The New Year

I promise I have not fallen off the face of the earth, it just seems like it.  I have been working long hours on the mountain cleaning vacation homes after everyone left from their holiday visit.  I came home every night too spent to do much more than eat my dinner, fix my lunch for the next day and make sure I had all my supplies ready to head back out the door the next morning.  Then I would take a hot bath and slide into bed, read a few emails, respond to orders placed on my website and do it all over again the next day.  I did package up a few signs for shipment during that time too.

It was cold.  But the sky was gorgeous, the snow covered trees stood out against the blue, blue sky.



It was a balmy 24 degrees as I fueled up and in the mere teens on the mountain. I was dressed for it but it was still cold.  We ride out to the houses on snow mobiles which can be kind of a hassle but fun too.



Because I have been so busy the set up of my greenhouse on the back deck has been delayed.  It is all put together but we still need to put down some plastic material to seal the floor then pave it with cement pavers and put up some clear plastic on the walls to help add some insulation. 

I had hoped to work on that today but I have fallen victim to the flu.  I have felt like trash for nearly a week but thought it mere fatigue but after a visit to the Dr today I was informed I was sick not just tired.  I have not had any other symptoms except a slight sore throat so that is why I did not realize I was more than tired.

Yesterday I did get to work on painting.  I am still adding to my new website

 and hope to have it ready for me to launch an extensive ad campaign to get it rolling.  Everything on it now is ready for purchase but I need more stock and I have some Personalized signs to add.

I definitely want to add more large art pieces,



More vintage farmhouse type signs



with a vintage fruit stand twist



and, of course, my stand by, covered in roses signs



I have had some comments from readers that were concerned I won’t continue my Learn to Paint series and I assure you I have more coming.  Next I had thought to do one on Sunflowers, then tulips and maybe some fruits and veggies.  Life just needs to settle a little then I can have some time to do that.  To do a quality tutorial (at least as good as I can get as I learn) it does take some time and concentration.

If you have not seen the series there is a tab in the navigation bar that will take you to what I have posted so far.

So now that I have updated you all somewhat I shall bid you adieu and take myself off to relax with a frivolous novel and hopefully with plenty of rest kick this flu bug. 

Until next time…

Front Porch Art (or Back Porch)

I woke this morning to grey skies and rain.  Yesterday was gorgeous and I was stuck at a desk doing taxes.  But it is a relief to get the majority of that all off my list so I shall try not to complain.

I have been painting on special orders and this past year I have branched out into larger pieces which I choose to call Porch Art.  I have seen porches, decks and verandas decorated as another room and they include artwork which seems to just pull the room together. 

I paint mine on either cedar or redwood planks cleated together.  Using those types of wood makes them more suitable for outdoor use and able to endure the elements better, though I have not had any trouble with the pine board signs outdoors as long as I protect them well with some exterior varathane.

Some of the wood is reclaimed and has nail holes and other marks that give each piece unique character. 

This rose painting is the very first I one created and it has long since sold.


The second one has a Hydrangea as the motif.  It has also sold. 



This is my latest rose painting and is still available on my website.  The two above were painted on redwood and cedar fence boards and this one was on reclaimed boards from a house remodel, you can see how rough around the edges it is, which I attempted to accentuate.



Now for my latest masterpiece!  I realized I had leaned towards a lot of pink on the former paintings so I went with more grey,blues and a bit of lavender…this is also my largest one. 



I spotted this saying somewhere on the internet and loved it immediately and knew I had to do a painting for it. 

I took a photo further back in hopes of letting you get the scale of it.  It is sitting beside my French Doors of my studio.



I need to stage my back deck like an outdoor room and set these up to really show how they should look.  I will have to wait for fine weather as my back deck is not covered. 

Today I have special order signs to paint and a few to add to my website.  I enjoy the painting but the editing, resizing of photos and adding them to my website with descriptions is tedious and I have to discipline myself to get that done.

I hope everyone enjoys this lovely new day…the rain is trying to turn to snow here now but we have clear skies predicted for tomorrow so I can endure a day of rain and snow with relative cheer.

 My Website