Seems like I’m always on the move these days! With my super-busy Fall Schedule, if you blink, you might miss me!

For now, I’m back in Nashville again, spending some time with my Mom until the weekend. I swear I’m done traveling for this year – I have so much to do in the Pittsburgh area, there won’t be time to go anywhere else. When I return in a few days, I’ll dive right into my painting projects and get revved up for a full schedule of “Meet the Artist” opportunities around Pittsburgh. You can predict my whereabouts by checking the Calendar of Events on my website, www.LindaBarnicott.com/events.

The Washington County Covered Bridge Festival was amazing! The weather was perfect, and the people were wonderful. I love getting out to the shows, being outdoors, hanging out with old friends, and meeting new friends. “Shhhh!” and “Santa’s Newest Reindeer,” were a big hit, and the “Shhhh!” Christmas cards are selling like hotcakes!

Speaking of Santa… I just talked with him this week, and I have some exciting news! On Saturday, October 17th, he will be making an appearance with me at the Courtney-Laughlin Gallery in Beaver from noon to 3 pm! Who can pass up an opportunity to meet and greet the Jolly Old Elf, Santa Himself? Bring your cameras and get some selfies. I’d love to see you there – come out and visit this lovely gallery and join in the holiday fun! Click Here to find out more about this event.

I’ll be celebrating my 35th wedding anniversary weekend (October 9-11) in Ligonier this year, where I will be exhibiting on the Loyalhanna Lot for Ligonier Days! Ligonier Days is one of my favorite shows. There is always so much to do! The highlight of the weekend will be the unveiling of my newest painting for Breathe Pennsylvania, the Ligonier Gazebo in the Diamond. I will also have the new ceramic ornament of “Shhhh!” available at that show, as well as my usual stock of prints and giftware.

In other news, my new 20-page full-color catalog is ready! When I return home, I’ll be sending out a copy to all of you who have requested one. I love the way it turned out and how it makes my art look fantastic.

It’s not too late to request a catalog with plenty of time for holiday shopping! If you’d like to browse my “store” in the comfort of your own home, I’d be happy to send you a copy at no cost. Just shoot me an email at info@lindabarnicott.com with your contact info, or give me a call at 1-888-PITT-ART (local Pittsburgh people, call 412-283-4072).

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 hope you’re all doing well this week and ready for a great weekend! Show Season is underway, and my next stop is the Washington County Covered Bridge Festival on Saturday and Sunday, September 19th and 20th between 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM. My booth will be in Mingo Creek Park by the historic Ebenezer Bridge.

I would love for you to come visit me under the bridge! So if you’ll just print out this blog and bring it with you to the Festival, I’ll give you what will probably be your very first Christmas Card of the Season! I’ll also have the cards available by the box at my booth.

As many of you read in my last post, I’m visiting with my mom in Nashville this week, but soon I’ll be on my way home for the show this weekend. Then it will be back to Nashville again until September 26th when my sister and her husband return from celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary.

In the meantime, I’m excited to show you the preliminary work on my latest project. It will be a new holiday painting for Breathe Pennsylvania, and the subject is the Ligonier Gazebo. I usually make you wait to see it until I’m finished, but I thought you might like to see it as it develops! Don’t worry, it still has a long way to go!

The Ligonier Gazebo will be the last in a five-year series of Christmas prints and ornaments that I’ve created to help raise money for this fine nonprofit dedicated to the fight against lung disease in Western Pennsylvania. Previous paintings in the series included:

~ “Pittsburgh’s Shimmering Season”
~ “Winter’s Beauty at McConnell’s Mill”
~ “Holiday Memories Under Kaufmann’s Clock”
~ “Holiday Greetings From My Hometown”

Let’s hope the weather holds, and maybe I’ll see you this weekend!

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”.

You may have noticed that my regularly scheduled newsletter is a little late this week! I got caught in a tight spot when I had a Thursday morning deadline on the Oakland Catholic High School project… then I had to hop on a plane to Nashville that afternoon to spend some time with my Mom. Which means I had to pack not only a week’s worth of clothing, but (because this is a “working vacation”) quite a few painting supplies as well. With all of that going on, there just wasn’t time to sit down at the computer and put coherent thoughts together!

So here I am in Nashville, chilling with Mom and working on this year’s Breathe Pennsylvania holiday print. This holiday season marks my fifth year supporting Breathe Pennsylvania. My subject this year is one that I’ve been longing to paint for ages – Ligonier’s landmark Gazebo! “My Santa” will even be appearing in the picture, though he’ll be in the background this time!

I’ll be back next week in time to exhibit on Saturday and Sunday at the Washington County Covered Bridge Festival. My booth will be down by the creek at the Ebenezer Bridge. This is one of my favorite shows in a beautiful setting. Come on down and visit me! I’ll have plenty of prints, cards, and giftware… because the holidays are right around the corner! (I know, too soon, right?)

Speaking of the holidays, this week I sold the original painting of “Santa’s Newest Reindeer,” the smaller companion painting to “Shhhh!” (first of the Jolly Old Elf Series). In fact, the buyer was so caught up in the holiday spirit that he also committed to purchasing next year’s original painting, the second in the series, where the subject will be Santa’s Workshop. I feel very blessed to have had so much success with my originals.

More big news this week: My new 20-page catalog is hot off the presses! My entire product line that is available for purchase is featured there, now all in one convenient place. Visitors to my booth at the Covered Bridge Festival next week can pick up a complimentary copy. Or if you can’t make it and would like to request a catalog, contact me by email at info@lindabarnicott.com or call me at (412) 283-4072, and I’ll send one out to you.

I’m looking forward to seeing many of my friends, fans, and clients during this busy Fall Festival Season, including another terrific show that’s coming up soon – Fort Ligonier Days on October 9th through 11th. It’s the perfect place for a day trip from Pittsburgh at fall foliage time. Check out my Calendar of Events to see where I will be this fall.

P.S. – My 2015 Christmas Cards are selling fast, even though we just put Labor Day behind us! This year’s cards feature the first painting in the Jolly Old Elf series, “Shhhh!”. They’re available in boxes of 8 for $24 on my website. Click Here to purchase yours. They’ll also be for sale at my shows this fall. If you come by in person, I’ll be happy to personally sign your cards.

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”.

What a busy week this has been! After a fun and productive weekend at the Shadyside Arts Festival, it’s time to get back to a serious painting schedule. I have so many projects to do before the end of the year!

First of all, I apologize for the confusion last week. There was a small communication glitch, but now my first holiday card in the Jolly Old Elf Series, “Shhhh!” is ready and available to purchase on my website. Just Click Here to purchase yours. The cards had a great kick-off last week at the Arts Festival. They’re only available as a limited edition, so if you haven’t purchased yours yet, order today to make sure you don’t miss out!

So speaking of the Jolly Old Elf… if you remember, I told you that each year I’ll be creating a new painting in that series as well as a smaller companion print each year to complement it. I’m excited to announce that I’ve just finished the companion print for “Shhhh!” this week! As promised, here’s the slide show (at the top of this blog) documenting the progression from the sketch to the final print. And as always, you – my faithful readers – are the first to see it and the first to have the opportunity to purchase it.

This brand new painting is entitled “Santa’s Newest Reindeer.” For those of you who have purchased ahead the entire series, you will of course receive yours FREE! The print will retail for $70.00 and would make a perfect addition to your holiday home décor, or a perfect gift for a special friend or loved one who’s a Santa fan. “Santa’s Newest Reindeer” is irresistible!

By the way, did you notice something that is different between the sketch and the final painting? Can you guess what it is? Sometimes even a veteran artist has trouble getting the composition just right. This week, it was definitely my turn! This one thing drove me crazy, but in the end, I found a way around it.

I would love to hear your thoughts on my latest painting. Again, you can see it on my website; just Click Here. Or you can give me a call at 1-888-PITT-ART (1-888-748-8278), or email me at info@lindabarnicott.com to reserve your copy today.

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”.

Welcome to the start of a new season! Not only is it Back-to-School time for the kids, but it’s already about that time that most folks (well, at least most organized folks!) start planning for fall and winter holiday excitement.

It’s also the time of year that, for the past 17 years, I would print my annual holiday card to benefit the American Cancer Society. As I told you back in May, that program has come to an end.

I was honored to be a part of their fundraising for all these years, and it was quite an emotional evening as we celebrated 17 years’ worth of holiday paintings – starting with the Horne’s Tree, all the way up to last year’s festive Grant Street painting. Over the last 17 years, The American Cancer Society has earned over $750,000.00 from my holiday cards. And every bit of that has gone to cancer research and prevention.

But looking ahead to the future, it’s a new year and a new holiday season – And I’ve created a brand new holiday card line of my very own for 2015 and beyond!

Unlike the ACS cards, my new Christmas cards will not be wintry Pittsburgh scenes… nor will they be tied in to a charity as they have been in the past. What I can tell you is that they do in fact feature a certain Jolly Old Elf!

Ironically, the first painting in the series does also feature a beloved soon-to-be-closed downtown landmark – Macy’s and Kaufmann’s Clock. I didn’t know that the Downtown Macy’s would be closing when I painted “Shhhh!” and decided to use one of my Kaufmann’s paintings in the background! I chose it because it reminded me of my childhood, and it seemed like the perfect scene to share the canvas with Santa Claus – another childhood favorite!

My new “Shhhh!” Christmas cards are now available for sale. Click here to learn more.

I’ll also have some with me for sale this weekend at the Shadyside Arts Festival on Saturday and Sunday. Come see me if you can! If you purchase a box of cards at the Festival, I’ll be happy to sign them all in gold for you. Check out my Calendar of Events for more details.

P.S. – If you visit me at the Arts Festival, I’ll give you a secret sneak peek of the new companion print to “Shhhh!” entitled “Santa’s Newest Reindeer!”.

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”.

On our way home, but coming to you live from the road one more time…

Tom and I had quite the adventure in Canada, Vermont, and New York as we visited Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Lake Champlain. It was delightful being back on PEI after 12 years. Back then, we were accompanied by our children. We went to see the brilliant musical “Anne of Green Gables” and then crossed the island to Cavendish to visit her home – or at least the home that Lucy Maud Montgomery created for Anne.

Returning 12 years later sans daughters, we retraced our steps. Though time has changed a few things, most of the island hasn’t lost that quaint country feeling.

Panmure Lighthouse was not far from where we were staying. Of course, artists can’t resist lighthouses, so I started a painting there. Though it was windy and cool, it felt so good to be painting out on the beach. A young girl saw me and started running down the beach to watch me paint. She was a lovely child who also loves to paint… I’m guessing she was about 9 years old. I advised her to follow her heart and keep painting if that is her true calling.

After leaving Prince Edward Island, we next visited Hopewell Rocks near Moncton, New Brunswick. We actually walked on the ocean floor at low tide! They informed us as we descended the stairs to the beach that we only had 20 minutes before the tide would be rolling in… but not to worry because they had an evacuation procedure!

Yesterday we headed to Lake Champlain, Vermont. All I remembered from our visit 12 years ago was that it was very pretty, and we ate by the water. Well, when we arrived in Burlington, all the college students were also arriving, and the place was swamped. We couldn’t find a place to even get close to the water! We were getting a little claustrophobic, so we decided it was time to leave.

Our GPS sent us on a country road outside of town, and the next thing you know it told us to turn right and load onto the ferry… but we were in the woods! What a pleasant outcome after our disappointment! Only $14.00 to cross, and it took just 30 minutes to get us to Essex, New York – saving us about an hour of driving around the lake. We had such a great time watching the weather, as it was raining in some areas and sunny in others. The clouds were spectacular. We sat and watched the birds fly by and thought about how lucky we are.

I am finally relaxed and ready to come home to my family and my studio. I have so much to paint before the holiday season and so much more to share with you from our home in the ‘Burgh.

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”.

We’re still on the road, and Tom and I are about to head over to Prince Edward Island after our lovely visit to Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia is a quaint place and stunningly beautiful with its brightly painted little homes and waterways filled with fishing boats. The photos I’ve taken just don’t do it justice!

We took the Cabot Trail around Cape Breton yesterday, and then a wonderful Ceilidh (Celtic music) concert last night was a perfect ending to our stay here. If you’ve ever visited Nova Scotia, you may recall seeing Peggy’s Cove. The red boat in the front of the picture above really captured my artistic eye! I hope to paint several of these scenes in the coming year.

Before leaving New York for Nova Scotia, I had a chance to finish my painting of Lucas, the model whose portrait I painted at the workshop. Unfortunately, the finished piece is all boxed up in my van. I’ll get to take another look at it when we arrive home, and maybe I’ll decide to add a few more touches then.

In the meantime we are on our way to Prince Edward Island, home of red dirt, potatoes, and Anne of Green Gables. I’ll give you all the latest next week! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy some of our photos from the first part of our trip.

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”.

This week, I’m writing to you from upstate New York as I begin my three-week working vacation. I call it a working vacation because I’m doing a lot more work than I am relaxing!

Let me take you back… way back… back 34 years to when I was a 23-year-old newlywed. In a leap of faith, I took a solo trip (leaving my new husband behind!) to North Salem, New York, to study with a legendary portrait artist I’d read about in American Artist Magazine. Daniel Greene was known internationally for his work, and his list of accomplishments even back then was very impressive.

I was nervous and maybe even a bit scared about how it would turn out. I had just started painting in pastels and found them a bit tricky to control.

Mr. Greene had a huge barn with north light set up as the studio where we would work. Each day, we arrived and started right on time, as he instilled his wisdom through lectures and demonstrations throughout the day and night. It was there that I created my first successful pastel portrait. (I wish I had it to show you!)

I’m remembering the famous quote by Yogi Berra this week – “It’s like deja vu all over again!” – as I relive that week that was such a milestone in my career… and I’m working just as hard as I did all those years ago. Mr. Greene may be an energetic octogenarian now, but his mastery has only grown over the 34 years since I saw him last.

The Sunday night session started off with an oil portrait demo, and when no one else was willing to pose as Mr. Greene had asked, I volunteered. Much to my delight, he painted my portrait in about two hours! I am thrilled to say he is signing it on Friday, and I will take it home to as a gift to Tom.

While I sat for him, he mentioned that I didn’t have to smile and that most models do not. My response was that it’s just how I roll… as you know, I can hold that smile for hours!

The fellow I am working on in this painting is a nice young man named Lucas. It’s been quite an interesting experience working 1) with a live subject, 2) without good light and 3) in a standing position – these are definitely three things that DO NOT happen in my studio back home in Bethel Park! Nonetheless, I am honored to be here with the best of them and enjoying every minute.

Next week, I’ll try to write again from Nova Scotia, as that’s where Tom and I are headed next. Then we’re moving on to Prince Edward Island for some downtime over the coming weeks. And of course, I hope to squeeze in a few paintings before we head for home!

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”.

After the announcement last week of the closing of Macy’s downtown store, I felt like I had to blog about that sad news and what it meant to me, so I postponed my original topic. This week, I’d like to share with you about the wonderful event I had at Kane Glen Hazel last Wednesday.

“A Stroll Down Pittsburgh’s Memory Lane” was a glorious day spent with Kane residents, staff, and visitors. Other attendees were a group from the Alzheimer’s Association and some of the staff from KDKA. I was honored to see that Ron Cook from KDKA had decided to work on his day off just so he could join us for the festivities.

There were smiles all around as we toured the facility and viewed all the paintings that were hung on each of the floors. It truly was “A Stroll Down Pittsburgh’s Memory Lane,” as we all recalled our favorite memories from times gone by. We were in for a special treat when we met one of the residents who actually had starred in the painting “Pittsburgh’s New Home for Hockey” in 2011 with his wife and son. He was very proud to share his story with his friends at Kane.

It’s funny how many aspects of my life seem to be coming full circle. When I was newly married at the tender age of 23 back in 1981, I attended a workshop taught by Daniel Greene, an internationally known portrait artist. It changed my entire artistic perspective as a painter of portraits. Just that one week of learning about pastels profoundly affected my creative process, and I feel that it was the experience that propelled my success in my career as an artist.

So now I’m very excited to report that next week I’m heading to upstate New York to attend another workshop with Mr. Greene!

When I was talking to Tom a couple of months ago about painting portraits and my new “Jolly Old Elf’ series. I mentioned how I would love to once again see Mr. Greene and learn from him. Fortunately Tom was all for the idea, and I signed up for the workshop right away. Then I discovered two weeks later that Mr. Greene is retiring, and this will be his last year of teaching. I was so relieved that I seized this opportunity and didn’t put it off until next year!

I can’t wait to share my experiences at the workshop next week with you, my special customers and readers. Tom will be joining me at the end of the workshop, then we’re off to a two-week holiday in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island for some much-needed R&R.

It’s a good feeling to be able to leave our home and business in our daughters’ capable hands, as they’re now helping to run everything. There is something very gratifying about having your family around you providing help and support in your career – I am very blessed.

Next week, I’ll be writing to you live from New York! Until then…

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”.