June 28 Saturday I was in a show at Anna’s Cutting Garden. It was a beautiful but windy day, 40 MPH wind but we still had a GREAT time. It is a place you might just like to go see any time. Every year Anna has the show about the same time of the year. It is for Habitat for Humanity so I strongly suggest you go next year and have a fantastic time – Anna Geyer, 1259 Rohret Road S.W., Oxford, Iowa 52322.  On Sunday, July 20th, I will be in Marshalltown, IA at the Fischer Art Center.

I will be at Hooverfest 2008 in West Branch, IA on Saturday, August 2nd.  There will be no class.

On August 23rd from 9am to 4pm I will be at Brucemore (2160 Linden Dr. SE) in Cedar Rapids, IA.

On Saturday August 30th I will be in Sioux City, IA at the Art Splash. There will be no class.   This means there will be only two Saturday classes in the month of August.

I will be in Mount Vernon, IA at 489 Standing Rock Road on Saturday, September 27th

I had a great time in Bedford Iowa and again in the Rock Island show:
And for someone who said they are through with shows here are my next shows for this year.
It is a lot of work but you meet such Fantastic people it makes it all worth while. Maybe next year I will slow down.

Saturday June 30th:-Anna’s Cutting Garden: It is for Habitat for humanity
Sunday July 15-Marshalltown, Iowa
Saturday August 4th Hoover library

Grand daughters wedding end of July another end of August. Maybe I can learn no on any more shows this year.
I have been going out in the motor home and painting early mornings. The last 4 mornings I have been in the Palisades Park.  Some of the places I have been I can not find again. I know it was near Toddville and I think I have taken every road except the one that says road closed.  I drive the roads and think well, this is easy to find, I can drive down a road and think yes, I was down this road, now where did I go from here? No luck. Let’s hope I can find my way back to where I was Sunday night. I know the sign said end of road. As you can see when looking for a place to paint I do not pay attention to how I get there. It is easy to find your way home but not back to where you were.

For all of you artists, the light at that time of day is fantastic and the bugs are not as bad as they are in the evening.  Inside the motor home seems too confining. In some places it is safer, but when in a park or an area where the cars do not kick up a lot of dust, outside is still the best.

I have a very small motor home and I finally found a way to stand up and paint. I love the one I have but in three years I plan to get one with bigger windows and a push button generator, 19 miles to the gallon, and maybe even a push button awning. Things I did not know before I bought this one. This is a learning experience for what I want in a motor home and I am thankful for what I have.

My favorite quote:
I’d rather be a Could-Be if I cannot be an Are; because a Could-Be is a May-Be who is reaching for a star. I’d rather be a Has-Been than a Might-Have-Been by far, for a Might-Have-Been has never been, but a Has was once an Are.
  — Milton Berle  with his punctuation.

2. Saturday and Sunday, June 9thth and 10th:  Left Bank Art League’s 51st Annual Art Fair.  The event will take place in the Black Hawk State Historic Site in Rock Island, Illinois. I have not been in this show before. I will be taking van and trailer. My trailer is too small to pull behind motor home. I am told if I can not see it I can not back up.
Besides gas mileage would not be good. 

3. Sunday July 15 – Marshalltown, Iowa. A wonderful spot and I was so impressed with the show last year I am taking my van and trailer.

Up to now I have avoided one-day shows because set up takes 2-3 hours but I can always take the motor home, do an easy setup and make it a painting trip.  What ever way I will have a great time.

My favorite quote:
I’d rather be a Could-Be if I cannot be an Are; because a Could -Be is a May -Be who is reaching for a star. I’d rather be a Has- Been than a Might- Have -Been by far, for a Might -Have -Been has never been, but a Has was once an Are.
  — Milton Berle  with his punctuation.

One of the wonderful gifts we have received from the Creator is the freedom to choose. It is fascinating to see each day how the choices we make affect us and those around us. We always have the freedom to make a choice that can lead us to heartache. Or we can choose a way that will lead us to triumph. You have been given the freedom to choose between the bad, the better, and the best. Being blessed is having the knowledge to know what is the best and be grateful that with the Maker’s help, you have been able to choose the best on a regular basis.
I do not know who wrote this quote but it is a good one.

 I have been busy with painting on location, sometimes I can not find my spot again because I travel gravel roads and some are still very soft. I do not pay attention because I am looking for a safe spot to paint. Oh well, at least I find my way home.
I am beginning to find a way to paint inside my motor home. It is 30 years old and in very good shape for that but the windows are really too small.  I will adjust.

The yard is almost finished for the year and time to put the bug repellant on the yard. I will give it to you again because it really works. I do it spring and fall but the directions say once a year.
  1/3 Listerine
  1/3 Epson salts
  1/3 stale beer
Mix together and spray on everything. No flying bugs any where. Epson salts is hard to dissolve, after a day or so I take what is left in the bottom and put it in the microwave to heat and dissolve the last little bit. It still works.

The unveiling of my portrait of Christie Vilsack on Monday, January 8th was quit an experience.  I left for Indianola to varnish the painting I did of Simpson College past president. Then off to Newton to visit Clif’s aunt. Got home about dark and had a perfect day and weather. I am always blessed with orders to paint and draw. The best part I am blessed with the people I meet and teach. I believe I would keep doing what I do even if I were rich. I do not know what I would retire to.
I finished painting Christie Vilsack (the wife of Iowa’s governor). She came to my studio Friday, October 6th, 2006 and picked up the painting.  Again she had my picture taken with her and the portrait.

I am so thankful that both Christie and her husband liked the painting.

I am always blessed with orders to paint and draw. The best part of my life is that I am blessed with the people I meet and teach.  I believe I know the best people in the world.

Please come to my one person art show December 3 through December 27. It is through the Central Iowa Art Association.  The show will be in the Fisher Community Center! It is a beautiful building and the people are extra nice.   I will display 32 paintings, oils, watercolor, mixed media and pastels.

I copied this from an e mail I got and thought it would be good to pass it on:
How to save your self if alone with a heart attack.
Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles from the hospital nearest your home. Unfortunately you don’t know if you’ll be able to make it that far.
Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, this article seemed to be in order. Without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. A breath and a cough must be repeated about very two seconds without let up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again.  Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital.  I finished painting Christie Vilsack (the wife of Iowa’s governor). She came to my studio Friday October 6th and picked up the painting. Again she had my picture taken with her and the portrait. I hope I get a copy of the photo. 

I am so thankful that both Christie and her husband liked the painting. I’m now waiting for the payment.  I can not show you a picture of it until after the unveiling in November. So that will be my next email. I am always blessed with orders to paint and draw. The best part I am blessed with the people I meet and teach. I believe I would keep doing what I do even if I were rich. I do not know what I would retire to.

My son Jim my grandson Julian and I took a trip to attend the Crow Fair. The dancing and costumes were out of this world.  As teens do, Julian soon got tired of the POW WOW.

We went for a ride and after some time, found a place where we thought he could go four wheeling. I painted while they waited for someone to come. After a few hours Julian read in the brochure “must make reservations in advance.”
We decided to find where the road would lead us. The road got very narrow. Not even room for a 4 wheeler to pass in most places.   The view from the window of the motor home was straight down. We may have been able to turn the camper around in only a couple of places. Well 10 miles later and 9000 feet we found a coal mine. There was a good place to turn around, so Jim and Julian walked up the hill where the road was washed out. They could see down into Yellowstone and a good road down the other side. There was no way to get there so we went back the way we came. It was beautiful and I am glad we did it. People looked at us and ask how we got there.  No other cars were seen but several 4 wheelers.   The trip was great fun but fast. Next trip I plan to paint more.I have been very busy painting Christie Vilsack.  I will put the picture in the news letter when I am finished.
It needs to be done in September. The actual due date is October 15, but you know me: I always want to be finished ahead of time. Last minute scares me.
Shows in September are MIDCOAST FINE ARTS – RIVERSSANCE FESTIVAL OF FINE ART, September 16 and 17. If I have enough work done on my painting I may be in the one in Madison Indiana the following weekend.

Keep drawing, and remember if your sketch pad is by the TV, you can at least draw during commercials.

Five minutes will make you very good in one year.

Love is the ability and willingness to allow those that you care for to be what they choose for themselves without any insistence that they satisfy you.  — Wayne Dyer

I have received a great commission.  I signed the contract yesterday to paint a 24 x 30 portrait of Christy Vilsack, the Governor of Iowa’s wife.  Don’t worry; it is not paid for out of taxes!   I will do my best but I can use everyone’s prayers.

I have two portraits to finish by July 25th; many frame orders, 3 sculptures of dogs and other fun stuff!

Sunday July 16th:  I was in an art show on the Fisher Community Center grounds in Marshalltown, Iowa. It was very hot! The thermometer said 104 but the news said was only 99 with humidity; people actually came and bought pictures in all of that heat!

Saturday August 3: Downtown West Branch, Iowa in conjunction with the art show in the Hoover Library, I will have two paintings hanging in that show.

For the month of August I will be having fifteen to twenty of my paintings hanging in a one person show at Mercy Hospital, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The next show is Saturday and Sunday September 16 and 17 in Rock Island, Illinois. The show is called “The Riverssance Art Show.” That may be my last show this year.

I sold my first motor home because everything needed fixing. I worked on it for 3 weeks and sold it. The next day, I bought another 30 year old motor home to use for painting landscapes. The engine has only 10,000 miles and everything works.  I will use it as soon as I catch up on orders. I like to sit outside and paint but now I can even paint in the rain.

Remember if you are selling your art you should think about using the best quality of supplies available.

This picture was on a 24 x 26 clay board. It is archival and wonderful to work on.

You can erase and shade easily. Try it on your next drawing.

Only show in July is:
July 16th from 10-4 on the Fisher Community Center grounds in Marshalltown, Iowa.
I have 2 portraits to finish by July 15, and on with painting the Governor’s wife. It should be great fun.

Mix together equal parts skim milk and water, spray on roses and no bugs on roses.
Barbara Jones Prall
 

Giclee’s
Giclee (pronounced zhee-clay) is a French term meaning “to spray” which properly describes the method used to apply the ink to the surface of this fine art product.  Each giclee is created one at a time using digital technology and painstaking efforts to match the artist’s painting as closely as possible.  The Giclee’s edition is a wonderful new reproduction that gives collectors another option. Giclee’s reproductions art typically printed on canvas and are framed without glass or matt board. These premier reproductions have the look of an original painting and give the collector a piece of the art that is unique.
Each Giclee is hand touched by Barb making each one slightly different.

Have a wonderful Summer