Little Bluff Cabin cam October 31 - the valley filled with godbeams yesterday, this morning we had actual WET ground after some big storms rolled through overnight - supposed to get 3-4 INCH of rain this weekend - HOUURAAAAY!

Our Canvas Gallery will be open for walk-ins THIS WEEKEND, Saturday and Sunday, NOVEMBER 2nd and 3rd, 9am-4pm (note early closing time of 4pm). Also open for appointments anytime. Click here for info and directions.

10/14/24 LEAF-FALL is happening a lot in the High Ozarks right now - it's early with crinkly dry leaves - the result of severe drought. Some nice color here and there, but it's a "dry" color, not fresh and sweet like it normally is. I do expect some terrific color later this month and into November, BUT that will depend on rainfall - no rain will mean a lot less color.

10/15/24 Always an end-of-summer WELCOME HOME treat for me are bunches of SWEET little cherry tomatoes - they must live dormant hiding in the deep shade of the larger plants of our veggie gardenb to escape the heat, but this time of year I can dig them out and enjoy the MOST TASTY treats of the entire year!

10/16/24 I guess I need to cut the grass more often in the summer - some of this was boob high on me - maybe it has turned into HAY and should have been BAILED! Actually my bride does most of the yard work and the lawn looks terrific. I only handle a stip up against the woods that's about 10-feet wide. It was a little too much for the tractor mower this time and I'll have to make another pass before it passes muster...

10/18/24 Yesterday I was ready to complete a project that has been in the works for a year or longer. The only thing standing in my way was the fact that I had to sign/autograph more than 300 gallery-wrapped canvas prints - that’s them in the white boxes stacked up on the tables in the photo. I did not print or stretch these - a lab in Texas took care of that chore. I provided the digital files to the lab and they delivered the finished, stretched, and framed pieces to a warehouse in Bentonville. I have signed maybe100 books in one day before, but never more than a few canvas prints in a day.

FIRST STEP was to make darn sure I had a pen that would work, not smear, and be archival (hint - MOST such pens, including sharpies, are NOT archival and will fade with time). I ended up going through more than three dozen special pens/markers before I finally found one that was pretty much PERFECT! I never knew for sure though until I arrived and signed the first canvas print if my pens would work on the specific type of canvas the prints were made of. Nor did I have any idea how many pens it would take to sign that many prints. I arrived with literally a large pouch filled with these special pens - different sizes and three different colors of ink. (these were special-order pens so I could not just run down to a store and buy more if needed)

The customer was TERRIFIC and had a staff of four guys ready to help me - first each print had to be unboxed, part of the wrapping had to be removed, and then the naked framed print placed on a table in front of me - RIGHT SIDE UP. That last part was critical. While there were only two different scenes, they were both kind of abstract a little bit and it could have easily been done upside down or sideways (the prints were all square).

Once we started, the machine revved up and all of us were in constant motion for two hours. And then just like that, I was DONE!!! Only one print was placed upside down and I caught it before I started to sign. I went through FIVE of the largest silver pens (I had brought EIGHT that size and color, WHEW!).

FYI these are now the standard pens that I use to autograph all of my canvas and traditional photo prints. COME TO THE GALLERY THIS WEEKEND AND HAVE ME SIGN ONE FOR YOU!

10/26/24 - some nice color happenin in the neighborwoods...