Welcome 2018!

Welcome 2018! I hope you had a great start into this new year!
My very best wishes to you and yours! A new year upon us gives us a chance to reflect back and also plan ahead. I am in the midst of both. Here is a little vignette I created for my Instagram feed, it shows the nine most popular posts of the last year. Yes, I was travelling, painting as often as I could, hm, or should we say: walking the tightrope between my mommy life, wife life and artist life. Surely keeps things interesting, haha! I think for the most part it worked out thanks to my supportive family big and small. Thanks guys!

Welcome 2018 with an apple a day!

orig. oil pastel 4.5x6.5in approx.

purchase info click here

What am I looking forward to in 2018? I want to tackle my website, which likely means a complete overhaulin'. Painting regularly and especially POSTING more regularly. I have been pretty good on my social feeds, but my blogs and newsletter have been neglected somewhat.
In the spring I hope to do some renovations to my little Shasta travel trailer. This old girlie is in her 50's, so requires some TLC along the way...
Well, the year is young, so let's start with some fun and bright small sketches! Have taken my oil pastel set out and just finished 'An Apple a Day'. The system of applying paint is the reverse of watercolour, where I usually start with very light washes and work my way to darker and darker shades. Here i am very roughly outlining where my subject shouldbe on the paper and start with darker colours first before adding lighter tones and highlights last.
I'll keep you posted as I'll be working my way through hopefully more little sketches. I hope they'll help me judging values when painting from life.

I'm sending you my very best wishes for the new year, may your dreams and hopes come true, esp. health and happiness and God's blessings!

Christmas Snow St Andrews

Christmas Snow St Andrews

orig. oil on canvas, 8x10in, $225

more info and purchase here

I hope you had a great Christmas this year! In our house it was a bit different. My husband came down with a bug and was sick to his stomach for a full 24 hours. He spent his Christmas 'talking to the big, white phone' as he so calls it. Poor dude. We even had to cancel our annual pay-what-you-want dinner that day! It was pretty upsetting (pun intended;-).
So, on Boxing Day I decided to head out with my oil paints to capture the low afternoon sun at low tide. However, I never made it out to Indian Point. Once I saw the beautiful interplay of shapes and colours in the homes lining Water Street, I just had to pitch my easel there. Hence the title Christmas Snow St Andrews.
Smart me, I dressed warm and had hand warmers with me. The temperatures dropped as I was painting the afternoon away and by the time I was done, my toes were really cold and the finger tips nippy. However, the oil paints stayed great, got a bit more sticky maybe, but overall, a great performance. In contrast, when I venture out with my watercolour, painting is very different. There my paint freezes inside the palette and onto the brush (even with water being replaced with vodka or other high percentage clear spirit of sorts).

On another note:

Now, the New Year is fast approaching and I have a few more camper calendars here. So, as a Special I've reduced my camper calendars more than half to $10 (first come first served, click here to order)!
If you are looking for a glamping gift for a friend or yourself, now's the time! If you have ordered one and like to get another to give away, no better time than now!
Thank you so much for all your encouragement this past year!
Stay put what's coming in the new year- I am working on some fun new ideas! Stay tuned!

Girlcamper Podcast Feature

Wow, what a suprise! Yesterday I listened to the Girlcamper Podcast by Blogger and GoRVing contributer Janine Petitt. She featured my vintage camper calendar, Creative Journey and glamping gift ideas on her Podcast Show!

The show was titled Christmas Gift Guide from our Women Entrepreneurs (Episode #112) and you can listen to it by clicking HERE.
The title made me grow a couple of inches instantly, haha! Thanks Janine! For anyone not knowing of www.Girlcamper.com phenomenon yet, I invite you to check out her website, Facebook or Instagram. You'll feel empowered to go on your adventure, even if you have never camped before or hitched a trailer. I like women like her, they give us the tools, the know-how and right contacts to make our dreams come to life, she makes us feel confident that we can do it; be it to travel alone or with other women, start something new, reach for the stars and adventure further then we've ever done before.

And what is Your dream?

What is YOUR dream? What do you need to make it happen? And what needs to happen to bring this dream out from the 'dream closet' and out in the open to actively pursue its fulfillment? See, whatever your dream might be, whatever it would need to make it reality... It likely is much easier to not walk alone but have a support network and team to cheer. Janine is someone like that. She rejoices with every woman who's dream of towing and exploring this glorious continent comes true.
Thank you Janine for all you do! For who you are! And for all your efforts to empower women to reach for the stars!

I have still some calendars and other artsy-glampy gift items available if you are looking for a meaningful, artist-direct item for the glamper in your life;-) I ship from the US twice a week and to Canada daily. Hop on over to my web store to see what's available;-)
With your purchase you support a living artist, mom and small business. Thank you very much, it means so much!

East Coast Woman Powerhouse

Today I want to introduce you to Sheena Young, a real East Coast Woman Powerhouse.
A couple of days ago I was invited to check out a fleet of fishing boats on Deer Island, NB, Canada to be captured in a watercolour painting.
starting a small sketch of the Young Family fleet of boats[/caption]

The Young Family

All boats are owned by the same family, fishing the waters of the West Isles for several generations now. The family has expanded since into selling quality Atlantic lobster wholesale abroad. Their business is called Young's Lobster Company. The little wharf in Leonardville seemed to be a family operation. Sheena, who invited me, introduced all the boats by name- from her dad's fishing boat, to her brother in law's and other relatives' boats anchored. Dad is also the wharfinger (or harbour authority).
Everyone in these small coastal towns works together and looks out for one another, dad explained as every family works so hard to make a living. Fishing is a tough life, but I have always found the people genuine and very likeable. Sort of like the lobster they fish: tough and rough on the outside, but special and sweet on the inside. Reminding me of the locals in my native German Bavarian alpine region.

Lobster Fishing

The day was dreary, overcast with that smell of snow in the air. People that live in colder climates know that special smell, we even say to one another: 'it smells like snow today'. Two days ago, it smelled like snow, temperatures around the freezing point. It was supposed to be the start day of lobster season. A very special day for any lobster fisherman.
For days and weeks preparations have to be done. From making sure there is enough traps and buoys (yes, it appears this is the correct plural spelling), rope, and so on... the traps are to be filled with bait and equipped with long rope to haul up from the ocean floor. Each trap is carefully stacked on the back of each boat. The boats are loaded to capacity as it will be a race to be first at the best fishing grounds. So, having as many cages per run as possible is very important. To me it seems almost a science when I look at those loaded boats. (There is more info and statistics on the government website by clicking here).
As said, it should have been the first day of lobstering season, but it had to be postponed for one day due to high winds offshore. That was my signal to take the ferry to Deer Island to take photographs and make sketches from the Young family fleet.
Sheena and her family were already at the wharf getting last things seen to, her brother in law bringing in his new boat from the mooring and docking 'Explorer 1' next to the other family boats. Dad was bringing down the delivery truck from the lobster wholesale biz to the wharf.

Visiting the Lighthouse

After taking oodles of photos, I warmed up with a cup of tea from my thermos, went for a short drive to the lighthouse. Lucky me, a couple of guys were working on replacing the lead-painted shingles, so I stopped by the road and asked if I could sneak a peak inside. They said yes and here is a pic I took.

Usually the lighthouse is not open for visitors- what luck, this made my day! (Sheena leads a community group 'Friend’s of Leonardville Lighthouse' who are hoping to gain possession of the now ‘surplus’ property of Department of Fisheries and Oceans. This woman does it all)!

I think I've found the epitome of a strong East Coast Woman Powerhouse in Sheena! You go, girl!!!!

I hope to being able to start the large painting soon, I will keep you posted with the final result...
Thanks for stopping by and stay in touch,
Simone
Below, the video is not from Deer Island, but I wanted to include it anyway. See how massively loaded those boats are??

Annual Gift Sale Starts Today!

Wow, has October flown by so fast! And as we on the East Coast still enjoy phenomenal late-fall weather with warm temperatures, I have been busy designing gift items for the vintage camper  and art lover. My annual gift sale and Christmas sale is starting today and I hope you get a chance to stop by my online shop.

Greeting Cards:

My greeting cards have been very popular in the past and people like picking them up throughout the year. As a thank you for your continued support, I am offering special bulk rebates for greeting cards on top of my sale prices. So if you are looking for some quality stationary for your glamping friends or bundle a few together as a hostess gift or stocking stuffer, these would fit the bill (and not break the bank). Quantities of 10 or more receive 10% discount, 20 or more receive 20% discount!

New this year, holiday greeting cards!
After seeing how much people loved the gingerbread house themed little Shasta camper, I have decided to offer my favorite holiday themed glampers as seasonal cards. They have writing on them, too. (The snowy pink Aljo is on backorder, but should arrive soon. Will list once it arrives).

calendars:

of course, the calendars have arrived, too. I am offering a glamping calendar featuring your 12 favourites, the winners of the October voting held on my blog. You can check it out here.           
And for my non-glamping friends, there is a calendar, too. 'Creative Journey Caledar' features 12 watercolours created this year, from florals to land and seascapes and the gingerbread camper for December, it features a bit of everything what I've been working on these past months.
Fun Christmas gift tags are here, too... check them out- perfect little stocking stuffer. 12 for $5.
Looking for a one of a kind gift? Still have a couple of slots open for your special glamper commission painting. And of course:  free shipping for $60 or more.
Anyhow, I better get back to packaging a bit more and hope you get a chance to stop by my annual gift sale!

What's Your Favorite Camper? Voting Has Started!

September is over, all paintings are painted, now it's time to vote! I ask you for help to select YOUR most favorite 12 campers I have painted this past month. These 12 will be featured in my 2018 Vintage Camper Calendar.

3 lucky winners will receive a calendar, just leave your email at the voting page. I need your email to contact you if you win;-)

I will keep this short, but hope you'll hop on over to my voting page and choose your favorite glampies!

thank you and stay in touch!!

Simone

Vote for your favorite paintings!

This collage shows all paintings I created this September past. It was a lot of work, but I enjoyed the journey very much! Thank you for all your encouragement along the way- it means so much!

Now I am asking YOU to tell me which glamper paintings you enjoy the most!

Please ‘like’ as many as you want, come back often and tell your friends! The more people participate, the more fun!

The 12 most voted-for campers will be featured in my 2018 calendar!

Voting will be on until Sunday, October 8, 2017, 8pm EST

Side note: Please allow a couple of seconds to add your vote (clicking often and very fast will cancel your ‘like’ again). Only one like per image per visit. 

The link below should bring you directly to my website voting page.

http://simoneritterart.com/vote-favorite-glampers