Still smiling…and doing lots of painting!

I’m still here! I’ve spent a lot of this year finding my path, trying new things, and meeting some new people (including one very special one). As the year wraps up, I find things are coming together. This year has been an adventure…one I wouldn’t trade for anything! I have grown and learned so much both personally and professionally and I didn’t go broke doing it.

This year I got my feet wet as I dove into my business and left the corporate world behind. Yes, I floundered a bit but that was expexted. I have gained many new clients and repeat clients (LOVE that)! I’ve done murals and faux finishes, drawings and carpentry…and lots of furniture! I was pursued by a new vintage store opening up and with a little negotiating, landed a great deal for a space in their store for my painted furniture and other items. There’s been delays in the store opening but hopefully the store will be open and in full swing by the New Year! I plan to continue to grow and expand and have lots of tricks up my sleeve for the coming months so stay tuned!

I’ll try and share more often as I settle in to a routine and my new life. In the meantime, here are some of this year’s projects:

Bathroom redo “Before” & “After”: Room updated with painted cabinets and a custom mirror frame

Mural accents in a little girl’s “Princess” room: Painted shutters and a window box

Custom Painted Furniture: Coffee table “Before” & “After”

Kitchen redo “Before” & “After”: 3 Dimensional Faux Stonework done with paint and plaster

A New Beginning!

I’m back. I know it’s been a very long time and I’m sorry for those of you that were following me. My life got pretty messy for a while and it still is a bit but I’m in a much better place. I deleted many of my previous posts that shared my personal journey before I stopped blogging. I debated on what I should share, if anything but decided I can’t just pick up where I left off and not fill in a few gaps. Life happens… My life is quite different now. It’s evolving, changing, improving.

 July 15, 2011, my 40^th birthday…I pictured things way different than how they turned out. That ended up being the day I asked for a divorce. I knew I wanted it, from the tips of my toes straight through my heart. I knew. It was long overdue but sometimes you hope, and you plead, and you try again and again until one day you realize that you are the key. You need to make the change, decide what is right for you. I decided I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life like I spent the last 20 years.

Things got tough, hurtful, scary. I had to set aside my business, my art, and find a full time job. My daughters and I both suffered for that. For 15 months, I was not there enough. I tried. I cried. I took as much time off as I could to take small trips with them, even just day trippin’ and yes, we had some great times but I was missing them and my true passion for art and design grew. I ached to return to it.

This past January, I took a giant leap of faith. I quit my job. I decided to give myself this year to make my dream a reality. I am in the process of transitioning my sole proprietorship to an LLC. I am expanding my services beyond painting to include many ways to make a house a HOME, to make it unique and beautiful and everything you want it to be.  I am bound and determined to make this all work. And for those of you that really know me, you know I’m one determined woman.

Yes, I’m still scared some days and I worry about more things than I should on most. But I’m a survivor. Beyond my divorce, I’ve taken some pretty hard emotional hits in the last 2 years. Maybe I’ll share sometime…

For now, thanks for listening. It’s good to be back! ♥ 

I’ll leave off tonight with a recent drawing of an exceptional horse named Bravo

This weeks articles…and a very cool face cast!

Here are this week articles:

West Valley places to see: Glendale ~ Glendale has SO many great places to see year round. I took my daughters to the Bead Museum last week. It was very cool.

West Valley artist profile: Jim Bryant ~ Self-taught illustrator with a long, successful career!

Belly and body casting: a new design trend ~ The belly casts are always cool but other cast options are also available. Here’s one of a little boys face:

Custom Pencil Portraits

Portraits are now available through Etsy.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/RenaissanceHome

Of course you may order them directly to me.  Just send a personal check or money order to me (PO Box 7114, Surprise, AZ 85374) and e-mail a good high resolution picture.

Prices here are for head shots only.

A 9″ x 12″ with one subject is $125, $25 each additional subject,

8″x 10″ with one subject is $100, $25 each additional subject,

5″ x 7″ with one subject is $65

Includes shipping!

Ordering through Etsy allows you to use paypal if that is preferred.

The portraits are drawn on acid-free Bristol Vellum paper and sealed with a fixative. I will begin the drawing after receiving your payment. I will e-mail you a copy to make sure you are satisfied before shipping. Allow 3-4 weeks to finish portrait and ship.

If you have any questions just drop me an e-mail or give me a call.~ Click Contact link on the right.

Pencil Portraits of your loved ones…

 

What have I been up to?

 

I’ve decided to try my hand at portraits – with pencil, that is. Eventually I’ll work myself up to painting portraits but for now I’ll stick to pencil. Hopefully, by the end of the week I will have my own little store on Etsy to offer them to the public. If anyone is interested, just convo me.

 

My daughter, Cheyenne

     

My daughter, Laresa