Open Studios Tour of Roanoke 2011

Mary Bullington - The Locusts

2011-01-22T11:26:00.006-05:00

The Locusts
Mixed media collage on rag board, 26 1/4" x 29 1/8."

The Locusts can be seen at Mary Bullingtons house during the tour.

Watching this piece unfold has been amazing. It is truly a work in progress!

Check out her blog for the evolution on this piece!

http://maryboxleybullington.blogspot.com/

Open Studios of Roanoke 2011

2011-01-14T21:56:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year to all!

"Angie's Earth" (C) ink drawing gls

This year Open Studios of Roanoke will be celebrating its 11th year of the tour!

The dates for this years tour are April 30 and May 1st, 2011.

Please check back for updates!

One Week and Counting

2010-04-16T20:28:00.003-04:00

Abstract 4 monotype (gls)

Open Studios is one week away. All of us are busy putting the finishing touches to our studios and homes. Please be sure to come by, visit, and buy ART!

Brochures

2010-04-01T22:47:00.005-04:00

The 2010 Open Studios brochures are in! Please look for them at many of your local businesses!

If you wish to be on the mailing list, email us your name and address and we will get one right out to you!

Also, this year you can purchase the 10th Anniversary poster at different locations, the cost is $8.00.

Lucy Hazlegrove, New Animal Painting

2010-04-01T06:03:00.003-04:00

Check out Lucy's new animal painting during Open Studios at 429 Cassell Lane!

540-342-8185
email: lhazle@cox.net

J. Gail Geer - Artist Interview

2010-03-28T18:59:00.015-04:00

Some of the OST artists wanted to participate in an artist interview, the first interview is on OST sculptor, J. Gail Geer.

When did you know you were an artist?

I won an art contest in third grade, with a drawing of a pit viper.

Are you self taught or formally trained as an artist?

Both. I have taken college art courses, and many workshops with well-known artists. I spent a summer in Pietrasanta, Italy to learn marble carving.

Could you tell us about some of your work?

I love the feel of smooth stone. My bears give you an appropriate petting surface, very sensual and stress-relieving.

Where do your ideas come from?

The shape of the stone, my own imagination, pictures of life.

What is your favorite medium?

Stone, especially alabaster, soapstone, and marble. Marble is the best, but takes five times as much work as the others.

How do you describe your style?

Abstract minimalist or impressionistic.

What is your favorite piece of

work that you have created?

Why?

“The Goddess”, a reclining nude made from Colorado Alabaster. It took the longest time to work out the problems and angles. Gravity is not our friend!

What inspires you to keep going and

how do you keep yourself motivated?

I have a desire to see if I can create different things: animals, figures, abstract shapes. The more angles, the more I am challenge.

Are there any historical or contemporary artists

that you specifically admire?

Sculptors that can make hands look alive.

Describe yourself in 5 words.

Determined, reliable, loyal, caring, interested.

Lastly, any words of advice for aspiring artists?

Work hard at your art, and have a good-paying day job.

New Website Wilson Hughes Gallery

2010-03-28T18:43:00.002-04:00

Check out the Wilson Hughes Gallery and new website!

http://www.wilsonhughesgallery.com/pages.php?content=nestGall.php&navGallID=10000

May Jane Burtch

2010-03-28T14:23:00.003-04:00

Painting and making art has been a lifelong passion for me, since a very early age. Recent work for this show are assemblage’s.

I started formal training at the age of nine, and continued my studies throughout my growing up years. I contined my love of art as a Fine Arts Major at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida.

The Assemblage’s and Constructions came about as a concern for our environment. I love building art out of recycled materials.

My work is in corporate and private collections throughout the country.

(540) 345 - 9316
email: mjburtch@cox.net
maryjaneburtch.blogspot.com
maryjane_burtch.com

J. Gail Geer

2010-03-28T14:20:00.002-04:00

"My visions and feelings are expressed through the sensuality of the stone."

J. Gail Geer carves figurative and animal forms from Carrera marble, Colorado Alabaster, and Virginia soapstone. She also works in pewter and bronze.

An artist from childhood, she discovered the joy of three-dimensions while learning to make jewelry using the lost wax processs from the Navaho at Glendale Community College in Arizona. Later she studied stone carving with Chi Che Davis at Virginia Western Community College. Her most recent training was a summer spent at Artspace in Pietrosanto, Italy where she learned the traditional techniques for carving marble.

Gail teaches sculpting classes for children and adults at the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, as well as after school programs in the Roanoke City and County schools. She also teaches one-day workshops in August County, Virginia, and a class on stone carving for art teachers at the annual convention of the Virginia Arts Educators Association.

In 2007 she won a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Virginia Commission for the Arts to support an Artist in Residence program at Allegheny High School.

Her work can be seen at Gallery 108 and Signature 9 Gallery in Roanoke, at
Crossroads Art Center in Richmond, and the Allegheny Highlands Arts and Crafts Center in Clifton Forge, VA.

You can keep up with her latest work on Blogger and Facebook, as well as on her own web site.

Tom Lawson

2010-03-28T14:16:00.003-04:00

Tom who is a former lawyer, has been painting as a primary occupation for since 1992. Centered on the female nude, Lawson's oils are representational, but not literal. He begins with the figure and then strives to work his way out of it, merging it with the background and letting geometric shapes come forward. His aim is to relax the conscious hold and have the picture itself take the lead.

"I paint the occasional landscape, but my primary subject is the female nude. It is something concrete to which to respond and something I find infinitely variable. I hope the encounter with the figure, and later with the evolving painting, will activate unconscious processes that participate in the production of the work. By tempering these processes through conscious control, I aim for a unified work that achieves freedom in execution while honoring rules of color and composition and maintaining a recognizable relationship to the figure. Without constraints imposed by consciousness there is chaos. Without the creative power of the unconscious there is sterility."

Lawson is a member of the Market Gallery in downtown Roanoke.

540-992-1952
website: www.ttlawson.com.

Jamie Nervo

2010-03-28T14:12:00.003-04:00

Artist Statement:

My work depicts life’s everyday events and characters with a twist, masking the harsh realities of life and focusing instead on the positive and light-hearted issues we encounter each day. We are bombarded with negative imagery and events that echo over and over in our minds. My whimsical, satirical work shuts out those unsavory events and looks at life in a patchwork of pleasant ideas and color. The strongest influences in my work are family, friends, strangers, and the neighbor next door. Observing people is the event that fuels my ideas. You could be my next victim!

Artist Biography:

Jamie Nervo’s need for art started as a kid. Her father was in the military, she is the oldest of seven children and spent her younger years moving every three years. The joy of creating art was the one thing that followed her throughout her travels. Jamie attended Centenary College in New Jersey for two years, then the Fashion Institute of Technology in N.Y. where she was introduced to Photo Styling. She spend the next eight years working in N.Y. as just that, gathering props and designing sets for advertisements. In 1989 she got married which brought her to Norfolk where she studied Fine Art at Old Dominion University. Ron Snap, Ernie Mauer, and Robert McCullough (professors at ODU) encouraged her to keep creating these whimsical pieces.

jamienervo@cox.net

Nan Mahone Wellborn

2010-03-28T14:10:00.001-04:00

Nan Mahone Wellborn is landscape painter whose home base is in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. Primarily she paints out of doors, "plein air". When the weather isn't friendly, she seeks out a window view or a still life. Observation is at the root of her work. She combines painting with her travels south through Virginia, to the marshes of South Carolina, the Florida Keys, and as far as the fields of Provence, France.

Nan's paintings are driven by an emotional and expressive interpretation of her interest in a sense of place. Her style captures the immediacy of the moment. She strives for tension between classic themes based in reality and brought to life with a modern sense of color.

540.343.9205
email: nanmahone@gmail.com
website: www.nanmahonewellborn.com

Winn Ballenger

2010-03-28T14:08:00.001-04:00

Winn Ballenger lives in Roanoke and primarily paints in oil. Her style might be labeled "painterly realism", reflecting her college majors, art and math. Winn's paintings feature a strong sense of color and love of light on objects. Her work reflects a love of mountain, rural and coastal landscapes as well as folks in a variety of settings.

Winn exhibits in numerous regional shows and is a member of The Market Gallery and Signature 9 Gallery in Roanoke, Virginia.

Her paintings are in homes and businesses across the country.

540-345-5670
email: winnballenger@gmail.com

Barry Wolfe

2010-03-28T13:59:00.003-04:00

Barry Wolfe is a practicing periodontist in Roanoke and Christiansburg and a photographer. His work is color, B&W and polaroid manipulation. Most of the work represents alternative views of relatively common subjects. He shows Signature 9 Gallery, in Roanoke.

At 3250 Avenham Ave SW, Barry will be host to Nan Mahone Wellborn, Winn Ballenger, and Jamie Nervo.

540-985-0263

email: wolfex2@cox.net

web: BarryWolfePhotography.com

NEW! Guest Artist, Alison Hall

2010-03-28T13:54:00.003-04:00

Lucy Hazlegrove has invited Alison Hall as her guest artist this year! We are pleased that Alison is part of the 10th Anniversary tour this year!

Artist Statement
My current work is about the phenomena of the landscape. Landscape forms become symbols of my life events. Observed events, however commonplace they may be, mutate into myth. Rain clouds transform into the hands of gods, a tangle of branches feels like the tumbling body of Icarus falling into the sea. My most recent paintings use the landscape to tell about sudden disruptive events. They are stories about disaster, glorified by my narrative imagination. Storytelling is about sculpting personal landscape and transforming the physical. My paintings are reconstructions, remaking and retelling. I make them with a hope of repairing the human psyche, editing the physical into something more manageable and poetic.

Alison Hall
540.344.4356
alisonchall@mac.com
alisonchall.com

Lucy Hazlegrove's Small Animal Paintings

2010-03-28T13:48:00.005-04:00

small animal painting #10

Small Animal Painting #11

Lucy Hazlegrove is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and Hollins University. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she has lived in Roanoke the past 31 years.

Hazlegrove has exhibited in New England, Michigan, Virginia, and North Carolina. She has twice been a fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in Amherst, Virginia, and she is a founding member of Roanoke's Open Studios.

540-342-8185
email: lhazle@cox.net

Eric Fitzpatrick

2010-03-14T16:57:00.001-04:00

Fitzpatrick Studio
2306 Richelieu Ave

A full-time professional artist for 30 years, Eric's oils and watercolors grace museum and corporate collections in over 17 countries around the world.
Mr. Fitzpatrick travels extensively and teaches University classes in Italy's Tuscany region. He has been voted "The Area's Best Artist" for over 25 years running. You can see his work at fitzpatrick-art.com. and on hisFacebook page.

Eric Fitzpatrick
2306 Richelieu Ave
540-345-7887
www.fitzpatrick-art.com
fitzpatrick-art@cox.net

The South Roanoke Section of the Tour!

2010-03-14T16:50:00.005-04:00

Geer

Fitpatrick

Burtch

Lucy Hazlegrove, Mary Jane Burtch, Tom Lawson, J. Gail Geer, Barry Wolfe, Winn Ballenger, Nan Mahone Wellborn, Jamie Nervo, And guest artist Allison Hall will be showing in this section of the tour!

Sherrye J. Lantz - Guest Artist!

2010-03-14T16:42:00.005-04:00

New to the tour this year is Sherrye Lantz. She will be showing from her studio home at 2602 Grandin Rd., SW, For those of you who do not know her, she was the founder and first curator of the Community Collection of Art, Virginia Western Community College, the largest permanently displayed collection of regional art in Roanoke Virginia. Many pivotal local artists were selected to be part of this collection. If you have not seen it, please take time to do so. It is a remarkable collection!!! (Thanks Sherrye!)

'Thirty plus years as a visual artist has been a journey, one from realism to abstraction. Starting as a printmaker in intaglio, I pulled my last print in the late 80s, and began to move further from realistic imagery to greater abstraction. The past ten years have been about many things; in art I have consciously returned to basics of composition, light, line, shape, color searching for my own 'voice' as an artist and then breaking my imagery down into the most simple expression of those components. The journey has led right back to abstraction, though with a new freedom not before experienced. While my work encompasses many different media, right now I'm happiest with watercolor, acrylic, graphite and photography. Guess the printmaker is still there loving the boldness or simplicity of a black and white drawing, or a sepia toned photograph, yet in all my work now I am looking for a commonality of shape or form in all objects and marks. If you look just carefully and long enough at this world around us, that commonality is everywhere. Where content is concerned, the word expressionist fits best. It is for me about the feelings a piece of art evokes, that has been a constant in this journey.'

Sherrye J Lantz, 2010

sjlantz@verizon.net
540-989-7708

Mary Boxley Bullington

2010-03-14T16:37:00.001-04:00

Mary Boxley Bullington

2242 Westover Avenue Studio

My Creative Process

Key to my collages and paintings is a physical, often percussive rhythm, fluid line, and vibrant color. I love visual saturation—I strive to give my viewers so much to see in any one piece that they must take it in gradually, over time. At the same time, my job is to create a pleasing visual order out of the chaos. My pleasure as an artist lies in turning interesting accidents, ambiguities, and coincidences into a kind of musical phrasing, complete with harmony and dissonance.

My figurative work often comes to imply a narrative, sometimes with biblical, mythic or allegoric overtones. Sometimes I make direct allusions to Bible, Greek myth, or fairytale; more often the reference is only semi-conscious, imported from the ancient art and literature I have studied for years.

My collages are made up of what I call “dress material”--I create hundreds of paintings on paper each year, many made specifically to cut up and collage with—and I keep in my studios 4 big bins and various small ones filled with this stuff which I sort through continually, seeking the right bits. These pieces build by accretion, until a whole emerges made of many different bits, each with its own texture, color, and feel. Some of these pieces, paved with this material, become virtual paper mosaics.

So my process, like that of most artists I know, is a little obsessive-compulsive. Usually I start more or less arbitrarily, with a few marks on a piece of paper, canvas or wood, or a few scraps thrown down against a painted surface. I work primarily by trial and error— each piece I work on requires its own process, which evolves along the way, akin to a new game to which I add rules as I go. I slow down more and more as a piece comes together, changing areas—sometimes radically—as need or intuition dictates. Only when a piece achieves an over all sense of spritely rightness, do I stop.

Honors and Awards

The Paul Ostaseski Memorial Award, Sidewalk Art Show, Roanoke, VA 2009
Best in Show, Sidewalk Art Show, Roanoke, VA, 2008
The Antsey Hodge Advertising Group Award for Excellence in Design, 2007
Awards for Mixed Media, Sidewalk Art Show, Roanoke, VA2007, 1998
Award in All Mixed Up: A Mixed Media Exhibition. The Sawtooth Gallery, Winston Salem, NC 1995

Listed in Who's Who in American Art, 1995

540-904-2828
email: marybullington@cox.net

gina louthian-stanley

2010-03-14T16:33:00.007-04:00

Spring at Poages Mill monotype on clayboard (C) gls

At the Coffee Shop monotype on clayboard (C) gls

"We are the clever inventors of ourselves. Opportunities include nuances, conscious and unconscious mannerisms, evidence of unexplainable magic, flinty zips and happenstance gradations, strokes, splodges, slubs, bumps, bubbles and color changelings. They may be gentle or violent. They may be planned or accidental. They may be lines or they may be patterns. They can be fat or lean, thick or thin. You need to look out for elements that change in front of your eyes, things that become something other than that which they just were." Robert Glenn

http://ginalouthian-stanley.blogspot.com/

You can see me on facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gina-Louthian-Stanley-Studio/256431604750?ref=mf

John Wiercioch - Guest artist

2010-03-14T16:26:00.007-04:00

John will be showing at Mary Boxley Bullington's (2242 Westover Avenue) a guest artist this year. He is the Decorative Artisan of Roanoke Masterworks as well as a painter.

John has been creating paintings for over thirty years and continues to be excited by the process.

Disciplined by studies as a realist, his paintings are not confined to any tradition. The content of

his work varies in response to the environment, often inspired by a particular place and moment.

His paintings are characterized by rich color and texure, an internal harmony, and a joyful sense of discovery.

Raleigh Court and Grandin Road

2010-03-14T16:18:00.005-04:00

Bullington

Stanley

Featured in the Raleigh Court and Grandin Road section of the tour you will see the works of Mary Boxley Bulington ( the chairwoman of this group), Gina Louthian-Stanley, and guest artists, Sherrye Lantz and JohnWiercioch.

Ed Dolinger- Guest Artist

2010-03-14T16:15:00.007-04:00

A new guest artist for the 10th Anniversary of Open Studio Tours, is Ed Dolinger. Ed runs Dialog Gallery, also on 4th Street.
208 Fourth St., SW
Roanoke, Va. 24016
540-460-9968
edolinger@yahoo.com

Ann Bondurant Trinkle

2010-03-14T16:12:00.004-04:00

Be sure to stop by 110 B Kirk Avenue Studio to see works created by Ann Bondurant Trinkle.

Through the use of mundane materials, found and manipulated, Ann Trinkle is interested in creating forms that evoke contemplation beyond the work itself. Her work resists prosaic interpretation and instead functions as physical poetry defined and formed by the viewer's own experiences.

Trinkle received her M.F.A. from VCU and B.A. from Randolph Macon Women's College. She has exhibited most recently at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts in Indiana, and the the Flood Fine Art Center in
Asheville, NC.

Ann Bondurant Trinkle
540-314-8874
email: abtrinkle@cox.net

Brian Counihan - Guest Artist

2010-03-14T16:08:00.003-04:00

Please be sure to stop by and see guest artist, Brian Counihan's work!

209 First Street, Studio Art Annex
540.460.2903
www.briancounihan.com

Please Come see The Preview Show!

2010-03-14T16:06:00.003-04:00

We Three monotype (C) gls

Tour Preview at the Grandin Theatre
Sunday March 14 thru Wednesday April 14, 2010
Come and see new works by 10 of the Open Studio Tour artists...
We are gearing up for the tour!!!

Once again, Roanoke artists will provide a unique opportunity this spring. In our annual tour, we will display works of art in our studios and homes, inviting the public not only to look what we create, but how and where we create it. Feel free to ask questions or simply stroll through any or all of the studios on the Tour.

Come see art where it begins !

Calvert La Follette

2010-02-24T21:44:00.002-05:00

Calvert will be a new guest artist on this year's tour. He will be showing at the Patton-Phillips Gallery at 110 W. Campbell Avenue.

My work examines both flora and fauna. I explore their similarities and differences and blur the line between the two. These studies could be creatures of an earlier evolutionary scale or future genetic mishaps. Every image is contained or trapped within a defined space, making the whole piece more direct and iconic. This defines and documents each image and its possible existence.

- Calvert

Pat West

2010-02-24T21:37:00.008-05:00

Yellow Bicycle (C)

Outdoor Cafe' (C)

Giles County artist, Pat West will be showing as a guest artist this year at the Patton-Phillips Gallery Patton-Phillips Gallery at 110 W. Campbell Avenue.

You may have to copy and paste this link into your browser, but it is a wonderful article about Pat.

http://bikemike.name/disparticle.php?id=23

Pat West
540.626.7647

Carol Phillips

2010-02-24T21:30:00.004-05:00

Carol Phillips, painter and assemblage artist will be showing at the Patton-Phillips Gallery at 110 W. Campbell Avenue.

Inspired by experience and imagination, these paintings, sculptures and assemblages are inhabited by emotive, mysterious figures and everyday objects emerging from densely layered surfaces.

Her work implies a deep access into the subconcious world, or to the common consciousness.

Contact Carol at (540)344-5542

Diane Patton

2010-02-24T21:03:00.005-05:00

Diane Patton will be showing at 110 W. Campbell Avenue at the Patton-Phillips Gallery.

Dream Weaver acrylic (C)

Autumn Leaves acrylic (C)

Roanoke Valley teacher and artist Diane Patton takes inspiration from everyday life to create flora and landscape watercolors and abstract acrylics. Subtle yet dramatic, Patton's work exhibits a sensitive interplay of shadow and light, as she applies layer upon layer of glaze, pigment, and pastel to create a distinctive vibrancy of tone and energy of feeling.

Essentially self-taught, Patton has studies with many nationally known watercolorists, including Frank Webb, Jean Dobie, and Al Broillette. She is a signature member of the Virginia Watercolor Society and an associate member of the American Watercolor Society.

She has received many awards for her work, including the Grumbacher National Medal for outstanding achievement in watercolor (1997) and Best in Show, Virginia Watercolor Society (Richmond Regional), 1998.

Diane Patton
540.520.1340
email: dfp-art@cox.net

Steve Mitchell- Potter

2010-02-11T17:17:00.014-05:00

Steve Mitchell will be showing at the Patton Phillips Gallery at 110 W. Campbell Avenue.

Steve is from Western Virginia, his studio is in the Blue Ridge Mountians. He began a Stained Glass Studio in the old Roanoke Downtown Market in 1980, ‘Studio 103’ where he made stained glass windows for residential and commercial applications. He moved to Richmond to manage a claims operation for a large Insurance Company and stayed there till 1997 then moved back to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Steve worked on his ceramic art as a hobby until the spring of 2007 when he took early retirement and focused on pottery full-time. Since then his work has been shown in Museums and Galleries in North Carolina and Virginia where his work has won several awards including ‘Best Raku Form’ at the Mid-Atlantic Clay Conference in 2007.

This work is new. It is fired like Raku however the pot is started as tall narrow cylinder then Sodium Silicate, saturated with Red Iron Oxide, is painted on the wet clay. When the Sodium Silicate is hard the cylinder is stretched into the vase shape cracking the surface of the clay. After bisque firing, a translucent silver nitrate glaze is applied and then the piece is fired to 2200 degrees followed by the Raku.

This colorful effect is similar to Raku. The pots are fired to 1800 degrees, cooled and coated with Ferric Chloride, leaves, string and other combustibles are added to the surface, then the pot is covered with foil and fire to 1200 degrees and cooled. The temperature differences on the surface of the pot create the color effects. The black is from the carbons.

Guest Artists, Suzun Hughes and John Wilson

2010-02-11T16:53:00.015-05:00

Open Studios of Roanoke is happy that Suzun Hughes and John Wilson will be joining us as guest artists again for the 2010 Open Studios Tour! Please check out their websites for more examples of their work!

'Sacred Place' (C) Suzun Hughes acrylic on panel 24" x24"

WILSON HUGHES gallery & studios is located in the Downtown Arts District and houses the contemporary artwork of painter and photographer Suzun Hughes and sculptor and furniture maker John Wilson. Open Monday through Sunday from Noon to 4 PM. Ring bell as we are often working in our studios. Suzun Hughes

Moon Eating Dragon 72 x 24 x 18 inches Painted Welded Steel (C) John Wilson

WILSON HUGHES gallery & studios

Downtown Roanoke ARTS District

117 Campbell Avenue SW

Roanoke Va 24011

540.529.8455

www.wilsonhughesgallery.com

www.suzun.com

www.studio9i.com

Ann Glover and Guest Artist, Cathy Hankla

2010-02-03T19:54:00.009-05:00

Ann Glover will be showing this year at 110 Campbell Avenue, SW.

Her guest artist this year will be Cathy Hankla.

Flesh and Blood by Ann Glover

Ann Glover is a realist painter and illustrator whose work has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, The New Yorker, and several annuals of the NY Society of Illustrators. Her paintings are included in the corporate collections of J.P. Morgan Chase, H.J. Heinz, Inc., and private collections throughout the U.S. Recent experimental works include making oversized wood constructions that read as childhood artifacts.

Confetti acrylic (C) Cathy Hankla

Cathy Hankla is a Professor of English and Creative Writing at Hollins, widely known for her poetry, filmmaker, and a visual artist.

Ann and Cathy are both members of the Market Gallery in downtown Roanoke.

Getting Ready!

2010-01-31T17:34:00.006-05:00

Family Gathering (C) Mary Boxley Bullington

Right now, all of the artists associated with the 2010 Open Studios of Roanoke Tour, are busy getting organized and ready for the April 24th & 25th, 2010, TENTH anniversary Tour!

Mary Bullington is busy getting all the information together so we can create our new brochure. What a task is is to undertake! Thanks Mary!

David Geer is working on the Open Studios of Roanoke website, posting all the artist information and making a new map for this years tour. Thanks David!

The rest of us are all creating and excited about the tour!

Welcome to Open Studios of Roanoke!

2010-01-31T16:16:00.004-05:00

Ten years ago, several artists got together and formed Open Studio Tours. During the month of April, area artists open their homes and studios for the public to visit.

2010 is our tenth anniversary and we are very excited to have many returning permanent members and guest artists. This tour will be one of our largest and best ever!