New Baby! ! !

This is my new baby - - Her name is Chelsea! Isn't she pretty?
Chelsea is 12 years old and was a rescue. I got her from animal services a couple of weeks ago. She says "hello", "meow" and wolf whistles. A couple of days ago, my husband sneezed and Chelsea would sneeze back. We are now wondering what other things she might know how to do or say. Yesterday, after she "meowed" I started barking at her and she tried to bark back...not quite as convinceing as the "meow" but it's a start. Anyway, here she is acting a little shy :-)

Almost There

The excitement is getting more intense! Whoooo Hooo! Here are the most updated pictures of my 2/3rds art studio and 1/3rd Sunroom.
I haven't taken any pictures of the painted walls yet.
My husband got the first coat of paint-primer on the walls! Yeah!
Now we only need the last coat of paint. I have the window trim to paint today, The the guys will come back and put it up on Monday.
Next the vinyl flooring, and last the electrician to install the light fixtures and run the wires to the power box.
Can you tell I'm excited??????
:-)
Dianne

YEAH! ! ! ! Look at what I'm getting for Christmas

Yep! it isn't quite done yet, but it is going to be my art studio! ! ! ! Whoo Hoo!!!!

This first picture is how it use to look (with one of my brothers in the foreground and my father and father-in-law in the back. It was a very pretty screened-in porch. My husband and I really enjoyed sitting and watching the birds feed at the several feeders. We realized though that we were only using it in the late spring, summer and early fall...so my wonderful husband decided that it would make a great place for an art studio at one end (approx 2/3rds) and the other end would be a small sitting area/sunroom for us to still watch the birds.



Here is how it looked two weeks ago.




And this is last week, after sides and electrical wires had been put in...

It is getting closer! ! ! !

I'll share some more photos tomorrow! Yeah! ! ! !
Take care ...see ya soon.

Palette Knife Evening

Here is another of my early attempts! LOL This was an assignment from a highschool art class. The entire painting had to be painted with only a palette knife. I had fun, but over the years I was able to tell just how crude this painting was.
It too still graces my Mom's family room wall. You can always count on a mother's love :-)

Copper Pot Floral

Good evening everyone!
Can you believe it is already a week into November. Days just seem to fly by.
Right now I'm not painting as I've got my supplies all boxed up. My husband is building me an art studio/sunroom, which should be ready mid-December. I'm sooooooo excited!!! I just can't wait. In the meantime, I'm sifting through boxes and bins trying to sort or get rid of things I don't need.
This painting is one I did back when I was in highschool. I took a class at the local art store taught by it's owner ( I don't remember her name).... so even though it shows my age, that was over 30 years ago. As you can see...it still needs work, but at the time, I thought it was wonderful. :-)
My Mom has had it displayed on her den wall all these years!
Have a wonderful week. Ta ta for now

DRIFTED FOG

Not much to say tonight. I'm not painting at the moment as we are in the process of enclosing our screened-in porch so I can have my own artist studio. I'm packing up my art supplies for the move from the dining room LOL
I'm very excited about this WoooHooo!!!

Anyway, here is a painting that I painted back in the early 1980's for my father. It is acrylic. I did not design it, but I enjoyed doing it and learning more about this media.
Write me what you think!

Smithsonian Renwick Gallery

The Society of Decorative Painters(SDP) and the Smithsonian teamed up and requested members of SDP to paint Christmas ornaments to decorate the trees on display at the Renwick Gallery. To particiapate each member was given an index card sized wooden plaque to paint. To get your inspiration, you were to go to the gallery's website and study 73 paintings. From these paintings, you were to pick one that inspired you in some way. It could be the whole painting or just an element in the painting.

The paintings are from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. They all seemed rather dark to me. I know they are wonderful paintings, but I'm glad they are in a museum and not on my walls. I feel they would depress me. Be that as it may, I know many who would find them very inspiring...very interesting.

I did find one that hit a "spark" in me. When I was a little girl, I always dreamed of being a ballerina. I took dance classes - ballet, jazz, and tap. I took music lessons - piano. I took baton lessons... and played the flute in the band at school... But ballet was my dream.
So in studying these paintings, in the bottom left-hand corner of the painting "Dressing for the Rehersal" by Seymour Joseph Guy (1890) I found a pair of worn ballet slippers. It touched my heart. So here is my painting, "Ribbons of Dance" that is inspired by those slippers.

Only 500 will be chosen to decorate the trees and the remainder will be sent to the headquarter of the Society of Decorative Painters in Wichita, Kansas. Either locations will be an honor. So stay tuned for an update as soon as it is known. At least I hope they will tell us. I may have to go to Washington D.C. to find out.

See ya soon!

Blood, Barks and Tears...

Hi guys!!!
It finally feels like fall here in northern Alabama. The only problem is that I don't get to hear the gentle rustling of leaves...instead I have the pounding of hammer and nails on the roof. We've had roofers here for three days (ugh!) We are getting our roof replaced finally after the early summer hail storms we had.

Nothering ART-wise today, but I've got to tell you about my dog SADIE. She got into a little scuffle last week with our other dog MISSY...or I should say, she started to get into a scuffle.....Tom could see it coming so he put his foot up between them and I guess Sadie thought his white sock moving up was Missy's white chest moving toward her because she sprang forward to bite Missy and bit Tom's foot instead.
Five (5) puncture wounds. OUCHIE!!!!

He finally got hold of Sadie and then MIssy grabbed her back leg...I'm running in trying to help and grab Sadie's collar just as
Tom pulls Missy off Sadie's leg. Well pulling Missy from Sadie's leg ripped a big gash in her leg.
While Tom holds his foot (that is bleeding) I'm pushing Sadie into the bathroom and Missy into the laundry room. I then cleaned and bandaged Tom's foot. When I went back to check on Sadie's leg, I opened the bathroom door and it looked like a masacre. The bathroom was covered in blood. It was everywhere...even up the walls. I couldn't imagine where it was coming from...since it was her leg that was bit. Finally I spotted her ear...she had had a growth on her ear about the size of a walnut and it had broken open and was bleeding. Everytime Sadie shook her head ( you know the way dogs do when they are wet). Everytime she shook her head , blood sprayed everywhere. (That was no fun to clean up...I'd hate to have CSI or NCIS come and bring in their luminol)
We took Sadie to the vet to suture up her leg. They kept her over night to mositen up the wound and was to have surgury on her leg the next morning and to take off the growth. Well Tuesday morning started off with the ringing of the telephone a little before 8am. It was the vet telling us that they had lost Sadie. She had gotten away from them (without her ID tags) when they took her out to potty before surgury. We spent the whole day looking for her. It was pouring down rain.
Around 230p she was spotted in some underbrush next to the interstate fence. We got almost to her, when she got spooked and took off under the underbrush again. So we continued to search another two hours in the general area until I was exhausted and getting hysterical. I stayed on one side of the underbrush and Tom went to the other side of the underbrush and called her one last time. Just as he was giving up and heading toward his car Sadie came bounding from behind him to the car and turned and looked at him wagging her tail like "well come on!!! let's go home"
So we have a happy ending afterall. I never would have thought it...she must be part cat and have nine lives LOL

First Pics of 2009 PWFW

Hi Everyone!!!
Sorry, I haven't written in awhile... Don't know where the time has gone. I guess life is like a roll of toilet tissue...the closer you get to the end the faster it goes! LOL
Not sure who wrote that...but there is truth in it ! ( smile )


So, what have all of you been doing? I just got back from a weekend of painting...or at least.. last weekend..not this weekend ...anyway I'd like to share some pictures from it. Jan (left), from Birmingham, and I shared a room at the Gunter Hollow Lodge in Fayetteville, TN. The room was great and the shower was to die for.. I should have taken a picture. Even the water pressure was fantastic!!! Here is a morning view from the balcony.


Back to painting... here is a picture of the little babies Donna Harcourt and I learned to paint at the SDP in Peoria back in June. Donna had finished hers and won first place in the county fair (it may have been state fair..) She told me to bring mine along and we'd finish mine up...so I did! And here she is...mine is on the left, Donna's is on the right.


This is Sherri - she taught us how to make clay pansies with Sculpty Clay. This was great fun!

Next is Judi - she and I partnered in a painting game of getting to know one another. Here she is with her "Fall Floor cloth" that she taught us all to do with OneStroke.

Wowzer! look at all the floor cloths ...as you can see, we've got a lot of talent!

_______________________________________


Sowmya, made her debut of teaching us her Prisilla Hauser Rose.


And Robin, showed us how to make ATC's (Artish Trading Cards) to share with our fellow artists.

Look for upcoming pictures of other wonderful classes at 2009 PWFW TN.
See you soon!
Dianne

What's the Color of Your Rainbow

Your rainbow is shaded blue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is says about you: You are a tranquil person. You appreciate friends who get along with one another. You share hobbies with friends and like trying to fit into their routines.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.