Staging: Art and Environmental Ethics

My husband is always saying that I need to take before and after photos of my canvases. You might wonder why I would do that . Well, the answer is that I almost never buy a new canvas. I buy them at Goodwill, yard sales, thrift stores, etc. There are three basic reasons that I do this.
First, I try to practice what I preach. In both my Ethics and Geography classes, we talk about the importance of conserving natural resources and preserving the environment for future generations. Making art can be hard to justify since it uses natural resources to produce something that has no practical use or value. This way, I am at least reducing, reusing, and recycling.
Second, my backgrounds always wind up with multiple layers of paint that give them texture and uniqueness, so as far as I am concerned, the first layer I buy them with is just primer.
Third, buying used canvases allows me to save money, which allows me to not only pass on that savings to my buyers, but it also allows me to give more of my profits to my local animal shelters and rescue groups. I also don't mind donating a painting here and there to a good cause or charity because I haven't sunk a ton of money into materials.
I hope a lot of other artists don't take up this practice though because, honestly, I don't want competition at Goodwill!
If I've said it once, I'll say it a million times: This is also the best way for sellers to get that "new" art they need to brighten a room, create a color story, or fill a blank space left by family photos.

Who knows what these will become?

Home Improvement: Finding Inspiration

Everyone who has known me for more than a day knows that I have always wanted a little old white house (just like the one I grew up in). Well, there is one for sale here in Sealy, but unfortunately it is way too small and in need of too much work for John to agree to it. So I have been thinking a lot lately about how I can make my house into my "dream house." Thankfully, it is already mostly white stone. One day before too long, I want to paint all of the wood parts white as well. I already have an aqua door. Now I am thinking about red accessories--flower pots, patio pillows, etc. We hope to build a red and white shop, and I want aqua flower pots to set in front of it. It's red, white and blue with a twist.
Last night as I was thinking about this, I realized how much childhood affects our ideas of the perfect home. I grew up in a white house with a red barn. My grandparents had a white house with a red barn as did two of my uncles. It was a common thread in my youth. It feels like home.
To tips for choosing exterior color schemes: Search the internet for color combos you are considering. Drive around your town and look for houses that you love. What do they have in common?

Inspirational color scheme

Inspirational historic home in Sealy

Project: Sketching Pets

I had some rare free time last weekend as my husband was infected with a virus, and the doctor ordered him to stay in bed and rest. Since I had quiet time on my hands, I spent a lot of it sketching the cats. I was particularly happy with the end result of this sketch of T-boy. It's about time he starts earning his keep around here!

Decorating: English Garden Bath

What I am learning from this house is that you don't have to sew to make things with fabric. My inspiration room has lots of little sachets and pretty fabric touches. I am slowly working many of the touches from the inspiration photo into my bathroom, including a little sachet bag I made using stitch witchery and my glue gun!

My inspiration photo has a chair. I found a chair like it for $300 in an antique shop and passed it by in favor of a $3 yard sale find. Now I have a chair too.
My inspiration photo has a pink pitcher. I found one for $14 at an antique store. Now I have a pink pitcher.
My inspiration photo has sachets. Ok, I only have one, but I'm working on it.
My inspiration photo has a gorgeous copper tub. I have a little tub I found at a second hand store that I painted copper--it's great for rounding up clutter!
My inspiration room has pots of pink roses. I have art featuring pink roses that I made with decoupage because I also have cats, which I am guessing the owners of the inspiration home do not! (Ornery little devils.)
My bathroom will never look exactly like the inspiration room, but it is slowly taking on that English country garden feel.

Inspiration photo

yard sale chair and home made sachet

Color: Toning Down Terra Cotta Tile

When we moved this time, I asked my husband to find me a house that was "move in ready," and he did a pretty good job. We were able to put our furniture in the house and live in it for about two months before the flat tan paint started looking like a horde of angry monkeys with dirty fingers was rampaging through the house while we slept. In truth, I might have just kept doing touch ups until I ran out of paint, except for the fact that the terra cotta colored tile in the bathroom was starting to grate on my nerves. I like terra cotta, but there is a lot of it in that room, and the tan paint was really showing off just how orange the tile was. So I looked online for inspiration for toning it down and found these:

I wound up painting our bathroom a similar shade of grayish green called Garden Shed by Martha Stewart. It is amazing how the green brings out the red and darker shades in the tile so that it is not glaringly orange. Now I just have to find myself some more cottage-garden accessories, and my bathroom will be warm and cozy like the ones in the inspiration photos.

Soothing in green

before in the flat tan

before

after