Yet Another Little Toy

The toy series is a lot of fun. This little guy has been sitting on my desk for years and when the outside temperatures start the day at -16, I have to agree with him! He was sold by Avon maybe as long as 10 years ago. I can remember when Avon only sold cosmetics. Now you can get almost anything you want from your Avon representative. This little painting is about 6x9 and is done in pastel on gold pastel mat. Pastel Mat has become my favorite surface to work on. I painted him last night as a test of the possibility of teaching a lesson using Skype and a webcam. With a little tweaking, it will work quite nicely.

Raffle Item

I've been looking at this piece for 2 years. I was supposed to paint it as a large raffle item for last year's retreat. Instead, it just sat and then moved with us to our new home. Since I am the retreat chair this year, I figured I'd better get it painted. Besides, it is taking up space and I don't want to be contemplating it for yet another year. So, here it is. This not-so-little three-drawer jewelry box came to me already stained. The design on the top is courtesy of Connie Parkinson and comes from one of her books. I wanted a trompe l'oeil look. The jewelry hanging out of the drawers was my own idea. Once it has a nice finish applied, I have some white ceramic knobs to put on and I'll line the drawers with felt. I hope it is a big success and brings in lots of money at the retreat.

Treasure Boxes

Each year the Town and Country Decorative Painters does a service project. For several years, they have painted Treasure Boxes. These are photo storage boxes that are painted and sent to the children at the Shriner's Hospital for storing their personal stuff while they are in the hospital. We use the photo storage boxes because they fit perfectly into the opening in the bedside table. Since the children can be any age from babies to 18 years old, the designs may be appropriate for any age. The February meeting is reserved for service projects, but I will not be able to paint that day, so I have done mine ahead. I painted two boxes and both designs will probably appeal more to the older children.

Holidays Over--Back to Work

We spent the month of December working on projects in our house. We laid carpet squares in the studio/family room and then installed cabinetry for studio storage. After packing everything up so we could move it out while we worked, I have spent this week putting everything away. There is still a little more to do, but I actually can start back to work. Tomorrow will be a project day!

Here is my new studio storage. I am so pleased with how it turned out. It is a fairly small space, but the storage is spectacular!

Playing around

I have to come up with several painted items for my baskets for the Town and Country Decorative Painters annual basket luncheon. One of my baskets has a tea theme. This is a journal with a papier mache cover. The design is created using watercolor pencil overlayed with colored pencil. The journal is about 6x8 inches.

Move is over--finally!

The never-ending-move is done! Everything is in one place. Now the unpacking begins. That is every bit as bad as the packing becasue we have moved to what we call "The Itty-bitty house" Still, I hope to be back to work in my studio soon. Especially, if Miss Windy keeps helping with the unpacking!

A little bit of painting time

I was able to spend a couple of hours today playing with my colors and my student. It was such fun. I do miss my studio time. I can't wait until this move is completed and I can get back to work. Here is what we are working on. It is the Maine coast--11x14, pastel on a sanded surface.

I miss playing with my colors!

We are getting closer to actually being all in one place. I am at the sorting things to keep and those that are going to be sold. Fortunately, the sell pile is a lot bigger than the keep pile. We will be fully in our new home before August 15. Meanwhile, my colors are calling to me and I can't carve out time to play with them. I can't wait to get my new studio space set up and start back to work.

Studio is quiet

We are in the middle of our move. The movers came on Thursday and loaded up. they delivered yesterday. Now we have to look at what of the remaining items go into storage and what get put up for sale. This move is stressful and challenging. We are taking the opportunity to cull our belongings--having a huge "hoe out" as one of my friends used to say. It makes for a difficult moving process. I will be happy when it is finished and my studio is set up in the new house so that I can start playing with color again.

Not much to show right now

As we are getting ready to pack up to move, there is not much time to work on art. Much of my time is spent sorting, pitching, and dividing into "store" or "move" stacks for packing. Today three friends came to help sort through my studio. I am donating a lot of supplies and surfaces to the decorative painting club to use as door prizes for retreat or basket luncheon, large raffle items to be painted for retreat, and other club uses. Even after we filled up two vehicles, there is still a lot of stuff left behind. I think there will be a porch sale for art supplies. I am going to get down to materials I will actually use--colored pencils, pastels, and appropriate tools and papers. I will only keep a small amount of acrylic paint and brushes and a very small supply of watercolors--just in case. We had a nice visit, worked hard, and had a good time. Everyone was very tired at the end of the day.