Madera Wine Trail--back in February!

I'm finally ready to "catch up" on some posts that I started but never finished. The first event to  belatedly-blog about is the Madera Wine Trails "Wine and Chocolate" weekend which took place in mid-February. Fortunately, the weather was gorgeous--sunny, dry, clear, and quite warm. Roy came with me to Birdstone Winery both days of the weekend. We had 2 great lunches, tried some more Birdstone wines--our personal favorite, so far, is their port!--saw some old and new friends, and made some new friends.

I did my first Wine Trails show at Birdstone in November of 2009 and returned for the second time in February 2010. I really enjoyed being there and the events, in general. People love to do wine tasting and it's a great opportunity to meet new art lovers and collectors.

I decided to try something new with my art for the February event. Instead of painting new wine paintings, I decided to do some "Love" paintings instead since they would be shown over Valentine's Day weekend. I also decided to give a 14% discount on any one item purchased on the holiday weekend. Valentine's Day. . . . Feb. 14. . . . . 14% discount. . . . . .  :)

The discount and the wine paintings were both popular and I'm glad I tried a new subject. Everyone loves love, right? So it was a good decision, I think.

The next Wine Trail weekend is coming up in May--on the 15th and 16th. Roy and I will be there both days and also look forward to attending the "Release Party on the Grass" on Saturday evening. Day time hours will be from 10 till 5 both days and the release party is from 5:30 till 9 on Saturday night. The places to go to for more information are Birdstone Winery and Madera Wine Trails.

Mark your calendars and make your reservations--buy a glass!--for this upcoming special event!

Also, check to see my updated list of upcoming events and activities! And if you haven't "friended" me on Facebook, please look for me there soon. I have an individual page (Kathleen Mattox) and a Fan Page, under "Mixed Messages" by Kathleen Mattox. Hope to chat with you on Facebook, soon!

"Love" Paintings

I've decided instead of focusing totally on wine-related paintings for the "Wine and Chocolate" Madera Wine Trail weekend over Valentine's Day, I'm going to paint some "Love" paintings. I know it's not too wise to paint large (full sheet) paintings that are VERY specific in content--unless they are related to content that is very popular to a large number of people. And after thinking about it for a while, what is a more popular subject than Love? So, I'm going to give it a shot and we'll see how it goes. I'm having fun "throwing" paint and working very wet into wet. A pleasant change of process--and it's definitely keeping me more focused on the process than on the product!

The One World, One Heart blogging event is gearing up for full swing so keeping up with that will keep me busy for the next 2 weeks also. More very soon!

A Lot of Catching Up to Do. . . . .

But I will try to get back to being a more regular blogger. I still want to talk about these things:

1. Celebrate Creativity Artist Inspirational Retreat

2. Madera Wine Trail

3. Ramos Torres Winery in Kingsburg

4. Reedley Christmas Art Show

Tomorrow, I'll try to begin at the beginning and start the longish road to catching up! If by some chance I don't get to blog tomorrow, I wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving on Thursday. Keep your sights on the things that you have to be truly thankful for, each and every day. . . . .

"Holiday Spirit" Weekend/Madera Wine Trail

Hello to all! What a busy life this is! I want to blog about the Celebrate Creativity weekend and I will write more about it, very soon. But today, I am preparing for the Madera Wine Trail weekend which is tomorrow and Sunday. I will be located at Birdstone Winery which is very near the iintersection of Avenue 9 and Road 36, not far into Madera County.

I will be there both days this weekend, from 10 AM till 5 PM. I will have my large wine paintings, a lot of prints and cards, and a lot of small originals, not necessarily wine-related. I think it will be a lot of fun, but at the moment I'm thinking it's going to be quite cold as it's outside. Brrrrrr! But maybe it will warm up and be a gorgeous fall day. This morning it is foggy because it rained yesterday.

Roy had to go back to work--he thought he was done for the season!--and on his birthday today, too. But off he went. We'll celebrate with dinner out when he gets home this evening.

Pack, pack, pack, cut (mats), cut, cut, load, load, load. . . .

More soon--