Cabinet Revamp

I gave this cabinet a fresh look with a coat of turquoise paint inside and out, replaced the old rusty hinges and papered the shelves. The metal birds came off of an old iron garden dish that broke years ago. Luckily I was able to turn them into knobs.

I have a lots of furniture projects I'm working on right now. They are all in different stages of refurbishing and I will post them as soon as they're done. Until then.....have a nice evening. Karin

3.....2....1!!

As promised, here are some pictures from todays street banner unveiling. My nephew Ethan was there to help me pull the cover when the countdown began.

I want to thank all of you who came by today and Nelz who got the bidding started on my piece! You're the best.

Now............ it's time to relax and enjoy the rest of the weekend and the beautiful weather we're having. Karin

Mushroom Forest

I know.........is it done yet?

I've been a little distracted with other projects and custom work to put any time into it. The last couple of art classes were cancelled but we did manage to get together this week. Carol and Francesca are coming along on their Alice in Wonderland paintings which I plan on snapping some pictures of next Monday. As for mine, I'm just about done with all the background mushrooms and can now focus on the big ones.

Don't forget......tomorrow is the banner unveiling in Encinitas (Leucadia) at 12:00-5pm. Hope you can make it! Karin

Something different-- a Tutorial

I had this idea mulling around in my head for awhile and yesterday my supplies finally arrived from Dick Blick art supplies. I haven't used frisket in so long and was excited to mess with it again. Literally it's been about 20+ years.

Quick background history for those of you may not know........

Right out of high school I went to work for an professional artist painting tile murals and GIGANTIC illustrations on canvas that would be painted in her studio and wallpapered on to our clients walls. She had a huge loft studio on Cedros when the street was more of an artists haven than a design district. After five years she hired an assistant for me but I was getting so burned out and tried of airbrushing with ceramic glazes. What I really am grateful for is that I learned so much about different techniques and also the whole business side of being an artist.

So now back to the tutorial.....

1) I cut some birch wood and sanded the edges
2) Applied clear frisket and drew some schefflera branches on it
3) With an x-acto blade, I cut out my image and peeled of the background
4) Covered the whole board with white paint to seal the edges so they wouldn't bleed
5) Painted several layers of different colors on top. (let each layer dry completely)
6) Peel off the rest of the image to show the original wood.

It turned out okay but did end up bleeding a little bit. I guess the wood was either too porous or maybe I should have sprayed a primer first..... but I was all out. I'm also thinking of rubbing wood stain on it too cause I'm not sure if I like the light wood coming through and wish it had more grain to it. If any of you give this a shot, let me know how it went. Karin

Playing Musical Furniture...... again

You may notice by now that it always seems to be the front room that gets the Ol-'switch-a-roo, but I think it finally looks pulled together.
It's so sad to have to cover the pretty couch with blankets, but as you can see, Max and Bob have taken this room for themselves. (notice the paw prints walking across my favorite little sofa with crewel work fabric!) I guess repeatedly telling them to stay off it isn't quite working.

It's Time!

The banner unveiling is just around the corner. I can't wait to see all the artwork from over 100 artists! If you live locally, you don't want to miss it. If you don't.... I will make sure to bring my camera and take lots of pictures.

Art Class Show and Tell

Here are the finished paintings from the younger kids in my art class. Pretty cute eh?

I've got this month off from teaching and can't wait to work on my own art.