Good Clients Make the Process A Pleasure

I've been working for several months now with the same client as she moved into and furnished/decorated her new home.  Cynthia hired me as an artistic consultant based upon our working together several years back on projects for her former home.  We had a good working relationship that has turned into friendship. I am honored that she trusts me to advise on - and then to execute many paint, finish and art projects for her.

I would never call myself a decorator.  What I do is ask questions, offer courageous color options, and often just explain why something will or won't work in a given space.  My philosophy of one's living space is that it should make you smile every time you enter.  Serenity and comfort are important - but just feeling good in the space is paramount. I don't follow any rules, nor do I advise decorating for "resale" value.  It's all about making it personal and meaningful, and understanding how our perception of our environment works physiologically gives courage to decision making.

60" round table with three leaves.  Ordered unfinished and painted with a soft white glaze that lets the wood grain show.  To give the table smaller scale and interest, a black ring with filigree was added.  The pedestal legs are aged slightly to show off the curves.  All the chairs are mismatched natural wood.  In the background you can see the refinished kitchen cabinets and part of the faux/decorative hallway.  More on these next time.

Detail of painted circle.

Granite countertop was added to the island, replacing tiles.  The soft dark gray is brushed with black tones and some of the wood left showing through for a casual rustic look. 

This sofa or side table was refinished to work with other furniture in the room - apologies for this photo.  Definitely not not properly set up for a photoshoot!

And because no posting is complete without one of the kitties - here is a pic of Mr.Cheddars at four weeks of age.  Cuteness overload.  I started fostering him at 3 days old and now I can't give him up!

I haven't made that, but...

I've been hoping to get up to Sautee to photo the new paintings, but my work schedule - and that of the shop haven't permitted it.  Been really busy, refinishing kitchen cabinets with my bud Carol, doing a chair makeover (Carol sewed up the silk-screen fabric cushion covers - look at that piping!), and finishing the rejuvenation of a side table for a client.

So I wasn't going to blog tonite, but some things just won't wait.  For instance, Elvis wanted everyone to see his new nose scratch.

Elvis' ouchy

And Spooky has been pestering me to show off his rare and unusual coat.  Spooky is a "sable" according to my vet, but I've never seen any cat with fur like his.  In rabbits, the term agouti means varying colors on an individual hair shaft.  Spooky's fur looks black, but when the fur parts, he appears to have a cream colored undercoat.  His lovely coat won't be passed on, however, for Spooky boy traded his very large cahones for a forever home with endless head rubs and scratches (from me, not Elvis) 

Spooky showed up last fall looking too pretty to be a boy - and having a really fat (I thought pregnant) belly.  But when I finally got a close look (and smell) he was all boy, just fat from eating all the dry food I leave out at night. He went from total panic, to lying here on the computer desk, waiting for a pet or more food.

 

He says "teh."

And no post would be complete without Gracie.  Here she is lounging on laundry left draped over the cat tree.  She just loves a clean t-shirt.

"I cans cross me legs..."

Oh - and by the way.  It's a pretty safe bet that Elvis' nose ouchy is courtesy of Spooky.  But don't feel sorry for him; he always starts it.

Nest time: new art.

I Love the Rain

Perhaps I was born during a rainy fall day.  Would that explain how much I love the rain?  Walking through the pine forest in a mist or fog I have often felt that time has stopped.  I could be anyone in any hour of any day in this or another century.  Everything slows down and I am able to focus on what is small and near and tangible - as that which is far away is softly obscured.  Bark and leaves and textures, tiny branches, toadstools and fungi, droplets of water on my head - and sounds - sounds that are both muffled and magnified.  The tapping of the water droplets, the sweet percussive sound of a runoff creek  as it carries bits of the natural world down a fresh gravitational path.

If I am lucky, the tree frogs are singing - or I may chance upon a rabbit or doe rustling away into deeper cover.  I love, too, the light after a rain, when the mist rises from warm earth seeming to carry the light up and hold it in place; a mist lit from within.

And then everything blooms!

After two days of steady soaking rain...

 

 My narcissus doesn't bloom every year.  The drought and heat of the South cause undo stress - making me wait for well timed rains to bring it into full bursting glory.

Before the rain... two days ago.

Yes, I've been painting, but I post my commissioned works here - a pair of paintings for Mother's Day.  So for further entertainment, here is the very undignified Gracie lounging atop my (formerly) clean laundry.  No - she's not nursing kittens, she just has very fine short hair, rather like a Rex, on her pink and plump belly..

Gracie - rescued last year from a Walmart parking lot.  She never has to eat greasy popcorn chicken again.

Over the decades of my life I've rescued or adopted many many cats.  Gracie is unique in that she shows her joy and gratitude at being safe, loved and fed regularly.  She is affectionate, sweet and loving all the time, and wants nothing more than to be a lap cat.  Whoever dumped her there missed out on a very special feline.

Dreaming of Friskies...

Ain't that the pinkest kitty nose you ever saw?

And when it rains, Elvis gets back in "the box".  Note the new scratch on his nose.

Happy Mother's Day to all you Moms.

This is Chaps

This memorial portrait was painted for a wonderful animal loving couple who've commissioned several other pieces from me and other artists.

Chaps, 12 x 12 acrylic on canvas (commission)

Though Chaps is no longer with us, he had, for a brief time, the best home a rescued weimeraner could hope for. We'll miss you, Chaps...

I finished Chaps portrait a few days ago, and had to take some time off from painting to work on getting the shop/studio going. My artist friend Carol and I slaved all weekend (and Friday, too) schlepping furniture, wood and lumber, tons of boxes, trash, collections and assorted crap/junque just to make room to work.

We've a long way to go (as is obvious from this "before" photograph) but the plan is to be open sometime in September. By utilizing a building right here on the property, we can save enough to afford some advertising.
The first load of trash and recyclables went off this morning! That big tangle of vines on the electric pole is yellow jasmine - I hate to do it, but I'll have to cut it back. I'll keep posting our progress.

Jeepers creepers, where'd she get those peepers? Yes - once again h-e-e-e-r-e 's Molly! I just love this photo of her sweet tabby face. Molly has the biggest eyes of any cat I've ever seen. And if you think is something, you should see her impression of Yoda (coming soon in a future blogpost...)

Keepin' on... and a squirrel tale...

What's this? My latest painting? My latest subject? No to all three questions. This little dear is my most recent rescue. Driving back from the plant wholesaler, I spotted the squirrel hunched up on the double yellow lines of the two-lane highway. From her (?) posture, she might've already been dead - they usually are if hit by speeding motorists. But she might possibly be just stunned and about to be finished off by the next busy cell phoning driver swerving over the no-passing lines. Traffic was doing 60-ish so I slowed to look closer, passed and turned around. I parked in an adjacent driveway, grabbed a thick towel and waited an eternity for passing traffic to thin. I ran out and as I scooped her up, saw she was breathing - and that there was blood on the road under her bowed little head. (You can see the affected area on the side of her face in this photo.)

She spent the next few hours wrapped in the towel, shocky and barely moving. The best thing for an animal in shock is dark and quiet - especially when there is no veterinarian available. Later, at home I put her in my still empty collage studio room with bedding and water - and I attempted to give her a tiny bit of Pedialyte to combat dehydration. I still thought she would die at that point.

Two days later, she was scuttling about the small room and eating shelled nuts and apple bits. Her face was terribly swollen on the impact side and I feared she would lose the eye.

By the fifth day she was able to climb into the windowsill. You can see the injured side here, and while the swelling was way down, and the eye improved, she began intermittent circling, and was knuckling on her front paws - clear signs of neurological damage. I feared she'd never be able to be released.

But amazingly, she continued to improve, eating and moving better and better, and by the end of a week I no longer saw her circle or move in an abnormal way. I began to think about releasing her way up on the back of my property, well away from my cats and dogs - and the established squirrel population in my yard. (Squirrels are quite territorial and will fight an interloper.) Problem was, I needed to put her where there were good sources of food or where I could continue feeding her, as she'd have no food buried from the year before nor would she know where to find new sources until she acclimated.

I made two mistakes. One was opening the window, the second was underestimating her desire for freedom!

Glancing out my front door two days ago, I saw a squirrel in the pear tree just outside. That's not unusual in the early morning, as they come to grab a few bits from the bird feeders. But it wasn't early morning - and something about this squirrel was "off" a bit. I thought it must be checking out "my" squirrel lady who likes to sit in the windowsill not eight feet from the tree. I went outside and looked over at the window - and there was the freshly chewed hole of escape. The squirrel in the tree was my little rescuee.

I rounded up all the cats and Freda (a notorious squirrel-chaser) and then watched as my former charge explored the pear tree, then ran to the very large oak across the driveway. Keep in mind, I had never tried to tame or handle her (more than necessary for Rx) so I was happy to see she was moving away from me and the house.
She stayed in the oak for some time, and I made sure she watched me place food (nuts and slices of apple) for her to eat or store away. Each morning I replenish the supply - and though I've not actually recognized her(she has some fur missing from part of her tail), someone is gnawing open the nuts and taking the apples. I've not heard any squirrels quarreling, either, so for now I'm assuming she's doing fine out in the big world. At least she'll not run the risk of highways and speeding autos here.


And some great news!!!

I sold one of my large paintings at the Sautee-Nacoochee Gallery yesterday!!

Selling paintings is a mixed blessing. I'm so fond of this painting I wish I could keep it - but dang, I sure need the money. I hope the buyer will like it as much as do I.

Blue Yonder, 35 x 36, acrylic on deep cradle panel