at the David L Lawrence Convention Center in Downtown Pittsburgh. You can find me at Booth 3146-8.

As I take care of all the last minute details, it’s been fun reminiscing over happy memories of Home Shows past, especially all the wonderful people I’ve met there. I hope you’ll come visit me this year and wish me a happy 25th anniversary! Everyone needs more art in their lives, right?

Let’s make this year as memorable as the first! See you there…

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 there was one problem; the wall it would hang on was long and narrow, and most of it was taken up by an unsightly electrical box. The painting would have to cover the box completely.

Putting our heads together, we decided that a canvas gallery wrap might do the trick. So I was off to see Alex, my printer, with the dimensions. Alex was able to create a slice of the painting that included the clock and the streetcar that would fit perfectly within the space available.

I mentioned to my customer that because of the size and the delicate handling it would require, I would rather not ship it. I told her that Tom and I would be happy to deliver it right to her condo while we were in Florida. Hey, why not? It was a beautiful day to take a long drive, and besides, we could visit Riviera Beach, a place we had never been! It’s “all in a day’s work” for an art entrepreneur.

We had a great visit with their tenants, and we even got to see what the painting looked like up on the wall. Then we had some time to check out the beautiful beach.

Have I mentioned lately that I love my job??

We also paid a visit to the Mouse House on Tuesday to see the International Arts Festival at Epcot. Tom and I had a lovely day seeing all the beautiful works of art, listening to the musicians, and enjoying the special foods they prepared for the festival. Being surrounded by art and beauty was just what I needed to get my creative juices flowing. Which, as you can see from the picture below, was something I was really in need of!

Though I didn’t intend this to be a working vacation, I did take the precaution of bringing along a few sketching supplies. Thanks to all the creative inspiration, I’ve been able to get a head start on the first drawings of my new Santa painting for 2019… Woodland Santa! So far, I like the feel of it.

And one more thing that’s a sure sign that Spring is just around the corner… my mind has been wandering to planning for this year’s Home and Garden Show. This year, it runs March 1st through 10th at the David L Lawrence Convention Center.

I think the vacation has done a good job of clearing my head, because something just dawned on me since I’ve been away… I thought 2019 was around my 23rd year for at the show, but my numbers were all wrong! It’s not 23 – this year will be my 25th Home and Garden Show!!

Yes, 25! A quarter of a century!

Now that I know this, I’ve decided there will be an ongoing celebration at my booth! In just a few weeks, you can come check it out.