Painting Paradise

Yes, I’ve been very quiet on WordPress and Facebook.  I’ve been really, really busy painting paradise these last couple of weeks.  The owner of Brindley’s on the Island loved the sample valance board so much that he asked to keep it…which I let him.  Then he told me to go crazy with fun accessories for the boards.  That could be a dangerous proposition telling an artist to go crazy, but it has been such fun.  I’ve kept Brindley’s basic logo style and color scheme going but I am adding the “Crick” touch to it.  Some of the critters are realistic and other’s are more animated doing funny things like lizards wrapping themselves around wine bottles and a goat standing on a pile of cheese.  I should get six of the boards completely done today and then Bob will spray a finish on them.  We’ll take them to Bill at Brindley’s and see what he thinks.  Keep you posted!

Building an Art Wall: It’s Done!

Today is a great day!  The staining and finishing has come to an end.  I’ve always felt uncomfortable about staining something on site and something that’s already built in, but this job was fun.  I could rely on the client’s input for color and sheen and it made the job much easier.  Lighting is such an important factor in any kind of decorating, whether it’s furniture, wall color, accessories, flooring and so on.  You have to consider outdoor light coming into the room and the ambient light in the home.  I could see the different lighting effects from trying to get a great photo of the finished work of art Art Wall.  Thank goodness for Photoshop!  I’ve tried to find a study on photographing indoor room settings but haven’t yet been successful.  If anyone out there in the photography world knows of a great blog, website or book or have tips of their own, let me know.

Back to the Art Wall…the clients had a party over the weekend and all of their guests were highly impressed.  The dimensionality of the unit and the color balance in the room are impressive and completed the family room/kitchen/breakfast nook area.  They are thrilled and so are we!

My next project is a commercial job at Brindley’s on the Island in downtown Venice, Florida.  I am starting it today and what fun this will be.  Bob cut valance boards to go around the entire front of the store.  Today I am going to give them the color base coats of the store’s logo and then the fun begins.  As it develops I will post on this project.

Building an Art Wall: Part 3

Bob’s part of the Art Wall project is complete!  The doors are on and the wiring is ready for the lights to be installed once I am done with the staining and finishing. Can you hear him cheering?  He has done a beautiful job. Now I get to put my hands on it. I will fill nail holes and blemishes and then buff and clean the wood to prepare it for the stain.  After all of the sanding I like to wipe it down with a tack cloth and then go over it with a damp, clean cloth to remove anything I missed.  Then we’ll let it set over night and the staining begins the next day.  We are on the home stretch!

Building an Art Wall: Part 2

Dodging afternoon raindrops and sharing the lanai with the pool resurfacing crew that started their job today, we almost finished the art wall/entertainment center and we’re all loving it!  It’s so sleek and contemporary and the cherry wood is so beautiful that I can hardly wait to get started staining and finishing it. Tomorrow, here at home, Bob will make the doors and the shelves for the TV portion of  the entertainment center.  The doors need to be perfect and his stationary saws provide more perfect cuts.  While he does that I will tweak the stain and finish samples so our clients can choose the perfect finish of their choice. Later in the day we’ll take the doors and shelves out and install them. Bob will wire in the lights and then we both will fill nail holes, small cracks and imperfections and prepare the unit for the stain. Hopefully I will get one coat of stain on tomorrow….I’ll keep you posted.

Building an Art Wall: Part One

Today Bob and I are sunburned and bone tired. We’ve been working on a large art wall/entertainment center for a client for the past five days. The piece is being created on site so with Bob’s saws and equipment outside we’ve battled the Florida elements of rain, steam (when the hot sun burns off the dampness), wasps and dragonflies. In spite of it all, the project is turning out so well and the clients are so pleased that it makes it all worthwhile.

This project first began with the design work.  The clients gave us their idea of what they would like to see.  They had specific pieces of sculpture they wanted to showcase in this wall as well as house the TV and the components.  I took photos of the empty wall and then computer generated our design with their specifications for the art wall onto their wall photo with Photoshop. We made a few tweaks here and there, then it was Bob’s turn. He drew the unit to scale which took some adjustment to my work…it always does.  Once that was done, the building began.

First he took 2×4’s and framed in all of the little cubby holes. That was a feat in itself as the design is complex with different depths and heights of the six sections.  (Two are hidden behind the TV in the photo.) For the last three days he and I have man-handled nine 4’x8′ sheets of cherry plywood cutting each piece to size, edge banding each one and are working on building the art boxes. I will post another picture of our progress tomorrow … for tomorrow is another day!

The Art of a Good Marriage….

Today’s our special celebration of life, love and family!  Bob and I are celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary.  Forty years…it sounds like such a long time but it doesn’t feel nearly that long.  Guess that is a testament to a good time, huh?   We’ve laughed and cried, had beautiful children and been blessed with beautiful grandchildren…we’ve had adventures and disasters and managed to always come out with smiles on our faces and hearts full of love for each other.  Besides loving each other we are committed to each other.  That for us is the art of marriage.  Commitment has helped us grow through the hard times and made our hearts sing through the good times.

Today in my Inbox I received this beautiful e-mail from my husband.  I told him he should start blogging because it brought tears to my eyes.  He said it took him three hours to write it so he’d leave the blogging to me…LOL  So I am sharing his words with you now….

Jane,

September 2,2012 marks 40 years of our commitment together. Through these years we have gone from thinking we found someone to hangout with, to party with, to spend quiet time with, to share our excitement with, to share our sorrows with, to share our thoughts on everything, to dream about tomorrow, to love.

 Now we know it is true, there could be no one better to hang with, the party has never ended even in the low times, we sit quietly thinking and realize every part of our life includes us both together, we get excited about the same things now, sorrows are few, we like all the same things and know what each other thinks or wants without saying, our dreams for tomorrow are now the same, our love for each other has grown every day and we have become one in life together.

So Jane, Lets hangout, party and continue this great adventure in life as one for another 40 years if we can !

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

Love,Bob 

PARTY ON, my husband….PARTY ON!!!