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.

  

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.