The Christmas tree in front of the courthouse has been decorated, and every lamp post in town is dressed in evergreens and red ribbons. It’s time for the Waynesburg Downtown Holiday Open House! This Friday night, our town will be bustling with street musicians, horse-drawn carriage rides, and choirs of carolers, not to mention shoppers taking advantage of special sales in our great local shops. Even Santa will be stopping by!
 |
| 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″, ink & watercolor |
Every year, a huge evergreen is erected at the top of the courthouse steps, signaling the start of the holiday season. The beautiful old county courthouse is a landmark and a gathering place – a centerpiece of our community. It was our first choice when we began discussing subject matter for the cards.
Our area has an abundance of covered bridges, and one of the prettiest is this one in the village of Carmichaels. It was a natural choice to include in the collection.
 |
| 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″, ink & watercolor |
For the third card, we decided to feature a small town. This painting of Jefferson was inspired by a small sketch I did of this scene a few years ago. But we wanted to make it more Christmas-y, so I redrew the sketch in a larger size and added a decorated tree, wreaths on the houses, and decorations on the telephone poles.
 |
| 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″, ink & watercolor |
Since most of our county is rural, I felt that we needed a card to honor that fact. Since the tourism board members liked my Snowy Days sketch from 2011, we decided to digitally modify it for the cards. I painted the wreath and hand-lettered the “Greetings from Greene” section, then Photoshopped it in. It worked like a charm!
 |
| 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″, ink & watercolor |
If you’re local, I hope to see you at the holiday open house. I’ll be at Artbeat gallery, serving up hot cider and my famous Chewy Ginger Cookies. (I’ll post the recipe soon – they’re yummy!) Artbeat has lots of wonderful one-of-a-kind gift ideas, plus a large selection of prints of my sketches, including the Christmas scenes featured on the cards.
The Greene County Christmas cards sell for $20.00 for a box of 20 and will be available Friday evening at:
Or contact Elizabeth Menhart 724-627-8687, tourism@co.greene.pa.us
3 Comments
Leslie, I can't make it to the open house in Waynesburg tonight, but I'm hoping that the Christmas cards will be available at the gallery after tonight………..I LOVE them!
love the cards. Wish I lived nearby – would have been there in a heartbeat!
Love these winter images. They make great cards.