Judy Lavoie

I love doing paintings of old barns, and it was time I did an icon – a “See Rock City” barn. For over 80 years, “See Rock City” barns have dotted the rural landscape. Bold lettering on the sides and roofs of country barns on two-lane rural roads invited visitors to a Chattanooga TN tourist attraction, a marketing idea of Rock City founder Garnet Carter. When he retired in 1969, Clark Byers, a self-taught painter and advertising firm employee, had … Read More

“Hand Made: Scratchboard” has just been released, featuring me as a Scratchboard Artist! I am honored to be the focus of a new episode of Hand Made, a series produced by the Tellico Village Network. Host Greg Downs highlights artisans and craftspeople who use their creativity and skills to make unique works of art. The production crew visited me and did a fabulous job of interviewing, filming, and editing this fine video. See if you agree – take a look … Read More

It’s a rare opportunity to get a critique by an internationally renowned artist, so I jumped at the chance when it arose. Watercolorist Stan Miller was the juror for the 2022 Tennessee Watercolor Society’s Biennial Exhibition, currently in Chattanooga. I have admired his exquisite paintings for years (see one example from his website shown here) and I was honored that he chose my painting as one of 60 selected for the Exhibition. Mr. Miller extended an invitation to every exhibitor … Read More

I just learned that I have been awarded 2nd Place in the Active Division of the 2022 Online Show of the International Society of Scratchboard Artists (ISSA)! “I Will Twine,” a 7″ x 5″ Scratchbord™ is my winner. It is such an honor to be selected for this prize in an organization representing scratchboard artists from all around the world. You can view the show on the ISSA website and see the unbelievably amazing scratchboards. My scratchboard “Silly Selfie” is … Read More

I had a delightful visit from the inspiration for my new watercolor painting “The Bearded Fiddler,” Mr. Michael Dodge. He is one of the most accomplished fiddlers in the Southeast, hailing from Nova Scotia. Michael played a traditional dance tune “Petronella” on my precious Horner fiddle and showed me how wonderful it can sound! You can hear him live at the Scottish Session every other Thursday eve at our favorite pub, Boyd’s Jig & Reel in Knoxville TN. Check out … Read More

Phew! It has been a very busy few months with my art – not much time spent creating paintings, but with all sorts of art-related activities. I didn’t realize exactly how much I’ve had going on until I took the time to compile this list: Competitions I entered a total of 10 different originals into 3 juried competitions, one accepting only watercolors and the other two open to all media Exhibits – Entered and hung 11 originals and prints in … Read More

For the next 3 days I will be demonstrating the art of scratchboarding – one of my favorite art activities – during the annual Art Show at Tellico Village (Tennessee). I’ll be sharing my scratchboarding techniques, materials, tips, favorite scratching tools, samples of finished scratchboard art, and works in progress. Many are not familiar with scratchboards and I am often asked about how I get so much detail and drama in my scratchboard paintings. Here’s the chance to find out … Read More

It is with surprise, joy and excitement that I announce that TWO of my paintings have been selected among only 41 chosen for “Arts in the Airport” at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville TN! Juror Althea Murphy-Price has chosen both “Baby Boomer” and “Honeysuckle,” each created in transparent watercolors on Aquabord™. I competed with 498 entries, submitted by 133 talented artists residing in the 33 counties of East Tennessee. Both 2- and 3-dimensional original artworks make up this exhibition reflecting … Read More

“I Will Twine” is a 7″ x 5″ black Scratchbord™ panel. I used the same ball of twine in an earlier painting called “Curious,” with a cat as the focal point. The textures of the twine and the wood in the background were so fun to depict on a scratchboard that I returned to the subject, this time making the twine itself the focal point. I adopted the title for this artwork from the first words of the Carter family … Read More

The Juror for the Tennessee Watercolor Society (TnWS) 2022 Biennial Exhibition has announced his choices. For the 60 slots in this highly regarded show, 104 member artists submitted 192 watercolor paintings. My watercolor “Blackberry Blossom” is among those selected for the exhibit! The Juror is acclaimed artist Stan Miller. Since TnWS is a statewide organization, its exhibition rotates to different regions of the state every two years. This year the show is hosted in Chattanooga: When:   May 14 to June … Read More