Baxter's

"Baxter's" has been accepted into the "Limitless" Women Artists of the West National Exhibition being held October 9-November 6, 2026 in the Centerpiece Gallery in Raleigh, NC.

NC Plein Air (in New Bern NC) started Mother's Day -- on a Sunday in May 2026. Most of the featured artists that participate give a demo or talk during our week at the competition. Mine was a nocturne -- slated for the following day -- Monday night.

Luckily for me, thunderstorms threatened -- so the amazing Annalee Ash of the NC Plein Air team secured permission from Tyler, one of the owners of Baxter's for me to paint inside this magical bar & restaurant in town. From my previous years at NC Plein Air, I had really wanted to paint inside so this change in venues -- from outside to inside -- was a huge plus.

Baxter's is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so Tyler was opening it up for us that night. My demo was slated from 9-10:30 pm and I rushed over from another fun event to this one to set up at 8:45pm.  It was tough to pick my spot since there are so many neat nooks and crannies throughout.

Even at that late hour, I had such a great group there to cheer me on for my demo with plenty of questions. Three of them were coaxed to sit out on the bar stools at the far end -- to be painted into the scene. The icing on the cake was when Tyler ascended the staircase to treat us to piano music on the upper stage -- past when it was time for me to wrap it up. You can see a hint of him at the piano in the loft stage above.

So much fun thanks to all that good cheer there was to go around.

Baxter's - framed and ready to hang