Tag Archives: Alabama Artist

My Little Treasure’s Treasures

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They’re everywhere. They tumble out of pockets, they rolls with the broom out from under furniture, they’re in almost every allowable container in or outside the house.

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Rocks. My little girl loves them. And I’m not talking exotic or particularly beautiful rocks. I’m talking gray driveway gravel, pea gravel, garden rocks. She collects them, she gives them as gifts, she plays with them, she even sometimes bathes them. She plays with other toys, too; I just can’t help but smile at her penchant for rocks… I admit it’s partly because it reminds me of my fondness for mossy bits of bark. I guess the apple really doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Just a little crush

Gallery

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I’m a little giddy… a little obsessed even, over something new. It’s slick, almost plasticky, and as you can see, somewhat transparent (which could lend itself to all kinds of cool tricks). Here are some of the mixed-media pieces I’ve … Continue reading →

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

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You’ve all seen pictures of my revamped (and so pretty!!) gray and white studio, but have you noticed that it’s affected my work?

 

I don’t know what came first, the studio re-do or this series of paintings (they both started around the same time) but I seem, in all areas of my life, to be craving clean, white, open spaces and simplicity. Hmm… could have something to do with the zillions of brightly colored letters and other toys constantly scattered around my house.

 

Kid-friendly art storage

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I used to hang my paintings on the wall as they were completed. However as paintings sold, commissions were picked up, new paintings were finished, etc. paintings were removed or shifted around and the walls were left with a bunch of nail holes. I couldn’t bear the thought of poorly planned nail holes in my beautiful new gray walls! My friend Drew mentioned the idea of putting them on a shelf, which hadn’t occurred to me. My tons of wall shelves that I added, while helpful, still didn’t give me enough room to store paintings. However I had a boxy particle board bookcase. I didn’t think to take a before-picture, but you know the kind- brown, faux wood laminate, moveable shelf, etc. I decided that shelf would work, but it most definitely didn’t go with the light, airy studio image in my head. Also, I was afraid to leave my paintings within easy reach of my toddler. Which leads me to another deficiency that needed to be addressed- I didn’t have any place in my studio that was kid-friendly, where perhaps the small one could occupy herself for 5 minutes. (Let’s face it- 5 minutes is probably the most I could realistically ask for.)

The solution? Multi-stepped, but easy and working out well for us.

First I sanded down the bookcase (just enough to rough it up) and applied Kilz Latex Primer. Then, I spray painted it white. Figuring that taking books or paintings off the shelf would probably be tough on the paint (since I’m sure latex paint on top of laminate is not archival), I covered the shelves with some decorative contact paper. Now comes my real innovation. I put felt feet on bottom of the bookcase so that it could be moved easily without damaging the floor (but not so easily that the wee one would likely move it) and I turned it to face the wall so that the paintings were not accessible. Lastly, I painted the back panel with chalk-board paint, cut, painted, and nailed trim around the “chalkboard” Voila! A storage spot for small paintings, a chalkboard for the kiddo, and a pretty piece for the studio. I love it when a plan comes together!

(I’m still having computer problems, so once again, forgive poor photo editing and cropping.)

Ta-Da! Studio!

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This has gone on long enough. I haven’t posted in ages. Reason- computer problems (again!). I can get some photos to you, but I have literally no way of editing them, so forgive bad cropping, tilted angles, and bad light. I paint better than I photograph. Apple, if you’re reading this I’d like to have a few words with you….

Here’s my newly refreshed home studio. Cool gray walls, lots of shelves, aaah… much better.

Studio Re-Do, Part II

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I’ve already shown you the absolutely dreamy perfect pale gray (with just enough green and just enough blue and just enough awesomeness) that I chose for my new studio color. As a reminder, here it is again.

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*Sigh…*

Now for the ugly part. The stuff. The tons and tons of “I might need this someday and what else do I do with it?” stuff. All piled into the center of the room…

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Keep in mind this is also home office stuff, including a zillion books. How did we get so many books? Do we really need college text books?

…or hauled into another room. Whew.

 

 

 

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yeah…. 

Don’t worry! It gets better! Stick with me!

Studio Re-Do, part I

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“Grumble grumble grumble.” That was a brief synopsis of my mood and thought process whenever I walked into my “studio.” It was a room that I had never really crafted to be my own or even to function well for my purposes, but rather a room that I moved to out of necessity because it was there and I had decided our baby needed the backyard view that my former studio afforded. My various supplies and paraphernalia basically landed where my 8-month-pregnant self, fueled by nesting energy, had managed to drop them and had pretty much stayed there. I had made a few attempts to re-organize and re-arrange, but it felt hopeless. So, a complete overhaul was required. Here’s a before picture.

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Don’t judge!

Eeek. Cramped. Dark. Cluttered.  Have I also mentioned that it serves as a home office and dogs’ bedroom as well?

The first thing I did was pick out a paint color. I wanted something cool, light, and most of all, calm. I’m kind of obsessed with the moss and lichen that grow on the trees in our yard (I actually have bits of fallen bark that I’ve collected all over the house). So, I turned to nature for inspiration and matched the paint to the lichen on this beautiful little piece of bark.

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“What happened next??” you ask. Well, I painted it. But that’s not all! Stay tuned for the next exciting installment!

Hope in a Basket

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“Hope in Basket”
Watercolor and charcoal on paper

Since the death of the baby birds I have kept an eye out for the mother and father birds to no avail. They seemed to have disappeared. However, literally moments after I sat down to paint and draw this mixed-media picture of their abandoned nest, now blooming with marigolds, the mother came and perched on the top of basket. She leaned down almost as if admiring the flowers, then hopped down to the side of the basket. Looking through the glass storm door at me, she cocked her head. I barely breathed, not wanted to scare her. We stayed like this a few moment then she flew away. I haven’t seen her again since.

I know it’s far-fetched, but I like to believe she approved of me honoring her loss and came to let me know.