Possibilities

For some time now, I've wanted to do a set of 2' x 4' paintings for my dining room.  A knife, fork and spoon.  Primitive acrylics.  Something that I can actually do.  I have the canvases and I can get the paints.  I just need to decide which of my silverware I want to use as an inspiration.  I have collected a set of mismatched silverware over the years, mostly at flea markets and other thrift shops, and it's all quite tarnished at this point.  As much as I love the look of the flourishes, scrolls and flowers on the actual handles, I don't believe my painting skill set is good enough to do them justice.  Right now, I'm liking the long handle of the third knife from the bottom.  It has a few details that might be a bit of a challenge ~ I'll have to see if I can't do a draft first.

In the works....

The first coat of Gadzooks - obviously I needed a second coat. But it does kinda have that "aged" look to it....


The Paint Colors:
I can't decide if these are showing true on the monitor or not, but regardless.... Gadzooks is on the short far wall of the room. Mango Twist is on the long wall and the wall with the doors. DH keeps calling Mango Twist "Cremesicle" so I guess that's closer than the "Flesh" color it looks like in the photo.

Before:


And yes, that ghastly color was there... the Green Carpet reflected back on the supposedly "white" walls. I keep telling DH that I don't want any more white walls, unless they are on a vintage car!

After:


Much warmer and it feels wider and shorter, more in a real size, even tho it is still 8' x 35'. Egads! A bowling alley! Not wide enough for even a real sofa to go across the room. Thank goodness that's not in the plans.

What is in the plans, is to pull colors from this piece of paper to use as accents in the room - make it feel fun and fresh. (Again, not showing up well on my photo!) I like the acid green and the teal/turquoise blue and add in some haute pink - the chocolate brown is well represented already by the original siding of the house. And there's plans for a neutral color on the floor and ceiling. But don't tell DH. He'd freak I'm afraid! There won't be much of any of them, but just enough to add some life to the room.

Next in this room is to pull the carpet and see if I have to replace the sub-floor or not. If not, I'll be ordering a neutral colored carpet and get that installed ASAP. Hopefully I'll find out this weekend. Otherwise, it's off to the hardware/lumberyard. Joy is mine!

Day Twenty (or Thanksgiving Wrap-up)

I took some pictures today, hoping for my next large scale project. I think I am going to do a 6'x4' painting of some of these tulips for my new and improved exercise room. I love working on the large scale, and I'm learning so many things by doing it myself - no art classes.

As for the wrap-up... the BBS and family were here and I don't know about them, but I had a blast. We ended up at Yosemite and the Monterey Aquarium as "events" and had a couple of nothing but play days. I took over 8G in pictures, and the food, well, the food left something to be desired. I get teased all the time for scheduling my Thanksgiving day - when I need to cook something, do I have the oven/stove space, what serving dishes will I use - that I decided to fly by the seat of my pants. After all, I've been doing this for 15 years or so, I should know what I am doing. Turns out, the schedule is my lifesaver. The food was all good, just not done when it needed to be done. It was more like a traveling feast. I am definitly going to try and brine a chicken sometime in the next twelve months and see if that will make a difference.

Day Fourteen (or The Way of an Artist)

I am too an artist! Really I am!! That's what I need to remember over the next few weeks. I am going to attempt, for like the eighth time, to go all twelve weeks of the "Artist's Way". I'll keep my contract, I'll do the morning pages, I'll do the dates. And I'll do the ART. The picture to the right is one of my paintings. It's 4'x6' on 3/4" MDF. Yes, that's right, MDF, yes, four feet by six feet. I happen to love it. I'm afraid to have anybody but my husband see it, just for fear of their reaction. If someone says they like it, I'll blush, but I won't believe them, and if they say they don't, I'll be crushed. Damned if you do, and damned if you don't. I did a much smaller version of the same photo in yellows and oranges, and it just glows. I really want to make one of those for myself.

I'm big into the self-help this week. I want to do the Artist's Way, I want to work on my weight loss, I want to learn how to work Photoshop. I'm journaling quite a bit - here, on paper, it seems where ever I am, I'm writing something down. And it's all navel gazing, but there you go. I'm in a transitional period - I have a job, I know I am going to lose my job, but I also know when I'm going to lose my job, so I have some transition work to do. I want to open myself up to a more creative side to compliment the work I do with amounts and accounts and stuff. I want to work on our home, make it a better place for us all to live. I want to create, I want to organize, and I want to play. Sigh. It feels hopeless, but I have to remember that it's my choice to make. I can do it all if I choose to.