paintings – Page 8 – Karla's Cottage

A Family Reunion and Birthday Bash

By Karla Nathan / August 3, 2017

My husband's mom turned 85 in July and we all gathered at a lake house in Wyoming, generously loaned to us by brothers of a family member. The home had beautiful views from every angle, some looked over the lake, others to the mountains. This is the sunrise I saw from my bedroom window!

The lake house was spacious, with two kitchens and a gazillion beds. Still, we were worried about our hermit-ish son, Ryan and hauled the camper across country so he would have a private space to hangout in and get away if crowds made him nervous. We called it the world's biggest rolling suitcase, and filled it with belongings from all eleven of us who were coming from Kansas.

My husband was firm in making Ryan come on the trip, even though he doesn't like to travel or be in crowds. Ryan has a sensory processing disorder that makes him shy away from noise and gatherings. Two years ago, we cajoled him into flying to Florida with us too, and while there were moments that he wasn't thrilled with it, he had a good time, and ended up being my rock when there were some issues I was having trouble with and could always be counted on for a smile or a joke.

And once again, my husband was right to insist that Ryan join us, because that guy spent the whole week grinning and having fun. (We were at the lake house 3 nights, then off to Colorado to spend a few days with just our branch of the family)

How could anyone do anything but have a ton of fun when surrounded by these people??? I am blessed to not only be married to Rich, but also to be a part of his loving, and fun loving family.

I consider his siblings, my sibs too.

(Terry is a big time, Birdsong helper and is donating this hand woven shawl as a door prize at Snowbird's Song in November)

Joan's 85th birthday was an excellent excuse to come together from every part of the country. We spent time sitting on the rooftop deck, watching clouds and rainbows…

exploring the hills behind the house….

(see the tiny people up on the ridgeline?)

going through and laughing over stacks of photo albums…

hula hooping…

competing in a day long, ping pong challenge…

(which ended up being so much fun that we didn't even go down to the lake that day, the first two days, most of the group were out on jet skis and boats)

learning some circus tricks…

(my kids brought their rig for a grand performance, and gave lessons to anyone who wanted to learn)

lots of circus fun…

being serenaded by a professional actress and songstress…

(Aunt Carol gave a lovely performance of Joan's favorite songs as well as baking the best carrot cake ever)

collecting pretty rocks….

hanging out in a Wyoming style playhouse…

crafting with cousins…

being goofy…

relaxing…

super relaxing…

getting hugs…

lots of hugs…

more hugs…

did I mention hugs?…

yes, there was hugging…

laughing…

loving…

coloring…

(The house was newly renovated, we were the first to stay in it. Many of the frames on the wall were straight from the store, not filled in yet, so one sister added her coloring page to a frame. I'd brought a tub full of craft supplies and others brought colored pens, we had a craft table covered in art work of various stages, it was left up to drop in and work on when the whim struck)

and cooking, cooking, cooking….

(each branch of the family had a meal to be in charge of, but we all pitched in to help each other)

Everything that an ideal family reunion should be.

Did I mention that I was blessed to be a part of this group?

Yep, I sure am.

Portraits from the past, thinking about Mother’s Day

family, paintings, puppies!

By Karla Nathan / May 21, 2017

I used to do a lot of portrait sketches. This was one of the very first ones, a charcoal pencil drawing of my grandma (Dad's mom) when I was 16.

These are colored pencil from a few years after the first. My other Grandma and my Mom. All of these pictures are on a shelf hanging in the stairway landing, in a grouping with other family pictures.

This shot from my wedding is one of my faves, it is the only picture I have of my mom and grandma together (along with my sisters and I).

The wall is a mix of paintings, drawings, and photos. None of the art is all that great, but it is sentimental to me. This watercolor is of a photo of my husband's grandma, Gladys, with one of her quilts behind it, and a gladiola in front.

The area is a quiet corner of our home, we rarely use the upstairs unless we have guests, or the grand fairies are sleeping up there. So, the mix of portraits aren't a focal point in our cottage, some of the frames are cheap and cheesy, like the one from the 80s on the drawing of my grandma, but the collection means a lot to me.

I take time to stop and look, sometimes will go upstairs just to think about the pictures and the people in them. Especially on Mother's Day.

Speaking of mothers- I can't leave you without pics of Honey and her pups, can I?

And of Twinkle, who has had her own share of puppies, wishes these babies were hers.

Restoring an antique table with no stripping

antiques/junking, cottage, Hand Painted Furniture, paintings

By Karla Nathan / May 4, 2017

I love my "new" French side table!

It started like this. $30 at an estate sale, good lines, ruined finish, missing a few bits of trim, but sturdy. The first thing I did was rough up the finish with a sanding block, taking off as much old varnish as I could, but not all of it.

I thought I could touch up and restore the flowers, but it turned out they needed completely repainted. The style was so pretty, I used that as a basis for my own painting, and tweaked the colors to suit my own taste, a little less purple and orange, a lot more pink and blue.

You can tell the varnish was still spotty, some came away when I sanded, but I didn't try to get it down to bare wood.

There are flowers on all three sides.

Next I painted the edges aqua with chalk paint from Hobby Lobby. And added trailing viney-swirly gold, and painted the beaded trim the same gold. I rubbed that gold paint over the raised carvings on the table legs with my finger tips.

After that dried, I generously brushed on dark wax, and wiped it off with a soft towel. A chip brush is the best tool for getting down into the crevices of the trim and carving. I added more in places where the bare wood still showed, and made sure it got soaked in to those spots. The photo above is with one coat of dark wax, it looked better after a second.

The finish isn't perfect, but perfect is over rated. I like things to look aged and worn. So, some spotty varnish is okay with me. I also didn't try to replace the few places where the beaded trim was missing, that sort of thing happens over time on vintage pieces.

If you are not a painter, you could still use this technique on old wood, without the flowers I added. It was all pretty quick and easy.

Framing solution

cottage, dogs, paintings

By Karla Nathan / April 29, 2017

When I was in Florida, I painted these watercolors of our view of the beach from our condo. But when I got home, I wasn't sure what to do with them. They were not a standard size, to pop into a ready made frame, and not that great that I wanted to spend money on a custom frame for them. Plus, they looked better up close, they were not paintings that showed much from across a room, so wouldn't display well on a big wall.

These floating glass frames were on sale at Hobby Lobby, and didn't have to fit exactly like a matted frame would have. (although they do fit better than they look like they do in this photo, it is shot from an angle)

Cheap, easy, and I like the way the sandy colored wall shows through from behind the glass. That would have been a good mat color!

Hanging them on this narrow wall at the bottom of the stairs was a good solution too. All viewing of them is from close up, the way they show the best.

And walking through here to go to my studio is a nice reminder of a wonderful trip.

Painting at the shore

paintings, Travel

By Karla Nathan / April 4, 2017

Our time at Siesta Key was the best.

As always.

We like to stay at a place right on the sand, and while it isn't fancy, it is my idea of a dream vacation spot. When my sisters and I stay there, we like to craft and look out the window at the waves. Sugarwings and I took it a step further and did our artwork out on the patio, listening to the ocean as we painted our view.

We found a sea sponge on the beach to use in texturizing our pictures. It was just what I needed to paint the sand, along with a few splatters from a rough brush. Sugarwings got into the splattering too, I'm glad we were using watercolors, or we might have had some issues with the management…. As it was, I had to ask her to do her splatters away from me, I was getting a few extra on my own painting.

This one is sunset with a wet on wet watercolor sky.

Same view, different angle, so that the small rise seems bigger, almost a hill. I worked from photos that taken on my ipad, and then propped up on the table to look at. I know there was a big ocean right in front of me, but I prefer using the photos.

The lighter green in the water is the sand bar and the area to the right is where we spread my Dad's ashes a few years ago.

This is one that I painted with acrylic paints after I got home, from a quick, watercolor sketch I did that day on the patio.

These are small, 9×12", and I'm not sure what I'll do with them. They are kind of small for the wall since they wouldn't show up in detail from across a room. The size isn't standard, I'd have to custom frame them. They aren't that good to spend too much money on getting them framed… so, I don't know if I'll spring for that. Maybe a standard frame with a custom cut mat is more affordable, then hang in a small area, like the bathroom?

They might just go into a scrapbook as a memory of a lovely time with my grand fairy at one of our favorite places.

Poodle Portrait

dogs, guncles, paintings

By Karla Nathan / January 7, 2017

As you read this, I am visiting the GUNCLES!!!!

Yay, me!

Since I knew I'd be seeing them right after the holidays, I didn't mail their gift, instead I'm packing it in my carry on to bring down. They are fantastic, loving, doggie dads, so I painted one of their babies for them. This is Oliver, and he is pretty dang sweet.

I’m stuck

flowers, paintings

By Karla Nathan / October 9, 2016

This is a painting I started and am struggling with. For now I've hung it on the wall to watch it and plan what changes need to be made. Sometimes a break is what is called for when I'm stuck.

I like this flower, just not the other one (not shown here, because it is annoying).

Painting number 2, lost in the roses

Hearth Room, paintings

By Karla Nathan / August 29, 2016

Here is another little birdie friend in the 2nd painting I've done for over the mantel.

Last spring, I found this top half of an old, ornate door at a flea market. It still had its wavy glass and I thought it would be the ideal frame for a painting above the fireplace on the rock wall. The first painting I did had too much going on, I needed something more simple that could hang high and still look good from across the room.

For the background, I tore pages from a vintage book titled, "Birds in Kansas" and glued them to a foam core board. Some pages were yellowed, so those were scattered around randomly with the whiter pages for a nice piecework pattern.

After that, I started in on painting the pot for the topiary I'd planned. At this point, it looks a little like Groot.

I think my family would have enjoyed the picture if I'd left it like this. We all adore Starlord and Groot.

Here is a close up of the roses.

And this is the nest in the mossy pot.

Doing the two paintings for the mantel was so much fun for me. I used to be a painter, mostly watercolors. But in the gallery world, I always felt slighted and looked down upon because my subjects were too "pretty". No edge, no drama, no angst. Just pretty and happy. My style didn't fit into that scene and I kind of drifted away from this over time.

Maybe now, being older, I just don't care what others think, so I can paint what I want without feeling like I'm lacking. I might be doing more painting in the future. I didn't realize how much I'd missed it, till I got lost in these roses.

Inspiration for a painting

cottage, Hearth Room, Kitchen remodel, paintings

By Karla Nathan / August 25, 2016

Last month at Good JuJu I stumbled across the perfect curtains for the new addition. They are not what I was looking for, and I hadn't even planned on curtains. I thought I'd go with shades covered by lace sheers (I'd bought a boxful of vintage ones at an estate sale for $6, that just needed a little repair and hemming to fit).

But when I saw a pile of these, perfectly faded, soft colored, old barkcloth panels in great condition, I fell in love. I've had a thing for barkcloth since I was a kid and spent time in my Grandma's cabana room on the side of her Sarasota trailer. She had curtains and seat covers, all in mismatched tropical patterns, in that nubby, old material. Later on, when I discovered that cool, old fabric was made in ROSES too, I was enamoured with it.

Silly me, I debated the purchase of these for about a half hour of dithering, and almost walked away. I wasn't quite sure if they would fit the windows, and fabric wasn't on my shopping list that day.

Then, I came to my senses and realized that 6 long panels and one extra length valance of beautiful, vintage fabric for only $150 was a deal I should never walk away from. Even if they did not fit the windows, I could make pillows and slipcovers, it was a lot of material.

And I was right, they didn't fit the windows. Though, there is a deep hem, and with some finagling, I can make them work.

Once I had the curtains, my plans for the room changed up a tad. I needed a coordinating something or other for over the mantel and I decided to paint some pink roses in the style of old postcards to hang up there.

And the picture should have a bird in it.

Here are some of the steps of the work.

And here is the finished painting.

Trouble is, it was too small and too busy for the giant frame I had in mind. I needed an enormous anchor piece on that 15' stone wall, and this needed to be closer to eye level to enjoy, not up so high. I'll still use it on the mantel, but will set in directly on the mantel and lean it against the larger painting. I'll post about that one later.

PS- Before this gets framed, I hope to get some copies made for my shop. I'll let you know.

Murals of the past

guncles, paintings

By Karla Nathan / August 6, 2016

When Guncle Randy was here, he spent some time with his life long buddy, Susie. I dropped him off at her Kansas City home and she gave us a tour of some of the murals I had painted for her what seemed like eons ago. We figured out it was back in 2002, not as long ago as I had guessed. This is the master suite, and at the time, Randy helped me do the rag rolling technique on the walls, then I added the palm trees.

The kitchen was also painted with a ragged on glaze over the gold color they had applied, and I added faux bricks along with a window onto a French countryside.

It was a pleasant surprise to see them still there.

I'd forgotten about the bricks, those were something I used to do a lot of years ago.

Yet another blast from the past was this little kitty.

Back in the day, even before I was a muralist, I painted tee shirts.

Garfield was a mascot for Embassy Suites, where Susie was head of sales, and she commissioned me to make up some painted tees for her staff.

She dredged this one up to answer the door in when I came to visit.

Funny thing, I had just met one of my son's friends the day before and got to talking about her dad who used to make wooden toys for Sliver Dollar City. I told her that the amusement park used to send me boxes of toys and dolls to do portraits of onto tee shirts to sell there. And she said that as a child, she had a hand painted teddy bear shirt from there. That must've been one that I had done.

So, after not thinking about those shirt paintings for ages, all of a sudden, two thoughtful remembrances came up within days. I found it very touching to know that artwork I'd long moved on from was a fond memory for another person.