The Bluegrass Painter

A New Picker

Congratulations to Brance Gillihan of The Bluegrass Blog, who welcomed the arrival of a baby girl this week. 

Roustabout

I just loved the way the Rock County band did the old tune "Roustabout" and every time I hear it I start to paint riverboats. One of our objectives for this year calls for an increased inventory of riverboat paintings. I worked out two new ones that could be set in a number of places from old St. Louis to the Gulf of Mexico.

Spring Fever

We moved the music out of the house, which happens every year about this time.  As soon as the temperatures permit we move our Friday pickin' to the out building shop area. We've been out there for the last three weeks. A hot new picker joined us this year, Scott McMillion, all the way from the state of Washington. That's him in the dark blue shirt, just ripping on that mandolin.

Claire Lynch Band Contest

Claire Lynch challenges fans to write their life story in six words.   Contestants can submit their bios to Claire and the winner receives an iPod Shuffle, pre-loaded with all six of Claire's Rounder Record releases. 
This sounds like a pretty good challenge.  Visit April News from the Claire Lynch Band for more details. 

Fun at the PATH Watercolor Class

The PATH watercolor sessions are behind us now.  I hope to get to do it again with this talented group. They will be conducting classes in other disciplines through the coming year, made possible by a grant from the PA Rural Arts Alliance.  The prime mover and shaker of PATH is Joan Whetsell of Addison, PA. Joan is a real promoter of the arts locally and besides being a painter is also a stage play writer and producer.

Annual Bluegrass Benefit Concert in Pittsburgh

Tonight is the 10th Annual Bluegrass Benefit Concert for St. Joseph's House of Hospitality, here in Pittsburgh.  The show starts at 7:30 pm at Synod Hall in Oakland.  Featured bands include The Allegheny Drifters, Mac Martin & The Dixie Travelers, Mountain Therapy, Get Out and Push, and Nine Mile Run.  There is a good article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about this annual event.  I'm sorry that I can't make it as I have to head for the hills today so that I can be in Addison, PA tomorrow bright and early.  Petunia and Tim will be stopping by to enjoy the show. 

Robert Yonke Art at the Old Settler's Music Festival

The Old Settler's Music Festival kicks off tomorrow in Austin, Texas.  Our new friends FastFrame and Prickly Pear Galleries, based in Austin, will be selling my prints and cards in the arts and crafts area.  I'm told they will have other music related arts and crafts as well, so be sure to visit their booth if you're lucky enough to be attending this event. 

Watercolor Art Classes

Participating Artists of the Turkeyfoot Highlands (PATH) is sponsoring me to teach a watercolor art class over the course of two Saturdays in April.  The classes will be held in  historic Addison, Pennsylvania at the Addison Methodist Church on April 12th and 19th from 10am until 2pm.  Please call (814) 395-5584 for more information or to register. 

New Original Art

Petunia just added these two original paintings to my web site.  The Wes Clark is a local towboat that I worked on over the winter.  I know there are quite a few turkey lovers out there, so hopefully Three of a Kind will be well received. 

Rebekah Weiler at Leadership Bluegrass

The Daily News Journal of Murfreesboro, Tennessee reports on our friend Rebekah Weiler's attendance at last week's Leadership Bluegrass.