The First Saturday of the Summer

Today's our first day of Summer! Sure, the official start to the season is later in June, but in Georgia the summer heat is already too hot to handle. The kiddo celebrated her last day of Third Grade yesterday and today she celebrated becoming a Junior Girl Scout. We're definitely looking forward to some downtime this weekend. 

The start of a new season/time/adventure always gets me in the mood to make a list. The other night Maz and I created our Summer To-Do List. Here's what we want to do with our extra time:

• Vacation on the Beach.
• Swimming lessons for Maz.
• Art Camp for Maz.
• Michigan trip for me.
• Pet Hamster for Maz.
• As much time by a pool as possible for the both of us. 
• Dance Camp for Maz.
• Kung Fu Panda 2 for the whole family.
• And much more!

Maz and I are also having a reading challenge starting on June 1st. We're going to see who can read the most books in two months. Mazzy's sure she's going to win!

What's on your Summer To-Do List?

(I took the above photo this morning while the Courthouse was empty. Then I used this tutorial to make it look cross-processed. Still loving Amber's camera!)

On My Desk Wednesday

Late night painting. I'm no good at going to bed at a decent time. 

New painting in the shop!

Summer Reading Program Preparations

Just like last year, I was asked to help decorate the local library by painting the windows. It's been awhile since I've painted on glass, and I've definitely forgotten how hard it is to do! The paint is very temperamental, and you just can't treat it like a regular painting on canvas.


Here's some of the clipart I used as inspiration. This year's theme is "One World, Many Stories".


And here's the final product. I have another window to paint around the corner next week. I'll probably add more textures to the elephant while I have the paint out.

I'm almost relieved that there won't be any facepainting at this year's kick-off party for the Summer Reading Program. Last year's facepainting marathon almost wrecked me! 

Sketchbook Sunday - Mazzy Edition

Here are photos from a couple of Mazzy's sketchbooks. She draws as much as her mama. 

Newest Painting, Now in the Shop!

I'm in between large projects and I'm feeling antsy. These past few weeks I've had deadline after deadline, and now that everything's done, I just don't know what to do with myself. While I was cleaning up the studio the other day, I came across my collection of vintage cameras. I thought, hmm, it'll be nice to paint one. And so I did. 

This painting is 12" x 9", acrylic on artists panel. Lots of texture, just the way I like it!

Will be available on my Etsy shop soon!

Midnight in the Studio

Late night painting in the studio. Afterwards, late night Gilmore Girls watching. This morning: driving several towns over for art supply shopping. 

Foto Friday

It's been awhile since I've done this, so it's time for another installment of...
Foto Friday: Where I upload all the recent pictures from my phone and share them with you!

 

My new favorite coffee mug! Hyperbole and a Half is one of my most favorite blogs, and once I heard there was a Responsibility Champion mug, I just had to have it! Of course, the hubs says I shouldn't use it around the kiddo. That wouldn't be responsible, right?

I recently took a weekend trip to Michigan to quickly (too quickly!) pay a visit to relatives that I haven't seen in months. I always make sure to be slightly hungry when I visit my grandmother because she's sure to offer food to me. This time she asked if I wanted tamales (handmade! The old fashioned way!) and I politely said, yes, please, that would be great. But inside I was all, OMG YES TAMALES!

I visited my uncle in the hospital in Ann Arbor. This painting was in one of the many, many hallways and I thought it was amazing. I also took a picture of the nameplate, so I could remember who the artist was.

The view from my uncle's hospital room. I pretty much fell in love with Ann Arbor and I hope to visit again, under better circumstances. You can't see it in the picture, but there are several games of Ultimate Frisbee going on. I found it very strange to be in the north where it still looked like winter. Here in the south, it's already hot and humid.

Here's a sketch I sent to a client for approval. I'll be painting an elephant ballerina soon! I'll be sure to update the blog about it.

Making Cupcakes

For Mother's Day, Mazzy made a list of reasons why she loved me. It was so sweet and of course, I teared up while reading it. My favorite reason: You make the best cupcakes.

So we had to make more cupcakes. This time we added food coloring and layered different colors. This technique razzle-dazzled Maz, and she couldn't wait to eat one.

On My Desk Wednesday

Also known as, What I'm Working On Wednesday.

I'm working on props for a dance recital this weekend. I know, I know, this weekend is less than three days away but I have faith I can get this done in time. I always do!

Some of my supplies. I'm so messy when I'm working on these projects.

When we first moved into this house, we were in love with the basement. It was large and open and I could picture myself having a nice studio. Fast forward a few years and the basement is slowly filling up with various items: a computer desk, a treadmill, tons of laundry, etc. I'm finding myself wishing for a wide open studio, some place I can hang my work and sell, have open houses, and have enough room to maneuver when I'm working on these large projects (the letters are over 6 feet tall and 4 feet wide). Perhaps I can make it a goal to find an affordable studio space by the time I'm 30? I think so.

It can be a shared studio space! My husband occasionally paints and you can see some of his work in the background of the letter photo. He works on large scale, and I'm sure he'd appreciate a bigger space. 

Chi-Chi-Chicken Painting

During a conversation today, a friend suggested that I paint more roosters, since people love roosters and will buy paintings of them, especially in the South. It's been on my art to-do list for awhile, and since I have the awful habit of procrastinating, I decided to put off another project just to paint a rooster. I also decided to record the process.



I had originally uploaded another song to the video, but my husband suggested another. When he played The Cramp's Chicken, I knew it was the best song for my video! Many thanks to the hubby and his music collection. 

Around My Basement Studio

Gratuitous Dog Photos

My BFF Amber is letting me borrow her DSLR for a few weeks and I'm slowly trying to figure out how this thing works. I can take photos with a SLR that uses 35mm film, no problem, but tack on a computer screen and tons of buttons, I just have no clue what to do. Here's to learning new things!

This morning, my only model available was darling Dexter. I shot many many photos but these were the best looking ones. I thought it would be best to just borrow a DSLR for awhile before dropping several hundred dollars on one, especially if I couldn't figure out how to use it. But I do have to give it time, I'm sure I had a hard time learning the ins and outs of my Pentax K1000. 

Be prepared for many more photos of my dog!

Nunsense is Habit Forming!

Here's a shot of the Nunsense set right before the curtains opened on Friday night. I love tackling huge projects like this, regardless of the stress it causes. 

Now that this project is over, perhaps I can get back into the blogging habit. I'm hoping to spend some time down in the studio too. So here's to a new week everyone! What are you hoping to work on now?