Spring has definitely sprung at my home and studio. All the beautiful perennials I planted last year are returning again this year. My only problem is that being fairly new to gardening, I don’t really know exactly which ones are flowers and which ones are weeds! So if any of you who are experienced gardeners would like to stop by and offer some advice, I would be happy to listen. But in a way, it would also be fun to just sit back and be surprised at what pops up.

I do love a good surprise, and that’s what has been on my mind this week.

There’s a lot to love about being an artist. Painting brings me peace, and I create my art with the hope that it will awaken warm memories and give you some joy whenever you see it. But there is another bonus to being an artist that I love almost as much… and that is being a part of a surprise.

This week, one of my customers purchased a gift for his wife, a surprise for a special occasion. When he called me, he had to make sure she couldn’t overhear our conversation. He had to make sure the payment didn’t show up on any of their credit card statements, and he will have someone else pick up the finished piece when it’s framed.

When we last talked, he apologized for making the process so difficult for me. My response was “No problem! I love being a part of the surprise.” He even offered to take a photo of the event so I could see her reaction for myself. I love hearing stories like this, especially when I’m involved in them!

As Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are coming up, I hope you’ll allow me to be a part of your celebration. I have a full line of gifts for your loved ones – everything from original pastel paintings, archival giclee and lithograph prints, and this year, my new line of candles.

I’m really excited about the candles, and so far the response has been great. Two new candles have been added to the collection… “Ice Ball Treats with Gus and YiaYia” and “Oasis of Beauty at Phipps.” They just need a few final touches before they’re shipped out to their new homes this week.

As I mentioned in my last email, there are many ways to re-purpose your candle’s collectible glass jar after you’ve enjoyed 150 hours of candlelight:

~ Fill it with jelly beans, M&Ms, nuts, or your favorite treat
~ Turn it into a vase by adding a bouquet of spring flowers
~ Keep it glowing by putting in a battery-operated mini-light (or re-wick it and pour new wax)
~ Put it to work in the kitchen to hold your favorite cooking utensils
~ Collect all of the candles and display them together

I’m sure you can come up with even more creative ways to keep enjoying your collectible jar… I’d love to hear about your ideas!

Have a great week, and be sure to shop at my website, www.lindabarnicott.com, for inspiration if you want to surprise someone you love on their special day!

Make sure you are the first to know about all of my news, appearances and any “special deals” I am offering to my subscribers, by taking the time to sign up for my weekly newsletters now. CLICK HERE to sign up. You will also receive a FREE slideshow showing the step-by-step development of my painting, “Celebrating Time and Tradition at Macy’s”.

Looks like Punxsutawney Phil was right! Spring has come early this year, with warmer days and more sunshine than usual for March. In fact, I feel like this is my best Spring ever, with a great Home and Garden Show and the introduction of my new line of collectible candles. You might even say I’m on fire…

Okay, I’ll spare you the candle jokes… but I want to tell you the story of how Linda Barnicott Collectible Candles were created.

My husband Tom is a fanatic about burning candles in our home – he really enjoys the warm glow of candles and also loves their scents. Unfortunately, when he used the typical candles we bought in retail stores, it didn’t affect me quite the same way. My eyes would water, and I would cough my way through the day, totally miserable.

When we went candle shopping at the mall, I would have to stay outside while Tom picked out the candles he liked. He would call me to come in and help him choose between all the great scents, but I wasn’t able to stay in the candle store for very long before my symptoms would begin again. Poor Tom just couldn’t understand why I was beginning to hate candles so much!

That all changed at the Home and Garden Show four years ago, when the Sugar Creek Candle Company became a fellow vendor there, and I learned to love candles again. Their candles are 100% soy and clean burning – finally I could burn candles and enjoy the beautiful scents without suffering!

So for the past four years, the Barnicott household has been a frequent Sugar Creek customer. And then we had a great idea… wouldn’t it be amazing if Linda Barnicott Art and the Sugar Creek Candle Company could join forces to create something unique and beautiful for our customers?

And that’s how my new product line, Linda Barnicott Collectible Candles, was born!

The candles are now available on this website. CLICK HERE, to see the whole line of candles, featuring five of my favorite paintings each with a different delightful scent.

They make great gifts for friends and family… or even just when you want to treat yourself. Which one do you like the best? Enjoy!

Make sure you are the first to know about all of my news, appearances and any “special deals” I am offering to my subscribers, by taking the time to sign up for my weekly newsletters now. CLICK HERE to sign up. You will also receive a FREE slideshow showing the step-by-step development of my painting, “Celebrating Time and Tradition at Macy’s”.

Well, it’s a wrap! Another Home and Garden Show has come to an end, and my booth has been dismantled and put to bed until next year… but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped or even slowed down!

Even after the endless preparations getting ready for the show and the frantic schedule of the show itself, there’s no time to rest… I still have lots of art to create! I also have a lot of work to do to get my new line of collectible scented candles out the door to my customers and up on my website.

So if you remember last week’s blog post, I introduced my new product line – three brand new candles featuring my paintings – created by the Sugar Creek Candle Company.

This week we’re introducing another new candle with my painting “Ice Ball Treats with Gus and YiaYia.” Not only is it beautiful, but the scent is intoxicating! If you close your eyes, you’ll think you’re about to enjoy one of Gus’s Cotton Candy Ice Balls!

These high-end, clean-burning candles are 100% soy and will burn for 150 hours. Each candle features one of my paintings and has a scent that was specially chosen to go with the painting. My candles are art collectibles, yet they’re very affordable – just $29.95! – less expensive than my major competitor.

What’s more, the paintings on the glass are dishwasher-safe. So when the candle part is used up, you can simply wash them and repurpose them!

I’m so proud of my new Pittsburgh candles! If you’d like to be one of the first to enjoy them, that’s easily arranged. Just give me a call at my studio, (412) 283-4072, or drop me an email at info@lindabarnicott.com They’ll also be available on my website soon.

And if you read last week’s blog, you will also know I had the privilege of a visit from Santa (making a rare off-season appearance) at my booth during the show. He loved seeing his paintings!

Many of my booth visitors had the opportunity to see my preliminary sketch of Santa’s workshop firsthand. In case you missed the show, I thought you might like to see this work in progress.

Thanks to all of you who offered positive feedback. I can’t wait to get started with putting the concept onto the good pastel U-Art board. So stay tuned! Enjoy your week… and I would love to hear from you!

Make sure you are the first to know about all of my news, appearances and any “special deals” I am offering to my subscribers, by taking the time to sign up for my weekly newsletters now. CLICK HERE to sign up. You will also receive a FREE slideshow showing the step-by-step development of my painting, “Celebrating Time and Tradition at Macy’s”.

I don’t usually reach out to you twice in one week, but I couldn’t wait to share the news…

I’m launching my newest product line – beautiful high-end, long-burning scented candles paired with some of my most popular paintings.

Each candle comes in a glass jar encircled by one of my paintings so that the beauty of the art is illuminated from within by the candle’s glow.

These luxury candles (created in partnership with the Sugar Creek Candle Company) are 100% soy with a clean-burning 100% cotton wick and will burn for 150 hours… yet the price is considerably less than that of our biggest candle competitor!

The first ones are now ready – just in time for the last weekend of the Home and Garden Show at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. If you come to the show today, tomorrow, or Sunday, you can be among the first to start your collection.

I can’t wait to show them off! Come visit me at Booth #3146 at the Home and Garden Show, have a sniff, and take one of my new candles home with you.

Make sure you are the first to know about all of my news, appearances and any “special deals” I am offering to my subscribers, by taking the time to sign up for my weekly newsletters now. CLICK HERE to sign up. You will also receive a FREE slideshow showing the step-by-step development of my painting, “Celebrating Time and Tradition at Macy’s”.

Still here at Booth 3146 at the Home and Garden Show until Sunday. What an exciting week I’ve had here at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center! It’s been a treat to have so many of you visiting me at my booth!

One of the highlights of the show this year for me was having had the honor (and fun) of meeting Pittsburgh Dad! As soon as he realized who I was, he immediately shook my hand and told me that his mom had my paintings in her home! There was definitely some “Pittsburgh Chemistry” going on! If you’re a fan of Pittsburgh Dad on YouTube, you know he’s a talented actor and one of the funniest guys out there. But if you’re lucky enough to meet him, you’ll see that underneath the gruff Pittsburgh Dad exterior, he’s really a very warm-hearted gentleman.

I also felt especially honored when Santa (though he’s officially on vacation) made a special stop to visit me at my booth. As you can see, Santa was also excited to meet Pittsburgh Dad!

Now I’d like to tell you about a very special experience I had at the Home Show this week…

On Saturday, a young boy came into my booth with his parents and was looking around at my art work. I walked up to him and asked him if he liked to draw. When he said yes, I asked him kinds of things he liked to draw. “Do you like to draw things, places, or people?” His response was “People are hard to paint.” I explained that painting people is just like painting anything else… they’re made out of shapes.

Then I asked him if he would like me to show him how to draw an eye, and he excitedly said “Yes!”

With pen and yellow-lined paper in hand, we had an impromptu art lesson. He was so sweet and attentive. As I finished each part of the eye, I asked him if he understood what I just drew. Each time he said he did, with a serious look on his face. I sincerely hope that as this young boy develops as an artist that he remembers the night when he learned to draw an eye.

So, as we head into this final Home Show weekend, I want to remind you that you’ll receive $10 in Linda Loot for every $100 spent. It’s like FREE MONEY! I don’t make an offer like this at any other time during the year, so come on down and let me help you decorate or choose a special gift!

Make sure you are the first to know about all of my news, appearances and any “special deals” I am offering to my subscribers, by taking the time to sign up for my weekly newsletters now. CLICK HERE to sign up. You will also receive a FREE slideshow showing the step-by-step development of my painting, “Celebrating Time and Tradition at Macy’s”.

In case I haven’t mentioned it lately, my husband Tom is the BEST.

The week before the Home and Garden Show is my busiest week of the year, and I couldn’t do it without Tom! He’s my greatest helper/partner despite having to work double time with his church duties. Those last few days before the show are pretty rough, getting everything moved, set up, and organized, and I can always count on him to support me every step of the way!

And it’s not just Tom that I rely on. Once we rented the truck on Tuesday, my wonderful friends helped us fill it up and then unpack it all at the Convention Center. I’m even greeted with hugs by the same union workers who help me move in every year! And I couldn’t survive without my booth staff during all those long hours at the show.

It would be impossible to do it all by myself, and I want to thank everyone who works so hard each year to help me make the Home and Garden Show a success… especially Tom!

So here we are on the eve of opening day, and I still have a lot to do before Friday morning. Fortunately, the adrenaline is kicking in just in time to put the finishing touches on what feels like my own little pop-up storefront (for the next 10 days, anyway!).

As I mentioned last week, I’ve brought a lot of unique and special pieces this year, including some of my original landscapes and an old 1994 original painting of Old Town.

Old Town is a magical composite of different Pittsburgh neighborhoods that incorporates songs by local singer Jay Hitt – in fact, there are 33 references in the painting to songs on the CD.

I’ve searched high and low in my studio for that CD, but I can’t find it… which is killing me because I really wanted to share it with you at my booth. Of course, you know it will resurface sometime after the show is over! However, if you just stop by to visit me at the Home and Garden Show, I’ll tell you some of the stories as I remember them.

Speaking of stopping by… I’m offering another special for my booth visitors. For the entire duration of the show, everyone who visits my booth and makes a purchase will receive Linda Loot.

Here is how it works: For every $100.00 spent, you will receive $10.00 in Linda Loot to use on a future purchase (redeemable from March 15th through April 3rd). The more you spend, the more you receive in Linda Loot!

Tomorrow’s the big day! I’ll be waiting for you at Booth #3146 at the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show at the David L Lawrence Convention Center. Hope to see you there!

Make sure you are the first to know about all of my news, appearances and any “special deals” I am offering to my subscribers, by taking the time to sign up for my weekly newsletters now. CLICK HERE to sign up. You will also receive a FREE slideshow showing the step-by-step development of my painting, “Celebrating Time and Tradition at Macy’s”.

I’m pretty good at painting Pittsburgh. I’m also pretty good at painting portraits and landscapes. But when it comes to painting things like my show displays and staining woodwork… my skills could use some work!

After 20 years, my booth display is getting pretty old. Every year some pieces break or just look a little shabby after another year in storage.

Thank goodness for my friend from our old church who helped freshen up and recreate some of the broken pieces. And with a lot of help of my son-in-law, Jon (not to mention a big assist from the spring-like weather earlier this week), I was able to get some staining and painting done outdoors.

Meanwhile, two galleries are working overtime to make sure my booth is well stocked with beautiful framed pieces, while unframed prints are being mounted on boards for the bin. The booth cookies are being baked… and my staff has their marching orders.

Then it’s Crunch Week! On Monday night, Tom and I will pick up the truck. Then on Tuesday morning, we start moving everything in to Booth #3146 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. As always, we have to hustle, because everything has to be in place by 10 a.m. on next Friday.

Then the real fun begins!… Hope to see you there!

Here are some tips for your trip to the show:

~ The first Friday is always a slow day at the Home and Garden Show, so it is the best day to come to receive my full attention and get first pick from my fully stocked booth.

~ Spend time looking around on my website and do a little pre-shopping research before you come to the show. The “Prints for Sale page is a good place to start – CLICK HERE. When you get to my booth, you’ll already know what you’re looking for.

~ Remember, there will also be unique pieces at the show that are not on the website and will only be available during the show.

~ And one extra little teaser… I’m bringing along a small ink sketch of my newest Jolly Old Elf painting in progress featuring Santa’s Workshop. Just ask, and I’ll give you a sneak peek!

Make sure you are the first to know about all of my news, appearances and any “special deals” I am offering to my subscribers, by taking the time to sign up for my weekly newsletters now. CLICK HERE to sign up. You will also receive a FREE slideshow showing the step-by-step development of my painting, “Celebrating Time and Tradition at Macy’s”.

Ever feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day? It’s been a busy week, and it’s about to get even busier!

Recently, Tom and I attended an event for United Methodist Bishop, Tom Bickerton, to wish him well as he moves on to his next adventure. The Bishop is a huge baseball fan, and I was truly humbled and honored when my painting, “Let’s Go Bucs at PNC Park,” was chosen as his farewell gift!

Not only that, but the Home and Garden show is only two weeks from today! It’s all hands on deck at the Barnicott household! Even my framer is working overtime, framing a third batch of prints to make sure I’ll have hundreds of newly matted and framed pieces in stock for the show. Visit my website’s “Calender of Events” to find out more about the show.

In the meantime, you may be wondering “Who is this shy little girl with the badly cracked lips who is obviously having a bad hair day?” It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out!

Here’s the story of how that picture inspired me to write this blog:

When my dear cousin moved to Georgia this year, she discovered many wonderful photos of our family when we were young, and she passed them along to me.

As a matter of fact, she also included a newspaper article from 1994 about my father and brother and their old construction business in New Jersey. I had tears in my eyes as I read my late father’s precious words about the pride he took in his work. He always worked hard and cared deeply about each job, helping out the homeowner as best he could. He had a strong work ethic, and I try to live up to it myself to honor his memory.

As I was sorting through the contents of an envelope my cousin had sent me, my childhood photo fell out, and I saw it for the first time in many years. I reluctantly showed it to Tom, who knew by my tone of voice that it wasn’t a picture I was particularly proud of. It was definitely not my best day!

So why did I choose to share it with you today rather than just hide it away in a photo album? Because it reminded me of the #1 question I’m asked when I meet someone for the first time: “How old were you when you started drawing and painting?”

I tell them that my very first memory of drawing was my first day of second grade (about the time the picture was taken). My new teacher was so beautiful! I had a burning desire to show my mom what she looked like, so I reached down alongside my new desk and picked up my little 2-1/2″ x 4″ red-covered notebook with lined paper in it. I drew her the best I could, trying to convey how elegant she looked with her high cheekbones and beautiful eyes.

Looking back on it, with my ability to focus in on those small details – hair, cheekbones, eye color, etc. – I should have known from that moment on that it was my destiny to be an artist!

Thank you for tolerating my second-grade picture and my walk down Memory Lane…

Make sure you are the first to know about all of my news, appearances and any “special deals” I am offering to my subscribers, by taking the time to sign up for my weekly newsletters now. CLICK HERE to sign up. You will also receive a FREE slideshow showing the step-by-step development of my painting, “Celebrating Time and Tradition at Macy’s”.

Sports enthusiasts sometimes say, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” I was reminded of that earlier this week, when my friend said something that really resonated with me: “It’s all about the hunt!”

In other words, we all work toward goals that we want to accomplish, but some people find the journey itself even more satisfying than the end result.

My friend loves to sew. She told me how much she loves going out and finding just the right pattern for a new project. Next, off she’ll go, looking for the perfect fabric and matching threads. Then the next step is laying out the fabric, cutting the pattern, and then finally sewing it all together. Her favorite part is not wearing the finished garment – but it’s the process of making it that gives her the most joy.

When I was a small child, my father started building boats for a hobby. I’m not talking about the kind that fit on your table – I mean real boats! Big boats… boats that were bigger than our home! We kids used to say he loved building them even more than he liked sailing them. For my dad, it was definitely “all about the hunt!”

I mentioned to that friend that I’m working on three separate projects right now, and that every day I’m preparing one thing or another, doing a little more each day to get ready for this year’s Home and Garden Show. She looked at me and said, “Of course you are!” She obviously knows me better than I thought!

Because, like my friend, and like my dad, for me the greatest joy is in the creative process itself. I love traveling around town, sketching and photographing, gathering the resources I need to compose my paintings. I love taking a little of this and a little of that from my photographs and sketches, putting it all together to create just the right composition. I love interviewing people and hearing their stories. I learn so much from the insights they share with me, and their perspectives are essential to how I visualize the finished painting. But more than anything, I love meeting new people. Each one makes life’s circle a little wider!

After my creative journey is completed, and the painting is finally finished, I feel that it represents the best part of me at that moment in time.

It’s been quite an inspirational year! I hope you’ll come and see the exciting exhibit I’m putting together at the Home and Garden Show! It begins on Friday, March 4th and runs until Sunday the 13th downtown at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. As I mentioned last week, I’ll have some interesting surprises at this year’s show! I’ll be waiting for you at Booth #3146. Visit my website’s “Calender of Events” to find out more about the show.

P.S. – I’ve selected just the right background for my new “Santa’s Workshop” painting… I can’t wait to get started on it!

Make sure you are the first to know about all of my news, appearances and any “special deals” I am offering to my subscribers, by taking the time to sign up for my weekly newsletters now. CLICK HERE to sign up. You will also receive a FREE slideshow showing the step-by-step development of my painting, “Celebrating Time and Tradition at Macy’s”.