Tag Archives: Pennsylvania

Snow Geese

We live about 30 minutes south of Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area and every year, at the end of the winter, it’s a resting point for snow geese in their annual migration.
It was a nice day out today so we decided to check it out. I think there were around 80,000 geese there.




While we were walking along the trail toward the lake, the geese in the field decided to take off for the lake. I turned my camera on to video mode to take a short movie – so sorry for my OMG comments. I was totally blown away by the noise of thousands of geese flying right over my head (and a little worried about poop)!

Certainly not as exciting but I finished the spring mare and foal folk art painting I was working on in the post below. I think I will put it up for sale on the PFATT Marketplace later this week.

©Copyright 2009 by Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

Landis Valley in Winter


With the husband sick in bed and Zoe and I bored out of our minds, we decided to brave the cold weather and snow and head over to one of our favorite places, Landis Valley Museum. They are having their Winter Institute now so there are all sorts of things going on from learning to care for draft animals to blacksmithing. Zoe and I stopped and watched some of the students in the classes. But, we came for the animals and I got some great shots! I also got to cross off an item on my bucket list, scroll to the bottom to see!
Click on pictures for a larger view and don’t forget to leave me a comment and let me know which was your favorite!














I got to go on a sleigh ride!!!!!! Yippeee!!!

©Copyright 2009 by Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

PA State Museum

If you are a frequent visitor to this blog you know that on the weekends I do not like to sit around the house. We have been sharing a car for 10 years now (it’s tough) and I sit around the house all week.
In last week’s Sunday paper there was a story about the Pennsylvania State Museum’s new exhibit on Mammoths and Mastodons including a newly remounted mastodon skeleton that was found in a peat bog in PA. I’ve always wanted to visit this museum but never really had any reason until now. All I can say is wow, this place really blew me away. Four stories of PA artifacts and treasures from art (past & present) to vehicles (horse and gas powered), Civil War history, geology, Native American history, natural history and more. To top it off it’s insanely cheap – only $8 total for our admission. They also had a planetarium show but we didn’t have time for it. Here are some photos from our day.

A HUGE statue of William Penn at the entrance.
I loved the mural behind him too.

An unusal sled. The sign said it was used for mail delivery I think.

Stuffed Bison. I liked how this diorama was painted.
The stars lit up in the backgroud.

My favorite painting of the day.
“A Romantic View of Nuclear Power”
by Clifford Lamoree

An impressiove painting of The Battle of Gettysburg.

And a sweet little robin to great us as we left.

Please visit the gift shop’s website for some lovely arts and crafts by PA residents.

©Copyright 2009 by Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

A Simple Life

I recently completed this commission of a beautiful restored farmhouse in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It was once the home of a wonderful woman I know who is now 91. She spent her childhood there, living a simple life.


I recently completed this commission of a beautiful restored farmhouse in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. It was once the home of a wonderful woman I know who is now 91. She spent her childhood there, living a simple life. My husbands parents and his childhood were also spent on beautiful farm properties such as this one. His early childhood and teen years were spent working on a 90 acre dairy farm in Coopersburg, Pa. His father also owned a 60 acre farm where they farmed corn, hay, soybean, and wheat. Eventually, development took over the farms in the area and it made more sense to sell property to home builders. Most of the old stone farmhouses are now owned by people who have the means to maintain and restore them. I believe that is what an old stone farmhouse deserves, but it is still sad to see the area and the simple way of life changed so dramatically.

©Copyright 2009 by Gail Dolphin. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

Scenes from Landis Valley

Since my father so kindly bought us a family membership to Landis Valley Museum, I thought I would try to head over there more and not just on special events. Well, the place was a ghost town yesterday despite the gorgeous weather. Zoe and I had a great time chatting with all the animals, which outnumbered the visitors. The funniest thing of all was this female turkey. The friendliest fowl I’ve ever met. She seemed to enjoy being petted and followed us around! In fact I think all the animals enjoyed our attention.










©Copyright 2009 by Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

Chadds Ford Great Pumpkin Carve (part 1)


Oh boy, I am so tired I can barely hold my eyes open! I just had to share some photos of our pumpkin at the carve tonight. We won’t know who the winners are until Friday.

Zoe sitting with our pumpkin. She thought it was important to share her Ariel lunchbox.


I’ve got my drawing on. Now I’m ready to carve!


My Mom hollows out the back and puts in the candles. No easy task, it takes just as long as the front design.


Has a ghost from the Brandywine Battlefield shown up?


No, that’s just Zoe and I!


But a real witch did show up to pose with my pumpkin!


Turn the lights off and the real magic begins!


Death Rides a Pale Horse

©Copyright 2009 by Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

County Fairs

The end of summer in Lancaster County means that it’s fair season. I absolutely love these county fairs. Not for the rides or food but for the animals!

Here are a few photos from the Elizabethtown Fair last night. The E-town Fair has hands down the best petting zoo. The have a large fenced in area that must have 15 sheep and goats and 5 new born calves to pet. They also have alpacas, a chick hatchery and a carpeted table that is full of young bunnies for the kids to pet, hold and brush.

If you want to go to a fair in PA this summer/fall, check out this website!

The curious blue eyes of a LaMancha goat.


Vintage John Deere tractor.


Adorable lop eared bunny.


Alpacas & llamas always look like they want to bite your head off.


I love these two cows. I may have to paint them some day!


Two beautiful calves looking for some milk.

©Copyright 2009 by Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

Graven Images

I have a thing for cemeteries, the older the better. I’ve been wanting to visit this Lutheran graveyard in Manheim, PA for over a year now. I could see from the road that the graves looked old and may have some interesting artwork carved in them, but I never had the chance to stop until this week. When I’m in a cemetery I do not dwell on death as much as I do life. Most of the graves were for people with a German heritage, some were in German, many you couldn’t read at all. I wonder what these people did in their life. Did they contract a disease or illness that we have eradicated? Did they have a good life? Arrive here on a boat from Germany? So many stories that will never be remembered. I thought that Manheim’s founder Henry Stiegal would be here but I couldn’t find him…

This angelic face looks pretty happy.


An interesting stone with a pinkish color to it belonging to Hier Ruhl. I liked the carved flowers. The two rosettes on the corners remind me of PA Dutch hex signs.


The gorgeous carving on this stone has stood the test of time. I like how the face has a body. I don’t see this very often.


A man who was in the Revolutionary War. How neat is that?


Here is a man who died when they were 25 years old in the early 1800’s. I find it odd that someone who lived so long ago, and for such a short time, still occupies valuable real estate.


You see a lot of these graves with a weeping willow. I like how a real tree is trying to grow in front of it.


I like this photo. A robin, symbol of hope and renewal, in an old graveyard.

©Copyright 2009 by Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

Lancaster County

It’s what I like about living in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, you walk out your front door and you’re bound to see farm animals sooner or later. Zoe and I just walked across the street and through some woods and weeds (and poison ivy – yikes) and we found this bucolic scene complete with cows, mules, creek and buttercups. Wish I could have gotten close enough to the Canada geese couple and their newly hatched goslings, they were still yellow and fluffy! The funny part about the area where I live is that you have new $500,000+ homes and Amish farms right next door. I think it that big house looks out of place, don’t you?







©Copyright 2009 by Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

Beautiful Horses of Pennsylvania Project Beginning

“Beautiful Horses of Pennsylvania” is underway. Pennsylvania is the fourth state in my special series of horse paintings, and I thought your club members might be interested in learning about the project. Everyone is invited to nominate their favorite Pennsylvania horse.

I hope to include a wide variety of breeds, colors, shapes and sizes of horses from throughout Pennsylvania. Up to 25 horses will be selected. An online nomination form is available at . Nominations will be accepted through March 31, 2009.

The project offers an opportunity for horse owners to share details about why their nominated horse is special. The stories for selected horses become an important part of the project, and will be displayed alongside the finished paintings on my website and will be included as part of the exhibition of the completed paintings in 2010.

I will travel throughout Pennsylvania the during June 2009 to photograph selected horses. As an artist, I enjoy personally meeting and photographing the horses in her paintings. Observing the horses at liberty and interacting with their owners helps me portray the horse’s personality in my artwork.

To enter “Beautiful Horses of Pennsylvania” complete the online form or to enter by email, send the following information: description of why this horse should be included in the project (300 words or less), horse’s name, breed, age, color, gender, owner’s name, address, email, and phone. If the horse is kept at a different address than the owner’s, include the address where horse resides. Include the nominator’s name and contact information, if different than owner. Email the information to: kmbrenner@hotmail.com. (If owner is under 18 years old, please list parent’s name, so permission to photograph the horse can be coordinated with a parent.)

Entries must be received by March 31, 2009. Owners of selected horses will be notified by April 15, 2009.

This will be the fourth in my “Beautiful Horses” series. I hope to travel to all 50 states and do a series for each. Earlier series, featuring horses from Texas, Ohio and Michigan, can be viewed on my website .

If you have questions about the project, please contact me at kmbrenner@hotmail.com.

Please share this information with others who might be interested.

Thank you for your help in spreading the news!

©Copyright 2009 by Karen Brenner. See original post here.
To learn more about this artist, visit her website.

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