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

Newest Belly Cast

Here is my latest belly cast:

Blue & Bronze Metallic Belly Cast

Blue & Bronze Metallic Belly Cast

I was asked to bring in a photo album and business cards to Destination Maternity where the cast was made so I’m hoping it will bring a little more business my way ~ fingers crossed.

Tips for saving money & ideas to update your home with paint

Well, here are my latest articles. I have an artist profile I need to finish and publish also but I’ve been SO busy!

Save money on art, crafts, and home improvement materials Great resources here. Some are new to me such as Habitat for Humanity Restore ~ I think that may be a great one for after our move!

10 ways to improve your home with paint Some ideas to spruce up your home using the ever versatile material ~ PAINT!

Faux finished accent wall

Oh, I’ve also added more items to my Bonanza shop: Renaissance Home’s Booth

This and That

Here are my articles from the last week and a half:

Young Rembrandts: Children’s art classes ~ This is the company I teach my art classes for!

West Valley artist profile: Edward Dennis ~ Another great West Valley artist!

…And I finished the lower cabinets in the kitchen and I’m ready to start on the top. Here’s a pic:

My Kitchen Cabinets

 

Last weeks published articles, a new belly cast, and the Grand Canyon

Well here are the TWO articles I published last week.

B. Love is a very interesting woman and a great artist; check her out:

West Valley artist profile: Barbara Sue Love Newport

This article may look familiar:

Kitchen island redo on a budget

That’s all I wrote last week. I had a last minute belly cast to do…

And…we decided to head north for a night to go camping where it’s cooler and stop by the Grand Canyon. We hadn’t been there in about 8 years and my daughters were too young to remember.  The was quite chilly and we were at the Grand Canyon for close to two hours when we got caught in a downpour! We had to run for our vehicle and ended up drenched but did get to see alot of the canyon so it was all good. Here’s a couple pics…

Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon

This past weeks articles…

Some great classes here in the West Valley. Wish I had some extra money to take one or two…

West Valley community college drawing classes for fall 2010

West Valley community college art classes for fall 2010

And a column that goes along with these classes…

The decorative arts, past and present 

I hope to get an artist profile or two for this week. Never got to it last week. I’m blaming it on my birthday!

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:

My online column:West Valley(Phoenix Area) Art & Design

So…I’ve decided to write for Examiner.com. I’m not sure what, if any money, I’ll make but I’m giving it a try. At the very least I’ll get to know the ins and outs of the local art and design community. I’ll be writing 3-4 articles per week on art, design, and home improvement, as well as highlight related local businesses and local artists. 

Here is a link to my page, West Valley Art & Design. On it you’ll see the two articles I’ve posted so far:

Arizona’s summer is a perfect time to go green with low odor eco-friendly paint

Decorating with the colors of the Southwest: Where to use them, what they mean (part 1)

Of course, I’ll still blog as I can’t get personal in my column. I also need to post articles there that are at least remotely regionally relevent. Please check it out and feel free to let me know what you think. If you’re local let me know of any local artists or businesses you’d like to see an article about. Also let me know if there are any design issues you’d like to see discussed.

Thanks for reading and as always, I really appreciate your input.

My newest venture…

Last summer I told you all that I wanted to try my hand at a few new mediums in art. I took a stained glass class and it was great to try something new, to make something that I had no idea how to make before! Here are some pictures of my 1st stained glass pieces. I hope you like them.