Honestly, I haven't been doing much but watching Netflix for over a week, since I had a case of the dizzies. (Vertigo)
But before that, I was obsessed with doodling over some of the "losers" in my giant stack of poured paint canvases. The paintings don't always turn out as you'd hope, and can be poured over and redone, but man, I was sure going through a lot of paint to produce a bunch of paintings that just looked like backgrounds.
Then, I thought, well hey, lets use them as backgrounds!
This one was the biggest inspiration, I clearly saw a lady's form in the paint.
See what I mean?
I'm sorta embarrassed to show you that I even did this one. Its hideousness was certainly destined for the re-pour pile. But then, I thought I saw a dragon eye peeking out at me….
So I painted the eye and got the pens out to draw some scales
Ryan loves it, it is for his apartment. Which is why I was using reds and blacks in the first place.
I'd experimented with swirls as I poured this one, and liked it, but it wasn't quite what I wanted.
I think it came out kind of Beetle-juicy after drawing on it.
This one will be next, I think. I'd added some veins with a toothpick while pouring it, but I think it needs more. So far, I don't see a specific shape in it, do you?
Before my head decided to spin for a week, I bought a new camera. Well, actually, it is a phone, but who cares about that part, it is a great camera!!!!!!! I'd been wanting an iPhone 8 plus for a while, but my current phone didn't need replacing.
It was just too hard to justify that expense when it was just for an upgrade that I didn't really need.
Then, my husband was having issues with his phone, and it was no longer being furnished by his company, we were responsible for getting a new one. (hmm, that was causing a slight, bitter taste in the back of my mouth, he could care less about cameras and didn't even want a new one. I'd been day dreaming about getting one for a year or so, now we needed to pay for one for him).
I found out that my youngest boy and Katie Tree had trouble with service at their place. Plus, his phone had broken.
Since they'd moved to the country, they had no coverage and had to drive to town to make a call.
So, when I saw that AT&T had a sale where you get one iPhone free if you buy one and add a line… BINGO!
We added a line for the country mice, bought my husband the new phone he needed, and I got the totally FREE camera (I mean phone) that I'd been drooling over for months.
No guilt about replacing my old one, it got shuffled down to Miss Tree, hers went to her hubby, and with the change to AT&T instead of Verizon, they no longer have to head down the gravel road to make a call. Service is available from the comfort of their home.
And I'm thrilled with the portrait setting, all of these pics except the one of the house were taken with the new iPhone 8 plus. Nice, huh?
No, not another trip to Disney, durn it. I've had some vertigo.
Which, while being unpleasant and makes me very unproductive, is not serious. Very, very, very unpleasant, but could've been worse. With my history of AFib, I had lot of tests and was admitted to the hospital overnight. But after all the expensive equipment was used on me, a simple tuning fork was held to my head (the next day) and when I reported that half of my head was totally silent, the Dr. figured out that I had vestibular neuritis.
(Our local hospital is the BEST, but I wish there had been a tuning fork in the ER, and I didn't have to pay for two CT scans, an MRI, along with a day and night in the hospital)
I've never been a fan of being on roller coasters or merry go rounds, or of not staying busy, so recovery has not been easy. There has been a lot of Netflix, since I've been too dizzy to read or do art. But there has been a lot of blessing counting too. I'll take a dizzy spell from an ear problem any day over one from a stroke. This will soon be in the past, so I'll roll with it and be grateful that it isn't any worse than a virus.
Okay, I'm going back to Netflix now, this screen is getting a little twisty.
The other day I had some waiting to do. My husband was having an MRI on both sore shoulders, two separate procedures. I sat in the waiting room a while, read a bit, flipped through magazines, and of course, visited the candy machine.
But I got cold. And bored. Although, I’m not really allowed to use that word. I tell the grand fairies that only boring people get bored.
So I took the advice I offer to them, and found something to do. Even though temps were hovering near 100, I went for a walk. To avoid the worst of the heat, I traipsed through a neighborhood where there was some shade.
I passed a buiseness with a pretty, AQUA, stone wall. I’d driven by it for years, but had never walked up to see just how magical that color of stone looked up close.
This isn’t something you see very often. Not only does this home have a spiderweb fence made out of twine, the fence posts are skulls. ALL THE WAY AROUND THE YARD. That is either commitment to their design aesthetic, or over exuberant Halloween decorators who ran out of juice after all of the festivities were over and decided just to leave it up for next year.
Either way, I admired the look. Especially since this fence seems to be holding in a lion. See it roaring in the bushes?
This iron fence is more mainstream.
Along the block, I saw an gateway to nowhere. Not only does a pile of rock block the entrance, a fence stops you from walking through.
At that point, the heat was starting to get to me, so I staggered back to the boring waiting room to cool off. It was a nice, much needed break. But I was ready for an air conditioned space and letting myself be bored. Please do not tell Sugarwings or Dewdrop that I said that.
The grand fairies and I have a summer plan that includes daily regular crafting (well dur) as well as a special craft project, like pour painting, when they are with me plus a weekly outing.
Last week, we chose Crown Center in KC for our day out.
It has been a favorite of ours for years, there is always a lot going on, and we never have quite enough time there. They have asked to go back for another trip later on this summer too, so we can see Legoland and Sealife.
We spent some time enjoying the fountains, then saw a play, "Goosebumps."
Afterwards they explored the kid area with the changing theme. In the past there has been fairy tales, Wizard of Oz, recycling, science, etc. Right now, it is Trivial Pursuit, with facts about each state.
It is always interesting, and always free.
You are never too old to try out the exhibits, huh?
Actually, I found a dark corner that was set up with two adirondack chairs for star gazing, and I spent most of my time back there reading a book while the kiddos checked out the other 49 states. I'm not sure which state I was parked in, but it was nice and homey.
Afterwards, we spent time crafting at Kaleidoscope. (Free also, sponsored by Hallmark)
You can paint, melt crayons in a black light room and paint with the wax, create a crown, or a puzzle. There is so much to do there, one session never seems long enough. But the place is downtown KC, and I'm leery about staying too long and running into bad traffic at 5 going home. The girls understand that sometimes I can act like a little, old lady and are fine with moving on to something else to fit in what we can.
They always like to eat at the Crayola Cafe, which is seriously aimed at kids. The adult side of the menu seems like a kid menu too, but I make up for a not so great lunch by having a decadent cupcake at Small Cakes afterward.
We toured the Hallmark visitors center where you can make a bow. (free)
And we met a children's book author who talked to the girlies about his stories.
Yep, we will probably go back again this summer. It might have to become a regular thing for us if this heat doesn't break. Zoos and other outings don't sound like as much fun on 100 degree days. And that adirondack chair is tempting me and my book to return….
My seascapes and other flow paintings are now available in my Boutique and on Etsy.
There are a variety of sizes and colors, all inspired by my favorite beaches.
Some have a ton of "cells" (the layered, textural, bubbly bits that you can create in fluid painting).
And some have a very few.
When painting, I've tried to enhance the "pour" that I did, after it dries, by touching up with a brush. But I do my best to not cover up all of the wonderful cell activity that I find.
(These are a few close ups to show you the details)
There are paintings from different times of day…
Although I do tend to love sunrise and sunset.
Prices range from $50-90.
Thank you for the interest you've already shown.
I've loved working on them, and can't wait to paint more.
Sometimes, a paint pour doesn't go the way you'd hope. The other day, I had one blah result after another. I'd scrape off the canvas after swirling the colors into a muddy grey, and start again just to get more boring paintings. I was ready to quit (before I went broke, I'd wasted bottles and bottles of paint), and get back on with my regular style of work and give up on this technique that was becoming sooooo frustrating.
At one point, I looked at the grey mess, and though, hey, that could be a pretty background. So, I poured this rose. It started as a pink blob. I added cranberry and white, then swirled them with a palette knife to get this.
After it dried, I added detail and depth with a paint brush. Here is a close of up the pretty cells that formed when I pulled the knife across the wet paint.
Nope, not gonna quit now. I want to go dump and swirl more paint!!!
You might have heard me mention pour painting…. I've been severely addicted. And especially with ocean scenes. I'm so in love with them, that I decided I wanted them to be around me.
All around me.
So, I might have gotten a tiny, itty bitty, carried away with hanging them in the bedroom. (These 2 are 8×10)
(These two are 11×14)
See what I mean? I've hung 8 of them in sets of two.
I knew it was not a typical way to style a room, but I decided to go for it anyway. They make me happy, they feel peaceful, and people who walk in to the space have said, that the room is really lightened up.
(I think I'll take down the mirror sitting on the built in cabinet behind the door)
Frames were on sale at Hobby Lobby, and I took a cartful of paintings with me to see who fit into what for cheap. I kind of chose the paintings I'd hang by how they fit into the frame and into the room, and by using a variety of sizes, not by choosing my favorites. Although, they all are my faves….
And I decided to go all out. If I was hanging a few, I might as well hang a bunch. (Even though it is the same scene over and over, in different lights or sized canvases.)
Some frames needed to be painted white, some were already the right color. I tried to get a variety of styles, to break up the sameness of the paintings inside them.
There was thought of keeping this large frame dark to go with the top of the chest, but after looking at it this way for a week, I felt like it was too heavy for the area, and slapped some white on it, then distressed the paint a little.
While I was going beachy, I thought I'd add some beach elements to the room. Not too many, just a few mermaids and shells.
This chest of drawers is new, from the West Bottoms antique district. I shopped on an extremely hot day, and was trying to find the exactly perfect item to fit this wall. Well, I thought I found it, a gorgeous, low chest with a giant, aged marble top. But it was higher than my budget, and looked heavy. I decided indulge myself anyway, then as I was starting to pay for the thing, the salesclerk said, "Wow that is a big, heavy marble top!"
On a sweltering day in the warehouse district, when I was already exhausted, the mere thought of getting it into the truck, then out and into the house was too much for me. I think I was delirious from the heat and couldn't rationally think about trying to figure out the logistics of getting the monstrosity home.
I backed out on the purchase, and went for this smaller, much, much cheaper, fixer upper instead. It was only $100, a nice shape, and just needed handles, and paint.
Also, it weighed nothing compared to the other one.
The top was attractive, it simply needed wax and elbow grease to shine it up. The base, I painted white and dry brushed with gray for a driftwood look. I found handles at Hobby Lobby, just to discover I was two short, and they were discontinued. So I returned them and settled for repainting the shiny brass handles that originally came on it. Because I was too lazy to drill new holes and patch the old ones to make a different style of handles fit.
When done, it fit nicely, has the space I need, looks good in the room, and is pretty. But you know what? Maybe I'd settled too much. Wrong hardware, wrong piece.
I look at it and wish I had the gorgeous slab of dreamy, aged, marble that I was too worn out and drained from the unseasonably steamy day to deal with.
It's a good thing I have such a serene, peaceful bedroom to calm my buyer's remorse angst. It is hard to be sad about a furniture screw up when I am embraced by walls filled with seascapes.
The seaside knick knacks were pulled from the cabinet in the bathroom, where they'd been on display previously. So, the bathroom got a bit of a redo too. Some of the art work that had been in the bedroom was used in there, and I adjusted the shelves to hide any gaps from removing all of the shells.
A grayed, aqua was already on the walls, and even though a fresh color of paint can really lift a room, I decided against changing it. This color suits me well, and I'm not ready to move away from it. Even though another blue might blend better with the seascapes, I enjoy the contrast and didn't want it too matchy.
The results are pleasing, and refreshing.
If you'd like to learn how to do a poured paint seascape, I have a youtube video with directions. But please forgive the lack of editing. And take a dramamine before watching it.
Or check back to my Boutique later this week, when I get some ocean scenes photographed and listed for sale.
While I have been celebrating my 60th from early April to mid June, my poor husband only got one day of partying for his.
He made up for it by mentioning his age (57) from the time I turned 60, until he turned 58 a month later. Hmm, yes, I heard that, Rich!!
I wanted to do something special for him, since he put up with all of my celebrating of my own holiday.
We spend a lot of time out on Lake Clinton, near our home. And we have a favorite area, a quiet cove that is ideal for swimming and picnicking. So, I took dozens of photos the last time we were there, and did this painting from them.
At first, I framed it. Then, took a look at it on the wall and thought it looked like a little old lady painted it. (which I realized that I am)
Once I popped it out of the frame, I liked it better.
Here is our cove from another angle. We are often the only people there when we go. Lake Clinton is a beautiful spot and I am always surprised at how quiet it is.
Although, we do our best to liven up that cove!
We have even convinced our son, Ryan to come out on the lake with us this season. He hasn't been as fond of the place as the rest of us, over the years.
For Rich's birthday, we packed a picnic and headed out to our cove to have dinner. It was only one party for him, as opposed to the 7 or so I had…. But I think he liked it. And I hope that he will enjoy the painting.
Around here, there are a lot of paintings, but I tried to make this one special for him.
