Well, here are the pictures of the “New & Improved” Crisis Room. I took a series of pictures going aroun the room. Here shows 3 walls. On the 4th wall there isn’t much wall space so there is only a ladybug and a snail of which I didn’t get a picture. I’ll have some close-ups on Facebook. I will be starting on the next room in the near future and will post more updates then.

My painting keeps taking me in new directions and here I go again… I volunteered to help paint murals in the new CPS building in Peoria, AZ and ended up being handed the project – several rooms and helpers who don’t paint, hmmm. Well, with the VERY small budget they gave me, I decided to hit up Sherwin Williams for donations. I’m a loyal customer and hoped they could help. They did indeed. They gave me about $120 of paint without batting an eye (thanks guys)!

I’m starting in the Crisis Room – where the families go first and wait to find out what will happen. When that room is finished I will move on to the supervised visitation rooms. There are 7 of these rooms and there is 1, possibly 2 artists coming to do a room each- the rest I will do (any artist volunteers out there that want to help?). I’m designing a couple rooms at a time to get approval and with my schedule I’m only there 4-5 hours a week. This could take a while…but it WILL get done.

The rooms to be painted are quite bleak – plain walls, a table and chairs, few toys… I’m designing rooms for toddlers up to teenagers in hopes of offering a little distraction, some hope, and maybe even a smile. I’ll post the finished rooms on here but you can follow the progress on Facebook if you’d like -that’s when I don’t forget my camera at least… like last week.

Here is the Before of the Crisis Room:

I’m beginning a new journey in my life, in my art really. I will always paint but lately I’ve had the desire to try my hand at other mediums. I want to grow as an artist, break out of my preconceived boundaries and try new things.

A few years ago I made a mosaic table top. A very simple design using leftover tile pieces. I thought it was fun to do but my painting came first so I didn’t explore that avenue. Now, however, I have a great desire to try my hand at mosaics again. This time I am eager to use found objects such as china fragments, ceramics, marbles, stones, and glass to name a few. I want to use seashell pieces collected from my families trip to Oregon last summer to make something very personal just for me. I want to create original pieces with more complex designs, with feeling and personality.

This fall, I will set on down another road. I am taking a stained glass course. I am incredibly excited! I have always loved stained glass but never thought of trying it myself. I want to learn all I can. I want to learn how to make intricate, beautiful pictures with colored glass. I can’t wait!

And when I’ve gotten my bearings on mosaics and stained glass, I want to learn to weld. Characteristically a “mans” domain, bending, shaping, and welding metals intirgues me to no end! I love metal. Look around and see the many metal pieces that make up your surroundings. The variations are vast, the appeal immediate.

Why am I hungering for such change? I want to grow as an artist, which to me is more than a profession. It’s also very personal. I want to express myself with a variety of media. I want to make beautiful art with fewer boundaries. I want to make functional pieces as well as art. I also have the desire to reduce the “waste” in this world, taking found objects, scrap metal, tossed furniture and remaking them into objects of beaty. Professionally, I would also like to form ongoing and long lasting relationships with my clients where I can provide them endless opportunities to beautify their homes and their lives.

Along the way, I will share my progress and who knows where my journey will ultimately take me…

First, I want to apologize for taking so long to get a project up here. I had other business related work I had to get out of the way before I worked on my own home. So … here is project #1:

I redid my standard kitchen island. By adding molding and paint, my kitchen island now looks like a custom piece. The original island was one of those plain paneled built-ins that came with our home. I’ll see if I can find a picture to add here.

 The molding can be purchased at your local Home Depot or Lowes. Start by giving your island a good sanding, knock back as much of the glossy surface as you can. Cut the moldings to the sizes you need and attach with glue made for that purpose (usually sold in the same area of the store). Apply a primer made for glossy surfaces to be safe (I used one tinted to my base color). Lightly sand smooth. Apply 2 coats of your base color (tan is used here), lightly sanding between coats.

Use a white wax candle to rub down all of the edges and raised moldings where the base color is to show through. After that paint 2 coats of black satin(or a top color of your choice) over everything. When dry lightly sand back to the base color where you applied the wax.  I chose a satin paint for the look and feel. However, if you prefer, glossy will work well also. I then used furniture wax to give it a nice shine and a little more protection. I also added drawer pulls to finish off the look.

I’ve decided to do some sprucing up myself. I’m happy to share with you what a little paint and ingenuity can do. I have a list a mile long of what I WANT to get done but it will remain to be seen what I will actually accomplish this year. With each project I take on, I will take before and after pictures and tell you a little about the process. Whether you decide to take on some new painting projects of your own or hire them out, I hope I’ll at least provide you with a little inspiration.

To get us started, I’ll share with you a couple recent projects.

This is my “new” computer desk.  Actually, it’s an old vanity. (Sorry, I don’t have any before pictures for this one.) I gave it a light sanding, added a faux leather finish to the top and drawer fronts , and painted the rest black. I sanded back a little of the black to see some of the wood underneath – so when my kids bang it up a little it won’t be noticeable because that’s how it’s supposed to look. I topped it with a couple coats of varnish. I added a keyboard tray and replaced the drawer slides that were broken and VOILA… a cute practical desk.

 For project #2 I repainted the yellow metal mirror surrounds with a special textured paint topped with black glaze.  A couple coats of varnish protects it. Now, I need to do the other bathroom.

before

after

larger mirror

Neither of these projects was on a grand scale but they each succeeded in brightening up a part of my home. Not only that but I saved a piece of furniture from a landfill and it only took a little bit of paint. So, take a look around your own home and start planning your next project.

Stay tuned for more…

For this cast, I was asked to make a henna tattoo design of a peacock for the belly with some flowers added. After a little research, I had the client choose a picture of a design she liked from some  that I found online. From there I drew up my own design and did a little experimenting for the background. Below is what I came up with.

Belly Cast