Box top is finished, I think

I spent today working on the quilt design. I think it is finished. I'll have to look at it again later to see if I need to make adjustments. Now I have to finish the sides and inside of the box. I think making it look like a Shaker box will finish it off nicely. I'm going to paint the inside of the lid and maybe line the box itself with fabric.

Progress on my box

I worked some more on my box today. It is finally looking like something. I can see where the project is going and when the final shadows are put on, it should be quite impressive. Some of the quilt squares are painted using lace fabric as a stencil. There is still a lot of first stage work to do: the tape measurer, spools of thread, bobbins, thimble, cookie. And then there is a little tweaking before the last shadows and "ooo-ahs" are put in. I am planning to paint the sides of the box so that it looks like a shaker box.

Starting a new project

Today I started working on a papier mache box for the Town and Country Decorative Painters. TCDP holds a retreat each year in April. This year the theme is "Patchwork Painters, Piecing Friendships Together Through Painting". The last event of the retreat is a banquet and one of the door prizes is the table centerpieces. This year, the centerpieces are large papier mache boxes decorated by members. I am painting a design by Connie Parkinson on my box--I could have designed my own, but we are bringing Connie in to do a workshop in September and I wanted to try out one of her designs. Her designs are exquisite and she uses oil techniques with acrylic paints. Here is my progress so far.

A winter painting

We have had snow just about every day in western Pennsyvania for weeks. It is cold and miserable. Even the dog doesn't want to go outside. We don't even have any birds visiting out birdfeeders--we think they all decided it is too cold to stay here. Our only wildlife visitors are a group of 4 deer who come down into town several evenings a week to forage. I am in my whiney winter phase right now and looking forward to a bit of warming that must come soon. Here is a watercolor of chickadees on a suet feeder in a snowstorm. It makes the dreary winters days seem a little more cheerful.

Miniature Paintings

I have been busy this week doing everything but painting. But while I've been doing what needs to be done, I've been thinking about new projects to start. There are a lot of show and conventions deadlines coming up and much to be gotten ready. One of the things I most like to paint are miniature or very small format paintings. This one is one of my very favorite paintings. It is 3.5x4.75 before the mat and frame. The work is called Williamsburg Bottles. It was developed using a photograph that my husband took in one of the historic homes in Colonial Williamsburg.

Retreat Report

I'm back from Ohio. The Buckeye Tole Painters retreat was a pleasure. I had small classes for both of my projects, but everyone was happy with their results and that is what counts. I had an opportunity to meet some new friends and build some new painting partnerships. The trip was well worthwhile. I had taken an extra, tiny project for the watercolor class just in case we finished the published project early. It turned out to be a very good thing because there were no electrical outlets in the classroom so we could not use hairdryers to move our piece along. Instead of sitting around waiting for paint to dry, we worked on the second little fun project in between steps on the big project. Here is the Simple Sheep project that we did as an extra freebie. The sheep were created by applying masking fluid to the paper using a small piece of cellulose (kitchen) sponge. Then the sky, grass, and brick wall were painted in before removing the mask and finishing the sheep. It was a fun little project.

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, it's off to Ohio I go

Today I am busy packing up to go to Ohio where I will teach two classes at the Buckeye Tole Painters annual mini-retreat. Packing for a retreat or convention is always a challenge. You not only have to pack your clothes, but you have to pack everything you need to paint. If you are teaching, it means making sure you have all your surfaces, pattern packets, paints, and miscellaneous items for students in addition to what you need to paint. I will be teaching a watercolor class Friday evening--a piece call Hometown Holiday, our Courthouse tower during one of our holiday celebrations with fireworks. Saturday afternoon, I'm teaching an acrylic class on a wooden pictureframe. I call the design Going Fishing.