Have Brush Will Travel

November Storm in Virginia

2009-11-14T16:36:00.005-05:00

We have just made it through a terrible Nor'easter here in Southeast Virginia! It started to rain late Monday night and it has been raining steady ever since. We have had rain again today! We must have gotten over 8+ inches of the wet stuff.
The worst has been the wind! Little did we know it was going to be THIS bad!! We had tropical force winds for 4 days steady with many gusts of 75 mph! Our tides have been as bad as it was during Hurricane Isabel!
We have had monsoon type rains with strong wind, it has been horrible. The governor has declared our area a disaster area! Schools have been closed, all city offices and services closed, no mail and all of the areas bases were closed. My mom was without power from Thursday until this afternoon. We were lucky, and never lost power.
Tomorrow, we go an check on our boat in the marina. So far, it is still afloat!
A tug pulling a barge from Puerto Rico to NY lost a cable and the barge is a runaway. It ended up at our beach in Sandbridge! It is heading for the fishing pier and no way to stop it. I have to watch the news tonight to see what happened. I have a photo of the salvage crew being flown aboard to flood the bilges to slow it's progress. Bad thing about this barge is, it is full of hazardous waste! Oh boy!
The other photo is of one of the local marinas, it was almost destroyed by the storm and waves. We just had some branches and siding come off. The yard is flooded, but that will get absorbed eventually.
I have to admit, I am tired of being cold, wet and not seeing the sun! Tomorrow is supposed to be a nice day, I think our area could use that.

Bathroom Vanity

2009-11-02T20:46:00.002-05:00

We painted this bathroom vanity last week. It was in a new construction and the owner already had an idea of what she wanted on the vanity.
The area to paint was tight quarters and we had to juggle whom painted where and when. Of course, it didn't help that the power line workers cut the power to the house at lunch time and then never came back!! So our blow dryer was no use to us. We painted until we had to stop with wet paint and no way to dry it!!
We came back the next morning and yeah, power was back on! So we quickly painted and stared to add the poly finish. Mom was blowing it dry to add the second coat when we heard the power folks saying power was being shut off in 5 minutes. Quick, blow quickly! Sure, enough a few minutes later the power went off again. Luckily, we were done!! Oh the joys of working on a construction site!!

Faux Bamboo Door

2009-11-02T20:41:00.003-05:00

We had fun today painting a doorway and door with faux bamboo. The owner has lots of bamboo around her house and loved the idea of bamboo on her bedroom door.
We loved the finished look too! After we came back from lunch, she wanted us to paint another doorway also!! They look great.

Day at Colonial Downs Race Track

2009-10-26T00:21:00.006-04:00

We had the chance to spend the day at Colonial Downs Race Track today. It was great!
This was the first time I have seen harness racing in person, and not on the television. I had the opportunity to participate in a charity race before the real races began. I couldn't believe that no one in my husband's company wanted to do it. So, I spoke up and said I did! Six other people from other company's also made up our race. We were just along for the ride, but it was great!!!
They gave us helmets and tipperary vests for protection. I am wearing a green jacket and vest. My driver's name was Tyler, he was very nice to have me climb aboard! Our horse was Kelly's Traveling Man. He is a pacer, so it was interesting to watch him move.
We were last out of the barn onto the track. The barn in on the opposite side of the track from the grandstand. We followed a truck with a gate attached to it, past the grandstand and to the far turn. We all made an about turn and got closer to the gate as the truck increased it's speed. We never really got close to the truck, still behind on the outside.
All of the horses sped up and the race was on! We still were behind everyone. The driver "hissed" at the horse and boy, did he shift into gear! We suddenly were in the middle of the group and moving up! He hissed again, and again, the horse just shot forward! It was great!
We Won!! What a great experience it was, I want to do it again!!

Latest horse portrait

2009-10-25T23:51:00.004-04:00

Cruisin' on a Goodbar

This is the latest horse portrait I have just finished. It is a equine portrait of "Cruisin' on a Goodbar", or "Cruiser" as we all know him!

The owner gave me a great photo to paint from and made my job so much easier!

This is painted on a 11" x 14" canvas board. That way, they can find a nice frame and just have to remove the glass.

The custom portrait is a surprise birthday present for her daughter. So happy birthday Ashley!

Latest murals

2009-10-20T18:00:00.007-04:00

this is the latest mural painting we have just finished today! We started in the kitchen doorway. The owner wanted some painted molding around the doorway to match existing woodwork in the house. We painted the molding and the shelf over the door. The terra cotta pots are more red to go with the decor of the room's drapes. We also painted some exposed bricks on each side of the door. We matched the tone of the bricks to the tile backsplash.

After talking to the owners, they asked if we could do something with their fireplace wall. They had just added the mantle and wanted more impact on that wall. A plasma tv is usually hanging on the black bracket. We matched the bricks again to the tile in the kitchen.

It is an open floorplan and needed to blend.
The fireplace faux bricks turned out better than we had expected!! It looked great! It has added so much to the wall. In fact, it looks like it has always been there! We were very pleased with the end results.

Amarillis Flowers in Master Bath

2009-10-01T20:47:00.002-04:00

This floral painting of an amarillis bulb is painted ona master bath wall. There is a slight angle corner in the wall. Dottie painted the bulbs in a glass vase on a white shelf. This is all paint, no real shelf, or glass vase.

Italian Village

2009-09-24T09:01:00.003-04:00

Mom & I were to paint a front of a hotel in Italy on a kitchen wall for a family. When we arrived, they had picked out another photo of Italy instead! This new picture had a lot more going on and more color, so we were pleased.
This mural is on a 9' high wall x 6' wide. It is on a smooth wall.
We loved all of the color, but I got to paint all of those roof lines!! As usual, mom & I painted our usual areas, me high=sky and clouds, mom low=water and hillsides! I tackled the houses. I swear I saw houses in my sleep! I spent a day and half just doing roofs!
While I was still struggling building my houses, mom went upstairs to the master bathroom and painted a couple of red amarillis bulbs in a glass vase on a faux shelf. I will post that picture when I get it from mom!
We finished the mural with the colorful boats in the water and the family just loved it!

My Horse all Drugged!

2009-09-23T19:52:00.002-04:00

This is a photo of my horse, Wyatt. He had rain rot in lots of places. The vet said rain rot starts as a fungus and becomes bacterial infections. We ended up drugging him because, it is painful to touch those areas. Wyatt is very easy to drug, this photo is less than 5 minutes after the shot!
He went to a safe and happy place for him, his food dish! He stayed with the dish holding up his head for about 45 minutes! I couldn't resist and took a picture of him. We had to shave quite a few areas so his thick coat wouldn't reinfect the areas. So this was a good thing and got it all done. Hopefully, day after tomorrow it will be much improved. Wyatt is such a good boy.

Bryan's 3 Dogs

2009-09-18T22:44:00.002-04:00

This is an acrylic painting I painted this morning. It features 3 dogs, 2 are no longer with us. My friend Bryan just made Chief Petty Officer in the Navy. This is his gift from his wife. These dogs were well loved and have a spot in his heart. So, his wife thought up the idea and I painted it. It is an 11 x 14 canvas board.

Portrait of "MY Buddy" RIP

2009-09-16T20:15:00.004-04:00

This is a custom portrait of My Buddy, a dark bay TB Gelding. He is being put down tomorrow due to multiple health problems. A sweet lovely horse. This is a painting I did for the owner to remember him. I have included the original photo.

Fairy Ring

2009-09-07T22:42:00.003-04:00

A friend of mine took this picture of a fairy ring out in one of the horse pastures. She said it was way in the back of the field!
We've had a ton of rain lately and a few of these "rings" have appeared! Love to see the magic.

Surf Art Expo on the Boardwalk

2009-07-13T10:39:00.015-04:00

We participated in the second annual Steel Pier Surf Classic and Surf Art Expo back in May. This is the first chance I have had to post all of the pictures.
It was held on the boardwalk between the jetty and 3rd Street in Virginia Beach, VA. It was over Memorial Day Weekend, and the weather was fantastic!!
Have Brush Will Travel (Carol & Dottie) and VB Tiki (Son Chris), joined forces and had one hugh booth.
Newlyweds Christina and Chris Buck showing off a large tiki table. Mom & I painted lots of canvas, metal tiki signs and tables with tiki artwork.
Chris was selected to be a sponser for the East Coast Surfing Championship (ECSC) coming up here at the beach in August.

WIP Floral Painting

2009-07-06T22:12:00.003-04:00

Well, here is the final version of this still life oil painting by Dottie. She submitted it as her test for the Society of Decorative Painters.

It is interesting to see the first photos and comparing them with this end photo. What an improvement!

The convention was in June and mom got word that she didn't pass. I can't wait to see the reason why!! They send a detailed explaination.
You have to use their line drawing and your own colors. So when you paint, you can not enlarge the pattern at all. It is very difficult for a painter that is used to using a whole wall as her canvas!!

We back !

2009-07-06T10:28:00.003-04:00

I am sorry we haven't been on our blog for quite awhile! We are now back and will be writing again. Thank you for all of our followers and friends.
Please stay posted for new happenings!!!

We had a lovely time at mom's house for the fourth of July. We celebrated on Sunday so all of the family could come. My poor husband was out in the rain doing the grilling! Well worth the effort. Friends of the family were there too,and it was wonderful. Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

The photo is my front porch decorated for the holiday weekend.

Happy Easter!

2009-04-11T22:28:00.004-04:00

Spring is finally here in Virginia! I am looking forward to having the family over to our house for Easter.
This past week has been crazy busy here, my oldest son bought his first place and we have been decorating! Lots of fun to buy things for his place!
We want to wish everyone a Happy Easter, and hope you have a wonderful day.
I am so happy to see signs of Spring, in my hydrangea bushes- the leaves are coming out! My daffodils are still blooming happily in my front yard. The pansies are perky after this last rain storm. They will last until the first heat wave, and then die off. That's ok, they were the only spot of color all Winter! Yeah! Spring is here!

Passion for Painting Award

2009-03-28T20:19:00.013-04:00

I have been awarded the Passion for Painting award by Gail Ragsdale. Thank you Gail!
List 7 things your love.-

Put a link to the one who picked you.-

Choose 7 others to pass the award to.- Notify them of the award.
1. my husband of 30 yrs
2. my two sons-fine young men now!
3. my 4 legged pets-2 german shepherds and 2 horses
4. sailing in out boat-we don't get out often enough
5. watching the sunset at the beach with a nice glass of wine
6. working with my mom painting murals
7. getting together with my friends and enjoying their company!
now to find 7 artists that haven't already been honored with this award!
1. Wyanne
2. Dottie
3. Lynne
4. Kari-Ann
5. Ingrid
6. Deborah
7. Danielle

WIP Still Life

2009-03-23T13:53:00.004-04:00

Here is an update on Dottie's work in progress on this still life. Some of the flowers are now in shadow, some more bright. The lemons became limes! She liked that color combo better. The basket handle has been worked on and the highlights more defined. Dottie had a clear acetate sheet with focal point circled. She has added 2 more larger circles. She uses those to help show what would have more light on them, depending on how far they are from the focal point.
Still not finished, lots more to add to it, the small flowers will be added last.

Arabian Art Challenge

2009-03-15T23:29:00.002-04:00

I am having so much fun participating in some of the challenges on www.wetcanvas.com! I discovered the Arabian Art Challenge and decided why not! This is my first attempt.It is acrylic on canvas paper. It is an 8 x 10. This is a portrait of Sanadik Ibn Estopa.

work in Progress-floral still life

2009-03-10T19:47:00.005-04:00

This is a WIP on a floral still life being painted by Dottie. It is a test for her certification with the Society of Decorative Painters. If you pass, you are a Certified Decorative Artist, or CDA. Once a year,the SDP puts out a black and white line pattern, you decide which colors and what if any the fruit will be. It will be judged in May. You are judged by a panel of certified or master painters. They have a checklist and will award you points. You have to have a certain amount of points to pass and be certified.You can not paint "outside of the lines", they check! They check your angle of light, and how it reflects or makes an object recede.
This is a few weeks of work, done in oils. I will post more as she progresses. She is using an Analogous color scheme. You must not omit anything, but you can add
but, you are judged on everything.. Dottie has found that if she puts the canvas in
in the back window of the car during the day it will dry (only if the
sun is out, of course!)

Week 9-Austrailian Stock Horse

2009-03-07T14:19:00.003-05:00

Finally found some time to sit down and paint this weeks project, the Austrailian Stock Horse. This is the wonderful breed of horse that was featured in the movie Man from Snowy River. Wonderful movie about this surefooted breed found in Austrailia.
I painted this on an 8 x 10 canvas paper with acrylic paints. This was a fun one to do!

Gypsy Vanner 2 Painting by Carol Buck

2009-02-28T14:38:00.001-05:00

Well, I still felt the urge to paint another Gypsy Vanner for the wetcanvas.com - breed a week project. So, this is what I did on a cold wet and rainy day!

week 8-Gypsy Vanner

2009-02-24T22:24:00.003-05:00

Here is weeks project on Wetcanvas.com breed a week-Gypsy Vanner. It is an acrylic painting on canvas paper. It is a 9 x 12 size. I was able to paint this in about 2 1/2 hours.

Breed a Week Project-Irish Draught

2009-02-21T16:50:00.002-05:00

I have been following the Breed a Week project on Wet Canvas for a couple of weeks. My schedule had been too busy to do anything but lurk! I have been wanting to start and finally found some spare time to submit my first for the project. This week is Irish Draught. I have been painting a lot of Arabians lately, and that was causing me a bit of a problem. Arabians have a very narrow throat latch area, Irish Draughts are much thicker there! So, I had to repaint the throat area, at least 4 times! So, this project will keep me from being in a "rut" and painting in the same style. I am pleased with this first attempt. I can't wait to see how my painting should improve by this time NEXT year!! I will post each week's project and we can check them out together!

Updated Photos in Website

2009-02-18T22:02:00.003-05:00

Please check out our website gallery of photos! I have just added 60+ new photos. This photo is some of the ones I just added! We really do have fun painting the murals. It is so satisfying to see a difference in a short space of time. It is fun to go back years later and see what we had painted then. We always say "it still looks great"! Most of our advertising is word of mouth for the past 15+ years.
This is an outdoor bath house located on the Chesapeake Bay. The owners were tired of the plain bath house. It is visible to the front door and needed something! We painted faux stones on 3 sides. We painted windows, shells on the window sills, flowers and bushes. The door got a faux wood grain treatment. Now the building is a cute addition to the house. The house had a facade of stacked stones which is why we did the stone work. The other side features a bistro table and chairs. Check out the gallery on our website for more!! We have added a work in progress gallery too!

Arabians on Wooden Plates

2009-02-17T21:29:00.004-05:00

This is a wooden plate made from monkeypod. I painted a sorrel arabian on a black background. I seem to be on an arabian theme at the moment! I have lots of these plates and plan on painting up most of them. I need more room on my shelf! So hopefully, I will get more on here painted up! I have this sorrel arab listed in my etsy store.
The camera has 'brightened' the photo. It is darker in person, and the muzzle fades into the background more.
I finished another plate tonight and here is the next one. It is a bay arabian on a black background also!

Chestnut Arabian Horse on Etsy-SOLD!

2009-02-12T10:53:00.003-05:00

This is something I have been wanting to paint for awhile, what ever I wanted!! I am inbetween commissions and could pick what ever subject I wanted. So this is the first of a few I will be painting.
This is a chestnut Arabian on a black background. It is an 8 x 10 canvas board. I have it for sale on etsy.

Commission Just finished

2009-02-10T00:06:00.005-05:00

I just finished painting this mare for a friend's daughter's birthday. She wanted her horse painted on the front of a jewelry box. "Baby" is a very sweet mare. I enjoyed painting her! I know Meredith with love this jewelry box with her mare on it.

Latest listing on Etsy- SOLD!!

2009-02-07T20:12:00.004-05:00

This is my latest listing on Etsy. I have been painting and drawing all afternoon. I took a quick break from painting on a jewelry box and drew this fresian aceo. I have been wanting to paint and draw for awhile, but had to finish rearranging my painting studio. Now that is done, I feel I can really do what I want to now!

Art Blog Award

2009-02-03T09:45:00.005-05:00

Thank you Linda for awarding this Seven Heavenly Scents Award. I am supposed to list 7 things that I love, and then pass the award on! Please check out Linda's blog! http://artwolfs-briar-rose-gate.blogspot.com/

1. The joy of riding your horse on a beautiful day! When everything goes right and both of you had a great outing!
2. My husband, Rob. For all of the things he quietly puts up with, while living with me!We just celebrated our 29th anniversary. Saving up for next year-going somewhere warm and needs a passport!
3. My children, now grown-thank goodness!Both sons have turned into delightful young men.
4. My mom, for passing her love of life, the I CAN DO anything attitude & art talent! Thanks MOM!
5. I love all of my pets, past and present! I can not imagine life with out my animals! They give so much joy to all of our lives!
6. PAINTING! The joy of seeing it come alive as you saw in your mind! Great!
7. Friends- What would the world be without friends!

I am having a hard time finding blogs that haven't already been tagged! I will keep searching!!

Beautiful Day here in Virginia!

2009-02-02T20:43:00.002-05:00

Today was just as nice here as could be! It was in the 60's, which is fantastic for the beginning of Febuary! I finally was able to get to the stables and go for a horse ride! My horse's name is Wyatt,an 8yr old, 17h Spotted Tennessee Walking Horse. We have had him since he was 22mo. old. He was slow to mature, so I didn't ride him a whole lot, just to remind him of his manners and his lessons.
He has turned out to be a very nice mannered, sane horse! I rode on trail with a friend at the stables. He also has a TWH and the two got along great. We crossed ditches, passed Nutreas in some of the water ditches, saw some deer and managed to not have the horses jump out of their skins!
It felt so good to get out in my saddle again, it has been quite a few months since I was able to saddle up my horse!
Since the weather was so nice today, it is something to be treasured, a gift! It was the nicest ride in a good long time! So this will be a great memory.

Our Website has 175 new photos!

2009-01-22T11:09:00.003-05:00

Our website had added 175 photos in the photo gallery! Please check them out and let me know what you think!!
This is a partial view of 15 years of murals and shows! I will be adding more pictures in a couple of days, my fingers are worn out!!
Looking back at all of these pictures, I just have to laugh. One day my mom and I were painting all day, my mom told me "to put more dimension on that section". Only it came out as "put more demensia on that section"! We laughed so hard at that, now we tell all of our customers, that we have demensia in all of our work!! So when I look at our photos, I am remembering things like that!
We enjoy what we do, and our customers are always saying that they can hear us laughing! We have always said, that when it becomes work, we will stop. We are not stopping yet!

Palomino ACEO

2009-01-18T13:16:00.002-05:00

Here is an ACEO I listed on Etsy.
this is now on a Etsy Treasury!
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=38662

Unicorn ACEO

2009-01-15T00:29:00.002-05:00

This is my first attempt at painting unicorns. I wanted to paint this unicorn to be hopefully included in the upcoming YouTube video made by one of our WHOA team members. She is putting together a whole bunch of paintings of unicorns! I will include it in this blog later on when it comes out!! I can't wait.

We finally have a website!

2009-01-14T19:14:00.002-05:00

Well, we finally have one! Please check it out and let us know what you think of it! We hope to expand more as we learn how to add and do things on the website. We have added a link to it on the right side of our blog.

Dottie is in Etsy Treasury!

2009-01-12T16:43:00.002-05:00

Here is a link for the treasury on Etsy

Table Top Painting

2009-01-01T21:42:00.004-05:00

This past April we were vendors at the 3-day event called Rolex,at the Lexington Horse Park, Lexington, KY. We spoke with so many people for those 4 days! One customer loved our paintings, but wanted her horse on something. We spoke for a bit and finally agreed that if she just sent the table top we could paint on it and ship it back with reasonable shipping fees all around. She did send us 2 table tops. She wanted four terriers on one and on the other she wanted her horse and parent's bearded collie. She sent lots of photos for us to pick and choose which was great!
I was painting the horse and dog. I painted her horse bending over the closed dutch door and the bearded collie touching noses with her mare. The top measured 28" diameter. I ended up with 10 coats of polyurethene finish for protection!

Happy New Year!!

2009-01-01T10:32:00.005-05:00

We wish to thank everyone who has viewed, commented and followed our blog for this year. We got started late in the year with this blog, but have enjoyed all of it so far!

New Year's Day finds us taking down the Christmas decorations inside of the house. We used to have a tradition of taking it down on New Year's Eve. We had too much to do and couldn't get it done in time!
We have all made our resolutions for the up coming year. Hopefully, we will be able to keep them!!
One of my resolutions is to paint more things for myself. I never have any of my artwork around, it is always sold or given away as gifts!

On Boxing Day (day after Christmas) we all go over to my mom's house for GUMBO! It is the highlight for my oldest son! It is a soup full of crab, shrimp and veggies. The photo with the sunflower tablecloth is my mom's dining room.

As a joke present we gave my older kids some pullback car toys. You pull them back and then they race forward. One of my german shepherds was fascinated by the toy.

New Treasury on Etsy

2008-12-26T10:16:00.035-05:00

Heavenly Horses Treasury on Etsy. I have been included in this treasury! Please check it out! It is with the girls on Etsy with the Whoa group.
It will be on view until 3 am. December 29th.
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=29059

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T22:46:00.003-05:00

We want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!
Thank you to everyone that has read this blog. This has been a new venture for us and we are still learning! Everyone has been very helpful in getting this blog up and running.
I hope that this next year will be so much nicer and better than 2008! I have high hopes for 2009!
We are having the family over tomorrow for Christmas dinner and it will be great to have our family around the table.
Have to stop and go wrap some presents.....can't wait for what Santa will bring in the morning!

Last minute Christmas Portraits

2008-12-23T22:33:00.008-05:00

I just finished in the nick of time two pet portraits for a friend of mine. She wanted a portrait of her son's keeshound, and her daughter's horse, Radar. So here are the pet portraits.
The keeshound and her son are inseperable and he will love the portrait of his dog.
Radar used to be a lesson horse and is now enjoying a well deserved retirement! I have known Radar for over 14 yrs and he is one of the best ponies! He is a chestnut appaloosa and a very forgiving nature. Allison will love to have her portrait of Radar. I love Radar's eyes, they look like he has eyeliner!
Both are painted with acrylics on 8 x 10 canvas boards. I have protected both with a finish.

EBSQ-Self Respresenting Artist

2008-12-16T21:13:00.002-05:00

I have just joined www.ebsqart.com. It is self-representing artists group. They will showcase your work, have forums to help you market your art. Check it out, it is a great group.

Christmas shopping

2008-12-16T20:35:00.002-05:00

Well, here it is, almost a week away from Christmas! I have just begun my Christmas shopping! Time is just flying by for me.
I have listed a few new things on etsy.com-carol's painted things. Please check them out!

We have just finished a couple of commissions. A customer sent us two table tops. She also sent us lots of photos of her dogs for one table, and her parent's dog and her horse for the other table. We were able to paint them and get them out to her for Christmas.

I am working on my final commission before Christmas, it is a vanity top. Again, the customer sent me the table top to paint. I am painting lady walking a horse down to the water's edge. I will post pictures once it is finished.

I still have to paint Christmas ornaments for my hunt club. Every Christmas, I paint on canvas square ornaments. The themes are with foxhunting and equestrian ornaments. So far, this will be the eighth year for me to make these ornaments. I still have to think of what this years's theme will be!! I present the hand painted ornaments at our Christmas party. So, I will have to get busy on them.

Still, I have to get busy shopping.....Christmas is coming!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T19:16:00.002-05:00

I hope that everyone has a great Thanksgiving. We were able to gather at mom's house for our meal. She cooked a 30 pound turkey! It was great! Lots of turkey sandwiches for later!! Oh boy!
It was nice to have the family there, with everyone's schedules now days, it is hard to have that happen too often. So I am treasuring the times we can and enjoying them!

This year has passed so fast, it is hard to believe that the Christmas season starts TOMORROW!
We usually are at a Christmas Market show every Thanksgiving weekend. We have done this show for 14 yrs. We did the Richmond Equine Extravaganza in Oct. so we didn't want to have 2 large shows back to back. It felt strange not to be setting up the booth on Wed, have Thanksgiving on Thurs and do the show Friday through Sunday! Very liberating not to have it this weekend!
So there has been no pressure on us for getting things done over this holiday, so I have enjoyed it much more.

I start tomorrow painting lots of smaller items that will be for Christmas sales. I am planning on doing some fox Christmas ornaments. They are round clear glass ornaments with 6 in a set. I will post them when I have them finished.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Carol & Dottie

Hand Painted Folding Tray Table with Red Fox

2008-11-20T15:21:00.003-05:00

This is a one of my folding tray tables for sale. It has legs that will fold up when it is a tray, push the levers on each side, and it is a table! It is made by the Ferguson Company. They were well known for making nice quality furniture. They are no longer in business. This tray is from the 1940-50's.
I hand painted the scene on the top of the tray table. It is my version of an old painting called "Fox leaving covert". It features a rolling landscape with Fall colors and green meadows. In the background, you see a huntsman and his hounds on the scent of the fox. A whipper-in is further back by the woods. The fox hounds are following the scent off the the bottom left of the tray. In the foreground, is a red fox. He is hiding behind low bushes and is in a crouched position. He hasn't been seen by the hunt or pack of hounds and is moving off to the right of the tray.
I have antiqued the scene to blend with the color of the tray legs. There are at least 8+ coats of poly on for protection. Like any fine piece of furniture, don't leave a wet glass on the surface. Wipe with a damp cloth when needed.
The tray table sells for $ 195.00.
Please email me if you would like more photos. I have lots!

Whoa Sketch book project

2008-11-14T20:23:00.005-05:00

I belong to an EBay group of horse artists called Whoa. We have started a project with many members. We have so many talented artists, we all wanted to do something and donate the proceeds to a charity of our choice.
We picked a sketchbook. Members signed up to draw on up to 5 pages. We had 16 artists sign up! It started in the UK where 2 of our furthest members lived. They mailed it back to the states once they were done. It has been traveling down the East Coast and is now in the middle of the country. It will travel to the West Coast before it ends up in NY once again.
The group voted on a charity and has decided on Angel Acres. Check out their website, a very worthwhile group.
I have linked the Whoa Sketchbook Blog to this blog. Check out the great artwork that has been done so far!
We plan on auctioning off the original sketchbook. We also plan on printing copies, as most of the artists want copies too! All of the proceeds will be going to charity.
We are still looking into the printing process and which company will do it.
Each addition is more exciting, check the blog for updates! I am so proud to be part of this project.

Painting a dining room

2008-11-13T21:53:00.002-05:00

We painted a dining room at the oceanfront these past 2 days. We started out by painting it a dark red. We matched the tone of the red to the carpet that is in the room. Of course, the red took 2 coats. If the red was the only color going up on the wall, we would had to put another coat on the walls. We added a metallic gold and a metallic copper. We used 2 different color golds. One is brigher and shows up a bit more. The wall has a marble effect.

The customer had painted the ceiling the brighter gold, so we wanted to bring that into the walls. This dining room was in the center of the house with 2 large doorways and one smaller door. They have a very large china cabinet and a couple of very large prints.

We will be adding photos in the near future. We wanted to take the photos once the furniture is moved back into place.

My nails are all metallic gold and copper. I look like I have the Midas touch!

When we came out of the house, we found the truck in 5 inches of water! We had so much rain today! So I had to wade through the water to get into the truck, ugh! We are supposed to have more rain for the next 2 days.

The only problem with all of this rain, is my german shepherds. They run in the backyard and are covered with mud! So for the next few days, I will have to stop them at the back door and wipe off their feet. Of course, they like to make a mad dash through the house if not stopped in time! Oh well, off to work again tomorrow.

2008-11-09T15:50:00.005-05:00

We had a good time last weekend in Richmond at the Equine Extravaganza show. It was a smaller show, but we met a lot of people. Lots of interest in doing pet portraits! We have already gotten a customer wanting a tray with her dogs on it.

This is a view of our booth at the show. We are always afraid that we don't have enough stuff to put in the booth. We are always having to stack items, because we have too much!

I like to move things around in the booth. There are so many things in there, that a customer can't really see it all. So, when something sells, there is a hole, and I move it all around! Sometimes I feel like the mad hatter from Alice in Wonderland at the tea party-Move Down move down!

We haven't made any show plans for the 2009 season. We are waiting to see how things go with the economy. I know there will be openings in any one we wanted to attend.
The booth fees in all of the shows have gotten so high and have gone up again!

We are still painting as much as we usually do, so we will have lots of stock. We hope to list more here and also get our website up and running.
We have 2 sheds of furniture to go through!

2008-11-08T08:35:00.002-05:00

We just came back from Equine Extravaganza in Richmond, VA. It was the first time we were vendors at this show. We weren't sure what to expect, so all was a surprise. We would like to go back once the economy is back up. It is a nice show fairly close to home.
We have some items still for sale. Some we were very surprised we came home with them! Please contact us if you are interested in an item.

2008-11-08T00:43:00.002-05:00

Hi! Welcome to Have Brush Will Travel's Blog!

We are a mother and daughter painting team. We love the ‘old world’ style of painting, with rich colors and antiquing. We have been painting furniture and home décor for over 14 years. When we are not painting furniture, we are shopping for more furniture and painting murals.

We like the look of vintage furniture, which are old, but not antique. All are finished with at least 6-10 coats of a polyurethane finish.

Dottie Martz has been painting for over 60 years. She won a scholarship to Memphis Academy of Fine Arts and also two years at Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, where she got her Art Degree. Dottie met her future husband at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.

They married and had a son, Chuck and a daughter, Carol. While raising a family, Dottie found ways to bring art into their home. While living in California, she painted vines and flowers coming out of doorway woodwork.

After her family was grown, Dottie joined the Society of Decorative Painters, an international painting society. She has taught classes at several National Conventions and several mini-conventions all across the country.

Dottie has been on the cover of Paintworks Magazine and twice on the cover of Decorative Artist Magazine. She has had 15 articles published in Paintworks, Decorative Artist Workbook, ToleWorld and the Decorative Painter. She also has a line of 25 painting pattern packets.

Dottie’s first love is painting in oils. She paints portraits, still life fruits and flowers. Magnolias will always hold a special place in her heart. Dottie paints every day whether it is a wall mural, custom furniture, portraits or getting ready for a show.

Carol Martz Buck has been painting for 18 years. She was encouraged by both parents to always draw or paint while she was growing up. The family has said that art runs rampant through all of the family members. Carol has a natural talent and has fine tuned it with classes and seminars over the years along with working with her mom.

She started helping her mom paint murals as part-time, which quickly became full-time. Carol has always loved all animals, but especially horses. They remain her favorite subject to paint. She paints custom horse and pet portraits. Fox Hunting and ladies riding sidesaddle are some of the subjects she puts on furniture and home décor. Her painted items are highly sought after and have been shipped to many national and international locations.

Carol is also a member of the Society of Decorative Painters, Equine Art Guild (EAG) and WHOA- Horse Artists on Ebay. Carol is also the Vice President of her fox hunt club, James River Hunt.

The mother-daughter painting team is well known in Tidewater, Virginia. Over the years, they have painted in over 500 homes in the Tidewater area and all over the country. They have participated in local craft shows for the past 14 years. Have Brush Will Travel has been a vendor at the prestigious 3-Day Event Rolex, at the Lexington Horse Park, Lexington, KY for 2 years. This is the only 4 star horse show in the United States. They have also been at the Virginia Equine Extravaganza, Richmond Fairgrounds, Richmond, VA . Have Brush Will Travel has also been featured on a local television home show and a national PBS-Paint Paint Paint show.

Dottie & Carol love to take old forgotten pieces of furniture and ‘do their magic’ on them! Both love to paint custom commissions and can paint anything! Both Dottie and Carol love what they are doing and it shows in their paintings.