Linda Barnicott Painter of Memories

From my family to yours, Happy Easter! We're not even going to talk about the fact that it's freezing outside. It's almost like Mother Nature is saying, Ha ha! April Fools! Regardless of the weather, we're looking forward to a beautiful Easter weekend as we reflect and enjoy. This last week was filled with delightful days of painting the Ship Hotel. I think the sky in this piece may be my most exciting one ever! I was tickled pink as I applied each layer, running up and dow...n the steps to my studio between sessions, as my inner art critic screamed I love this! and I’m actually getting the look I want! You might think that I should know it all by now, and that nothing would surprise me about painting after all these years. But I feel as if I'm always discovering more with each new project. To me, learning new things is an essential part of life's journey. Speaking of learning I learned about something very cool this week! As I've shared with you in these last few weeks, I've had to put a lot of "puzzle pieces" together for this painting, and this week was no exception. As I was looking at old photos, I noticed that some showed nautical flags running from flagpole to flagpole above the ship-shaped hotel, though I couldn't make them out. I also realized that there were other photos that didn't seem to show the nautical flags at all. Having been a sailor in my younger days, I thought it would be cool to use those nautical flags in the painting. But was there a special meaning to the flags and their order? Who better to ask than my oldest and dearest friends who just happen to live on their sailboat full time and have for nearly a decade? I knew the flags meant something, which I may have known in my previous life but had totally forgotten since then. Were they displayed in a particular order to convey a message? Or were they just randomly hung up there for fun? I learned that each flag pattern represents a letter of the alphabet. As we brainstormed on the subject (always one of my favorite parts of creating), Ron came up with the idea of spelling out THE SHIP HOTEL! So, as you can see below, he put together the sequence of flags to spell out the hotel's name. I painted them hanging straight at first, and then I bent them as if they were flying in the wind. I absolutely love that I could use the flags to send a secret message - just one more piece that will make up the story behind this painting. Next up, I'll be working on the top decks and the front of the hotel so stay tuned for more! Have a beautiful weekend, and I'll update you again next week! P.S. Don't forget to check out my website if you're looking for a special gift or a memory to share. www.lindabarnicott.com

Spring officially arrived this week and brought some warmer weather with it, so I've enjoyed spending a lot of time outdoors working on my garden. After I took the first spring photo, I went on to clean both the front yard and the back yard to get it ready for mulch. I'm thinking Tom and I may lay all the mulch ourselves this year instead of hiring a landscaper. The front yard won’t be so bad, but the back yard is four times the size. So no promises let’s see how we do! We'...re looking forward to the blooming of some new bulbs we added this year to brighten up the yard. We were very pleasantly surprised with the beauty of our winter garden with its shades of red, green, blue, yellow, and burgundy. Even in the cold, gray winter, our garden was a lovely splash of color. Claire from Exceptional Gardens designed it for us. The way everything works so well together in our small space is a living testimonial to her talent. In addition to our ongoing art project in our garden, art is happening in my studio as well. The Grand View Ship Hotel painting is taking shape, and progress is being made. What started as a thumbnail sketch was turned into a pen-and-ink drawing, then it was enlarged and transferred onto the museum pastel board, carefully (dare I say meticulously?) redefined, and then sprayed to be painted over. I have actually started brushing watercolor on as an underpainting. This will help map out the piece before I start using my pastels. I also painted a small pastel color version to get a feel for what I want the mood to be in the piece. (This is basically just a helpful exercise for me, not really something worth showing you.) I hope to have more progress to share with you next week. Enjoy the weather, enjoy spring and as always, stay tuned! P.S. Just a reminder if you happen to be in need of a gift or maybe a spring refresher for your own home décor, my website, www.lindabarnicott.com is full of great ideas!

With the coming of Daylight Savings Time, Tom and I have been enjoying the extra sunlight, and we love seeing new life emerging in our garden with the change in weather. But in addition to the seasonal joys of the arrival of Spring, this last week has also brought us a bit of excitement. (I'm sure you're asking "Excitement? What's that?") I was honored to be part of a special surprise for someone an anniversary surprise to be exact! It all started in January when I received ...Continue reading

I pray you all have been well this week. As for me, I've had more excitement and adventure in the last week than I have in the past year! As you may have read in my most recent newsletters, I've been working on my upcoming painting of The Grand View Ship Hotel that was once located in Schellsburg, PA. This week we took our first road trip in what seems like AGES to collect the some of the resources I needed to develop the painting. I've always loved this part of a project. I...Continue reading

Isn’t it nice to finally see some sunshine? I know I'm enjoying it. The sun inspires me. Tom and I actually got out last night and took a walk. I also was finally able to spend some time in my garden. Gosh, I wish I were a better gardener! I think I may have cut back some of my bushes a bit too far. I hope not. I guess time, sunshine, and Mother Nature will let me know! Meanwhile, the process of creating my new painting of the Ship Hotel has begun....Continue reading

It's been nice to have a little break in the cold weather this week. However, there was just one upside to the freezing weather we had last week it was the perfect time to perform a job that no one likes doing working on income taxes. Yes, taxes are one of those awful things that artists really, really hate papers (not the good kind of paper!) and numbers and more numbers! Give me a brush and an empty museum pastel board any time, and I'll sing all day long. But when I h...ave to deal with papers and bills and receipts I just want to run away and hide. This is why you didn’t hear from me last week. I thought about writing anyway, but who wants to hear about that sort of thing? (Maybe I shouldn’t assume!) Perhaps there are a few of you out there who love Tax Time, and boxes of receipts bring joy to your life like painting brings joy to mine. For all of you, my blessings! The good news is that now that the taxes are behind me, I'm beginning work on a pastel commission. It’s a painting that may be interesting to some of you and remind you of fun times and family road trips. Does anyone else remember driving across Pennsylvania along the old Lincoln Highway (Route 30) back in the day? Let’s say way back, like in the 50s, 60s or 70s? As you climb one of the many mountain summits on that route, you come upon a building that looks like a boat perched on the side of the mountain! There's a sign that tells you that from this spot, you can see three states and seven counties! Naturally, you can't help but pull over to the side of the road to check out that ship and enjoy that view. That one-of-a-kind building, about 17 miles west of Bedford, about 80 miles from Pittsburgh, was known as The Ship of the Alleghenies, the S.S. Grand View Point Hotel, or simply "The Ship Hotel." Of course, it wasn't actually a ship, but a building that served as a hotel, restaurant, and tourist trap for over 40 years. It was made to look like a boat, where you could stand on the "bow" and take in a scenic view of patchwork fields and farms surrounded by the Allegheny Mountains. The Ship Hotel was a great piece of Americana and a very famous stop for tourists along Route 30 until it closed in the 1970s. I would love to hear your stories about The Ship Hotel! Although this painting is a private commission, I'm excited to say that later I'll be selling prints of the painting as well. As this piece takes shape, as always, I'll share my progress with you of course, only after the future owner of the painting gets the first peek! Stayed tuned P.S. Though we won't be able to meet at the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show this year, my website is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to help with your gifting needs! www.lindabarnicott.com P.P.S. I'm not the only artist in the family. Check out the picture of my granddaughters working hard at their paintings!

Well, the decision has been made. For the first time in 27 years, I'm going to miss the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show. It's still up in the air whether the show will happen at all, and after speaking with John DeSantis (owner of the Home and Garden Show), I decided it would be wiser to sit this year out so as not to endanger family members with medical issues. Being the kind man that he is, John promised to reserve my same space for next year at least there's something to... get excited about! It’s hard to believe that it was 27 years ago that I set up my first booth in the old Convention Center. It was just a single booth in among the bathtubs and the windows on the second floor of the three-floor show. I was the only artist there and the only art booth on the second floor. There were a few galleries upstairs, but I was warned in advance that it got pretty hot up there, and most people were tired and grumpy by the time they got that far. So I took my chances on the second floor and hoped people would notice me in-between the plumbing and home improvement booths. I remember really going out of my way to get people's attention everything from putting balloons up to get people to look my way, to actually dancing in the aisle. I fell in love with the show that first crazy year, and it definitely boosted my career from that time forward. Back in those early days, friends from our church would come over about a month before the show to help me send out postcards announcing the show, where I would be located, and what was new for that year. Those great friends would address and stamp, while I would practice my cooking for them and make sure they had a good time helping out. I have so many fond memories of the Home and Garden Show over the years even the endless prep work and those frantic move-in and move-out days. I will surely miss all of it this year. February and early March are usually a super busy time for me, entirely consumed with the Home and Garden Show, but this year it looks like I'll have a lot more free time! So what I would like to do is to use that time wisely, and I'm thinking about what I can do instead. Stay tuned! I look forward to connecting with you soon.

This weekend we said goodbye to our beautiful Christmas tree, though I wish we could have kept it forever! This tree was our first Fraser fir, and it looked just as peppy this weekend as it did when we put it up actually, maybe even better. Every morning I turned the lights on, and every night at some point I sat for a while in our living room and just gazed at its beauty. We decorated our tree with Tom’s boyhood ornaments, giving it a very traditional, old-fashioned look a...nd reminding us of happy holidays long ago. The fir tree's evergreen branches are a symbol of constancy, faithfulness, and the persistence of tradition. This year, that seemed especially appropriate to me because no matter how crazy the world gets, inside our home, there is peace. In 2020, we created new traditions as we adapted to life in a pandemic. We saved a lot on gasoline our hair grew and we all learned to cook a little better (Tom is very happy about that!). I even lost my pierced ears they healed shut! As I look ahead to a new year, I wonder what it will hold. Two weeks in, it hasn't been very exciting so far! Mostly I’ve been dealing with the debris left behind after shutting down the Holiday Market early and fulfilling online sales. I also took advantage of the good weather last week, spending time outside, cleaning up my gardens and getting some fresh air. Reviewing my emails over the last couple weeks, I was delighted to hear from several of you who gave my work as gifts this year. Your stories brought tears of joy to my eyes! So now I would like to hear from you again I'm heading back to the studio, and my options are open. What should my next painting look like? What season should I paint? Will there be people in the scene, or will it be a long view? Any ideas? The other day, a friend told me that there is more to my paintings than just the subject. She said that I bring each one to life and give it a story of its own, told through my pastels. It really feels good to get such thoughtful feedback. What would you like to see me paint in 2021? I would love to get your input and also hear about your own hopes and dreams and goals for the New Year. Have a great week and may you feel peace in your heart.

Here's to a Happy, Healthy and Safe New Year, from the Barnicott home to yours! May we begin 2021 with peace in our hearts and strength as we move forward. Even with the People’s Gas Holiday Market closing two weeks early, it's been a very busy season for me. Between the sales of my Jolly Old Elf books, my new painting, Remembering the O, and a number of other pieces, my days have been filled with processing orders and sending Tom to the Post Office. I wish I could say t...hat 100% of my artwork got to its destination before December 25th; sadly, it didn’t. Even packages that were mailed in early December seemed to get stuck out there somewhere. This hasn't been a banner year for the Post Office, especially with the pandemic. I think next year I’ll just send all your gifts directly to Santa for delivery. He always seems to get the job done! My grandkids were thrilled, as you can see from Aria’s face! Speaking of delivering, Tom and I ended up playing Santa on Christmas Eve, trying to get late orders out to as many people as we could so they would have them for Christmas. It was great fun showing up out of the blue, our faces covered with masks, knocking on doors and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! The good news is that today I'm hearing reports that our mail deliveries are finally getting through. If you haven’t seen it yet, Harry Funk wrote a wonderful article in The Almanac-South Hills about my "Jolly Old Elf" book. We had such a good time talking about the book and all the paintings in the series. I hope you get a chance to read it. The Studio Edition of the book is already sold out, but I'll be happy to personalize the Standard Edition if you order it online. You can find the book on my website here: https://lindabarnicott.com/product/the-jolly-old-elf-book/ Hoping you all have a great day tomorrow to start off the brand new year! I can't wait to get back to my easel and paint, paint, paint!

Introducing my brand new tumblers! They’re stainless steel + insulated and feature two of my favorite designs: My Hometown & Santa’s Woodland Christmas. Stop down at the Peoples Gas Holiday Market tonight to get one! It’s our last night down in Market Square, so we’d love to see you!

The People’s Gas Holiday Market is here! This year I'm in a new location you can find me in the corner across from Starbucks. The old saying "the early bird catches the worm" is very appropriate because the Chalet is fully stocked this weekend with the best selection that will be available for the rest of the season. If you prefer to shop online, it also pays to order now so that there's a better chance that popular pieces can be restocked in time for Christmas. The firs...t 100 plates from my Limited-Edition Heirloom Solid Bronze Santa plate from Wendell August Forge (the "Artist Series") will also be available at the Holiday Market. Each one is numbered from #1 to #100 and individually hand-signed. I'll even take requests for specific numbers on a first-come-first-served basis. Just stop by the Chalet or drop me an email to reserve your special number today! The rest of the edition (#101 through #1000), can be ordered from Wendell August Forge. I can't wait to see you in Market Square or online at www.lindabarnicott.com. PS - the second photo in this post is a sneak peek of something I've been working on. I think it will be a hit with kids and adults of all ages. Stay tuned!

Brand new solid bronze plate with a limited edition of 1000. Each plate comes with a certificate of authenticity and my signature engraved on the back. They make a perfect holiday gift! Shop now before they are all gone!