Painting, Painting, Painting

Today is going to be another painting day.  Still have lots of unpainted items in my inventory so I need to get those things painted and ready for either online and local shops.  Several years ago we were doing shows and festivals regularly, therefore I had lots of business.  So to support those sales, I bought lots of things to paint.  Then life happened.  My husband had some medical problems that seemed to go on and on and some other things happened also.  With so much going on, I didn't paint much and we didn't have many sales.  Those unpainted items have just been sitting in our garage/workshop for a couple of years.  It doesn't do any good for items to sit unpainted, no opportunity for sales.  They just take up space and don't produce any revenue.  So, I am trying to get all or most of that "stuff" painted, then photographed and load to my online stores.

On October 1 and 2 I will have a booth at the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens, just down the road from where we live.  Received confirmation yesterday.  This will be our first festival in about 18 months, so I need to make sure that I have inventory for this show.  There are also a couple of small local festivals for which I am going to sign up. With the economy it will be interesting to see how sales are.

Up early and a cool morning.  Maybe I can get lots of things done today.

In addition to all the painting that I have been doing, I taught a painting class yesterday at Michaels, two students.  We worked on painting trees for two hours.  Feedback was good, both students agreed that they would like to learn techniques rather than having a small painting done.  Good feedback.

Tobacco Barn

Tomorrow, I will teach my regular Thursday class at the YMCA.  Painting an old tobacco barn.  Last week we had lots of interesting discussions about angles and perspective.  So, we are going to finish this painting then have a class on just perspective and how to determine angles for buildings.  Jerry Yarnell published a book on Perspective so that is what I using to study and learn more about perspective.  Most of us don't realize how much you have to work at something to get ready to teach.




       

Crazy Labor Day with Lee

I hope that everyone had a great Labor Day weekend.  In the Southeastern US, it was turbulent.  Tropical Storm Lee invaded the area pouring rain and wind on us.  Luckily I live in the Piedmont of North Carolina, near Charlotte so we were on the outer edge of the storms.  Rain and wind off and on all day Sunday and Monday with more expected today therefore we did not get a lot of stuff done outside.  Many people suffered much worst than we have and my prayers are for those people.

The stormy weekend allowed me to catch up on some of my painting.  Yesterday, I woke up at 3:00 am and could not go back to sleep so I got up and started painting.  I knew that I had lots of china to paint but did not realize how much.  I cleaned out my storage area and discovered just how much I have in inventory that is unpainted, overwhelming...  So I brought some things upstairs and started washing them so I could get ready to paint.  I also found some things that I could use for displays and some things that need to be repainted...  Now I need to get all that painted, then photograph to put online at Etsy, Yardsellr and Zibbet then take some things to Heritage Mill Antique and Designer Mall.  Hopefully I can sell some items and decrease my inventory...along with making a little money.

For the first month since I have had a booth at Heritage Mill, I sold lots of hand painted stuff.  A woman came in and is redoing her kitchen using numerous pieces of my hand painted purple grapes.  Can't wait to get up there and see what she actually bought.  It was a good month in sales for me making up for some of those months where I sold nothing.

My husband is also in one of those moods where he wants to throw out everything!  So, I am having to rescue or defend anything that I really want to keep.  Very stressful but he is correct in some ways, I have too much stuff!

I was able to get some things painted this weekend.

• Two plastic cake covers, one is rose buds and the other is sunflowers.
• Green glass storage jar painted with sunflowers
• Two lotion dispensers, one is sunflowers and the other looks like a window with curtains and a window box with flowers.
• Three china baby shoes with birthday flowers.
• Two piggy banks.
• Eight wine glasses - purple grapes.
• Four china ring trees...I have about twelve left to paint.  I bought lots of these because we were selling them fast at festivals then we quite doing festivals.

Even with all this painted, I still have lots of painting to do.  Some of these items are very small and you would think that small is easy to paint, but not necessarily.  You must use smaller brushes and sometimes, it is difficult to show much detail.

I am teaching at Michaels in Gastonia this morning.  The class will be on painting trees. We will be practicing several different types of trees then create a simple landscape using some of those trees at the end of class.  I sent out emails to all my students so I hope to have several students for this class.

 

Painting Glassware

Painting glassware is often a challenge.  Many paints do not cover with the first coat so multiple coats of paint are required.  Between these coats, most glassware artists wait 30 minutes or more.  That is necessary so that your paint completely dries before you paint the next layer, otherwise, the layer or layers below might crack.  So, painting glassware takes some time.  The easiest way to accomplish this is to be painting several items at the same time, somewhat like a production line.  I might paint some leaves on a wine glass, the move to the next glass and paint the leaves, then the next and so forth.  By the time I have painted all the leaves on the glasses, the paint on the first glass is dry and I can start the second layer.  Some of my glassware have as many as 10 colors and and/or layers.

That is what takes so long when you are painting on glass.  You must build the layers unless you want the transparent look which is OK is that is what you are looking for.  Some paints are actually designed for a beautiful transparent look.

Also, glassware must be washed with hot soapy water to remove any hand oil or production oils from the glassware.  My next step is to dry the glassware carefully trying to leave as little lint as possible.  Then I wipe the glassware with alcohol to make sure that I have removed any oils from the glass.

After I have completed painting my glassware, I cure it in the oven for durability.  Most of the paints that we use for glassware state is upper level dishwasher safe however, I recommend to all my customers that hand painted glassware be hand washed to protect the design.  After many years of painting on glassware, I know that putting these in the dishwasher is safe.  A couple of times times I have had to remove something I have painted after it dried.  I soaked the glass for a long time in very hot water then had to use a razor blade to scrape off the paint.  It did not come off easily!!!

To all my customers who have purchased glassware from me, I truly appreciate the business and I hope that you enjoy your glassware.  It is not something that I quickly paint and move on as you can see from the process.  It takes time to create painted glassware but the end result is worth it. I love painting on glassware, especially wine glasses.

  

Leaky Basement

Several weeks ago we discovered that we have a leak downstairs in a closet.  This was our son's room.  He has moved in and out of this room since high school, once after graduating from college while he worked on his career in banking. He stayed for almost two years at that time.  Then he bought a condo and a couple of his frat brothers moved in and helped with the mortgage payments.  Then he sold the condo and bought a house because he could afford that on his good salary in mortgage sales.  That was about 2006.  Then the market started its slide and he had to change jobs.  In 2008 he rented his house and he and his Chocolate Lab moved back into his room. We consolidated his furniture into ours, putting some things into storage.  He changed jobs twice more trying to find better jobs and stayed another two plus years.

Last March, our son got a better job out of town and is renting a small bedroom in a frat brother's house.  We still have most of his furniture in our house and garage along with the Chocolate Lab.  His large walk in closet is still packed with clothes, baseball cards collected when he was younger and the other stuff from his youth that he did not have room to move.  Some of it was never moved. I was looking for something in that closet and discovered that things on the floor were wet so we started taking out everything on the floor.  When we had enough moved, we could see that the carpet, baseboards and walls were wet and there was some mildew. Obviously we have had the leak for a while.

After the insurance adjuster came and said that we were not covered, we priced one of those basement waterproofing companies and he wanted over $1,200 just to dry out the closet.  We decided to work on it ourselves.  So my husband used the wet/dry vac. to vacuum water from the carpet and we removed the carpet and pad.  Hopefully we will be able to reuse the carpet because we sure could not match it after almost 13 years.

Yesterday, my husband and a friend removed sheet rock and insulation around the bottom of the walls in the closet exposing the outside walls and house framing.  This room is in the basement surrounded on that side with dirt and has concrete blocks as the outside walls.  They discovered that we have a leak from our water well which they were able to fix.  We live out from the city so have our own water well.  All the wood around the floor of the closet was wet so that has to dry before they can do anything else but fortunately they found the leak.  Now they have to make sure that the pipes outside coming from the well are not leaking also.

It seems that we cannot get anything finished because every time we start doing one thing, something else happens that we have to work on.  We now have a room that is piled high with stuff from that big walk in closet.  We also have a long list of things that need to be done around the house.

I would love to have days to paint and quilt but those are interrupted with the events of everyday living. I did get a set of wine glasses and a matching carafe painted a couple of days ago with a 19th Hole design.  Also I am working on painting a vase which requires multiple layers of paint. In addition, I am working on a set of wine glasses for a bride and the bridesmaids as a sample.  I already have a beer stein painted with a tux for the groom.  If I could just finish all these things that I have started, get them photographed, write up descriptions, and get them loaded to my online stores, I would be doing good. Maybe today!

  

Painting Glasses

Since I painted the Appalachian State University beer steins for my cousin a couple of weeks ago, I decided to paint some more glasses to sell.  Well I now can confirm that I cannot paint a straight line!!!  So when someone says that they cannot paint, "can't even draw a straight line", I can truthfully respond that neither can I.

I am attempting to paint a beer stein with the North Carolina State logo and Woof Pack, one for the University of North Carolina with Tar Heels on the back and another one for ASU with Mountaineers.  I also have a glass started with a tux and the word "groom" painted on the front which I am hoping with fit in with some bride and bridesmaids wine glasses.  Of the four "glasses" that I am working on, the tux looks the best...no straight lines.  I go downstairs to paint and work on the glasses for awhile then I get disgusted with them and leave.  I really have to finish them soon.

I am also painting a clear glass vase using multiple colors and it is starting to look good.  I am using black, silver, purple, blue, white and a clear medium to do layers of colors.  I love the way the vase is starting to look.  I am seeing the different colors through the layers by using the clear medium as a layer or mixing it with a color creating a transparent wash.

Today I also started painting some wine glasses and a carafe with a 19th hole theme.  Last time I painted a set of these glasses, they sold immediately.  Hopefully I can get these finished and get them on my online stores soon. Maybe the set will sell quickly like the others.

Still hand quilting on my Appalachian State Wall Hanging.  Working on the two long sides and should have those finished today so I can start on the short sides.  I am anxious to get that finished.  As usual, I have numerous things that I am working on at the same time.  I want to begin creating some "quilted" ornaments with the college materials that I have and get those ready for sale.

Lots of things to do and as usual not enough time for everything that I want to accomplish.  Tomorrow is another day to get things done.   

What we do for our friends

Sometimes I wonder how I got myself into these things...  My cousin called me and asked if I would paint some glasses for her brother-in-law's birthday.  Sure, I said without thinking it through.  She went on to say that "he is an Appalachian State University alumni so something ASU on the glasses would be great".  "My son went to ASU", I responded.  "Yes, I know so you should be able to do something easily."  Then we met for lunch a few days later and I took home 6 beer steins wondering what I was going to paint on these.  I am a much better free form painter than someone who has to follow the lines.  However, here I was with these large beer steins staring me in the face asking what was I going to put on them.  I searched the internet for something related to the school and simple.  Their  logo is a large "A" in white surrounded with gold and black.  That should not be too hard to paint, so I made a template and the project got underway.

Most glass paint is somewhat transparent so it takes multiple layers to cover the surface.  Knowing this, I taped the template to the inside of the glass and started painting the large "A" in white then traced the outside of the white with the bright yellow and then a black outline, that is after I searched through all my glass painting brushes for the best sizes to use. The first brush that I used was too big, so I wiped off the paint and started again. After multiple layers of white and yellow, I finally got the coverage that I needed then outlined the white with yellow again and again.  Then, I outlined the white and yellow with black.  Straight lines are difficult to keep straight with a paint brush...and this "A" is all straight lines.  I did not use any stencils or anything else other than the original template on the inside of the glass.  Guess they don't look too bad for not using a stencil or any other type of machine.  Any time you hand paint something, it is always going to be different from the next one, so each glass is a little different.

Oh, I almost forgot, I painted the word "mountaineers" on the other side of the glass.  Spent most of the day trying to paint these glasses.  I am going to try to finish them up this afternoon and get them into the oven to heat set tonight when it isn't so hot.

Teaching an acrylic class at Michaels this morning, Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.  Painting a lighthouse is much easier than a big "A".

  

Art Show at Town Crier Antique Mall

Yesterday was an interesting day.  Temp outside registered 102+ at our house about 3 in the afternoon.  However, the official temp at the airport was only 98.  Walking outside, it felt as though you were walking into an oven.  Luckily I spent almost the entire day inside at the Town Crier Antique Mall in Belmont, only about 3 miles from my house.  This is a new store which opened in March.  Yesterday, they had an art show and invited me to participate.  So I gathered paintings, lighted painted wine bottles, wine bottles covered with polymer clay, and some frames covered with polymer clay leaves which included original photography, and headed over there on Saturday morning.  I was also invited to set up a painting studio and paint during the day, so I also had my oil paints, easels, canvas, business cards, and some brochures.  Great opportunity to promote my art.

Town Crier is a nice store with a variety of items from antiques to new items.  The store is divided up into several rooms with partitions between each booth.  Like most stores, there are large and small booths for rent.  I was able to set up my easels and paints in one of the larger unrented booths. The Art Show was in another of the large unrented booths.  Unfortunately, there were very few entrants for the show and Nancy, the owner and an artist, was unable to get additional judges, so I agreed to be a judge with Nancy.  I took my items out of the show and placed them for exhibit only.  We awarded five ribbons for place and additional ribbons for participation.  I felt good about how we awarded the ribbons.  One of my painting students, Mary, received a ribbon for her work which made me very proud.

The morning and early afternoon were very slow with only a few customers. One customer looked at my art, was surprised that I was painting an animal portrait and accepted a brochure and card.  She said that she was not aware that anyone local did animal portraits.  I was working on an oil portrait of a Schnauzer, still in the very early stages.  I try never to get my hopes up that someone who talks about my work and accepts a brochure will call and commission a portrait.  Too many times have I heard people say that they will call and you never hear from them. That sounds like dating doesn't it?   Cannot count the number of brochures and business cards that I have given out.  That is the nature of the game. Took a break mid afternoon and went home for a couple of hours then returned about 6 hoping for more traffic in the store.  Still there were very few people in the store until closing.  The owner even commented that the fish camp (our local name for a fish restaurant) had very few cars in the parking lot so apparently people were not out and about yesterday because of the heat.  Gave out a couple more brochures last night.  Nancy seemed genuinely interested in my art and made several comments about the variety of art.

Maybe something will come of my investment in the day, maybe not.  At least I was able to get some work done on the Schnauzer.  I will keep painting and I will keep trying to promote my art in different ways.  I will also continue to make contacts wherever I can.  You never know where something or someone will lead.      

  

Class at the YMCA This Morning

I had my regular Thursday morning class at the YMCA this morning.  Although I had only one student, we had a good class.  The student is new so this gave me the opportunity to work some one on one time with her.  After class, she indicated that she was very happy with what we accomplished which always makes an instructor feel good.  I think that she has lots of potential which just need to be brought out.  That will also help her confidence level.  As an instructor I have been told time after time that an individual has no art talent, no ability.  Often, that person just needs the right teacher who can break down instructions and encourage that individual.  The most difficult thing for most artists is looking at a blank canvas and trying to decide where to start, just like a writer looking at a blank sheet of paper. Start somewhere...take that first step no matter what your are doing.  To paraphrase...each journey begins with that first step no matter what you are doing.  Where would we be without taking that first step!

As you get older, you realize that there are things that you would like to accomplish before time runs out...a type of bucket list (everyone has one).  Make that list and start working on it, whether it is painting, traveling, education or anything else.  Before you know it, you will be out of time due to health, finances, family commitments, or any number of other things.  Try something new, you will be happy you did.