Delilah’s, our art & gift gallery on Main Street, took part in a Halloween event for the kids Saturday night. Rebecca came in dressed in a beautiful red mask to help me that evening. (She and her husband have Fox Hill Pottery and they show beautiful work that you can see at Delilah’s.) I dressed as Kelly of Delilah’s, the all-seeing fortune-teller, and decided to break out the tarot card and tell the kids fortunes.
You can see me here telling one witch her fortune while others wait in line. (Look how serious we are!)
And a long line it was. It snaked into the shop where the fortune-teller was waiting with the tarot deck . And it went out the door…..
….and in front of the shop on the sidewalk……
……and down the street. It seemed that it got longer and longer. We couldn’t believe how successful our little fortune-telling operation was. We gave out 600 pieces of candy and that was pretty much one per child.
I’m pretty sure that I told 300 hundred fortunes or more. I was amazed how many wanted their fortune told and how they listened so intently to what I told them. I really tried not to traumatize any kids. I was the kind of fortune-teller that everyone wants to visit. Only “good” fortunes here! Besides, I didn’t want the kids to have to get years of therapy to recover from the fortune they were told on the Halloween of 2009 on Main Street in Front Royal. 🙂
And after they got their fortune, they, of course, got their treat!
The good news is that they all enjoyed it and no tricks were played.
Maybe the fortune-teller will come back and tell fortunes again. You just never know….
Last Wednesday night at Art Class we worked on an acrylic underpainting of a lemon. Instead of oil paint we used acrylic paint and only using black and white we painted the shading that we saw of the lemon.
The final 3rd Thursday Art Walk of the season is tonight from 5 – 8 p.m. in downtown Front Royal. Be sure to come out and enjoy some refreshments and see the artist demonstrating. Delilah’s will have a tent sale as well as demonstrations. And I believe there will be pumpkin carving demonstrations at the Blue Ridge Arts Council. Just in time for the season! Come join us. We’ll look forward to seeing you.
The Festival of Leaves in Front Royal was Saturday and we had a good time despite the yucky weather in the morning. As the day went on the weather got better. I set up the tent and painted outside of Delilah’s. (Thanks to Sandy Patterson, a terrific photographer who has beautiful work at Delilah’s, for taking this photo.)
I completed this painting during the festival. It is a fall version of the painting that I did a few weeks ago for the Strasburg Rotary Club. Fall offers many colors to put into paintings. It really brightens everything up!
This is the original version of the painting.
I picked them.
And washed them.
And cooked the pitted plums with a cup of water to get all that good juice going.
And once the cooked plums cooled a little, I squeezed the wonderful plum juice.
And then back into the pot the juice goes with sugar and Sure Jell. I’ve used Sure Jell for years and it always makes great jelly. Just follow their directions.
Ladle the cooked jelly into the prepared jars…
And then you have the finished product ready to share with friends. (Notice Truman, always in the background, giving instructions.)
This is the little creek that feeds into the river (See Monday’s postings) at Robin’s house. There was so much beauty – everywhere you looked, especially along this little creek.
And terrific features to paint like this little bridge that leads to the main house. 
As I walked along the river and the creek to take these photos, I saw tons and tons of smooth river rocks. But I was fascinated by the way the creek had etched out this slate and made it into long flat pieces. And the moss growing on it was just a bonus.
Robin’s beautiful home near Romney was the site of the Paint-out on Saturday. How wonderful that she shared her wonderful location with us. 
There was several buildings on the property that are unique. I love the boards on this one. 
And lovely settings like this that would make a great painting.
And this one too! Where to start???!!!! That is always the problem when you go to a new location that is rich with subject matter. It’s hard to know what to paint first. That is why digital cameras have been such a useful tool for painters. All those pictures…so little time to paint.
One thing I love to do is gather with other artist to paint. This weekend there was a Paint-Out in Hampshire County, West Virginia where my cabin is located. I joined their Arts Council last year and when I got an invitation to attend the Paint-out I jumped at the chance. 
Every direction you looked at the river was a beautiful shot.
And my favorite was the convergence of the creek with the river.
As I have mentioned several times in the last few weeks, the Blue Ridge Arts Council’s current show hanging in the gallery at 305 East Main Street is “A River Runs Through It”, all about the Shenandoah River. We are so lucky to have such a beautiful feature in our town.
Up on Twin Mountain in West Virginia yesterday we walked along the orchard road. Along with the apple trees there is a long row of plum trees.
The plums are dark purple but they show up blue on the trees. Really beautiful! And the trees are loaded. 
Aren’t they great??? Just waiting to be ready to make into jelly!
There are so many advantages to living in a small town that it’s hard to complain when you run into one of the disadvantages. 
The Studio 