Have I told you about my hand? I didn't think so.

To all you DIY-ers and Old House people - heck, to anyone who uses one hand for most tasks, beware! Look up DeQuervain's syndrome. I honestly believe this is from a combination of too much time on the computer when I first started my business, scraping life back into the kitchen floor in the foursquare for countless hours, painting trim for countless hours, knitting, painting, writing and having a busy, busy right hand all of the time. New moms can be susceptible to this as well by the way they hold their child with the wrist turned. So, if it hurts, stop!

Anyway, after many months of anti-imflammatories, saltwater soaks, tons of prayer and rest in the brace, I think my right hand is ready to ease slowly back into work!!! Praise God!

Believe me, it was and is an artist's nightmare.

But, my mom and I worked on making these weatherproof canvas tags and my hand made it through ok! I'm still wearing the brace at night and doing most writing with my left hand (unless it is something that someone else needs to be able to read!) as well as brushing teeth, eating, etc. I'm almost ambidextrous!!!

Aren't they cute? Not exactly something for the Met or The Louvre, but it was fun and I've made a little money off of them.

Here's a happy customer:

Or Perhaps he's just a very, very good sport!

Now that Spring seems to have crashed into Winter, run over it and totaled it, I'm looking forward to new projects and inspirations (like Springtime foals and such).

What Winter projects are you finishing up and what Springtime ones are you planning?

It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's an.... Art Studio!

Yes! It's true! No more Humbling Room! I now have a fully functioning art studio (minus the correct size table and the free chalkboard that's in Millbrook, but we're getting there) that inspires me and feels like MY space! It is probably the best gift that I received in 2008.

My Dad and my husband spent many hours and worked very hard to bring me this studio before the close of 2008, and I could have been more pleased. I've gone around the house gathering up several thing here and there that I love, but have never really fit in their current room or spot and now they do!

I have ample work space with the counter tops, a good amount of storage (though a mixed media artist can NEVER have too much storage!), different work stations and I am surrounded by inspiration!

See the lovely view? It is on the second story so I feel like I am in a tree house looking down on everything in the neighborhood.

I believe that the only new things we bought for the studio were the counter tops and the storage bins. It is so nice to have everything in its own little box. SO much easier to find, too. I used to have to shove things out of the way or dig through boxes to find one tiny thing. Now they all have there spot.

The cabinets were the old kitchen cabinets and everything else was from somewhere around the house were it didn't fit. Even this chandelier. My Dad gave it to me about 5 or 6 years ago. It was out of an old office they had. It used to hang in the front room of my old house (the little house) and we brought it with us when we moved. It does for the room what icing does for a cake!

Oh, and let's not forget the animals. They love it too! They are allowed anywhere I am not currently working and the dogs even have their own bed up in the room too.

I love it! THANK YOU DADDY AND SAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Art You Glad?

As usual, things are as busy as they can be here at the house of many feet. We are really enjoying celebrating Christmas in the "new" house this year, and just in general. It's just a wonderful time!
We are also in the process of having the art studio floors refinished (YAY), which means one day I will actually be able to unpack the boxes of my supplies and create and teach again. I can't tell you how excited I am even though the floors are taking forever to dry due to the humidity and we are high on polyurethane. It is a blessing that the weather is warm for us because we can keep the windows and doors open to let the house air out and let the animals be out of doors.
I got a call yesterday about a possible commission as well - how cool is that?! (Yes, Mama, I know I am to do Aunt Shari's painting FIRST). And it doesn't even include an animal!
Here are progress pictures, because I know that's all you really want!
The Room Formerly Known as "The Humbling Room" :

The beautiful floors!

Sam helping to plan the layout of the studio under the careful supervision of Gatsby.
My fun project for reusing the glass jars our recycling program does not accept - Mint Mocha Drink Mix for presents! I made it myself!

The Big White Kitten Nod of Approval

Random Thoughts...

I guess I haven't posted with previously noted fervor over the past two weeks due to illness and starting a new job. I've been either here or there, cleaning the kitchen or making dinner and the like. The new job is horseback riding lessons, which is fun and rewarding, but also a huge change in pace for me since I have been working from home for a while now. Plus, my brain is a little fried from doing so many lesson plans... I don't know how teachers and homeschoolers do it all!
Lesson plans for this week:

1. Private art lesson for rambunctious 7 year old that must include learning one of the elements of design while having fun
2. Private art lesson for calm, type A personality, artistically talented 4 year old that will include concepts and instructions that she can understand while having fun with art
3. Riding lesson for 5 y. o. boy on a horse that won't budge that must be safe, yet very fun
4. Riding lesson for 5 y. o. girl who's mother stands beside you the whole time and caused the last instructor to loose her job (oh, no, I'm not nervous at all...)
5. Riding lesson for 6 y. o. girl who's mother wants her to learn every possible element of horseback riding that will give her every advantage in the world before they move in one month
6. Hunt-Seat Riding lesson for teenage girl who has put me on this huge pedestal (I haven't ridden hunt-seat in about two years...). If I don't satisfy her English riding needs, the family may relocate to another barn, causing my barn to loose about 600.00 a month - no pressure!!!
7. Group Riding lesson for 3 girls, 11, 12 and 17 (the 17 y. o. has never ridden before - the other girls are way ahead!!!).
8. Riding lesson for girl I have never met and cannot pronounce her name
9. Overall curriculum for 5 day horse camp this summer that I will be running, to be presented to management ASAP
10. Whatever else might come up this week...

Please let me just say that of all these children I am currently teaching (except for 2 that I have not met yet), I truly have no complaints with them. They are all sweet and as obedient as children can be. I love kids and I love teaching. It's just coming up with all of these different plans, none of which have the same objectives or method of execution...

And also, we are still in the throws of negotiation with the little cottage house that we currently live in. It's beginning to get a little ridiculous, if you ask me. We are at the point were it is make or break and we have to consider that the house may not get another offer anytime soon at which we will have to rent it out - NOT at all what we want, but we can't keep paying two mortgages. Oh, and I was sick for about two weeks. I knew I was sick and probably needed some meds, but I had to go to work, which wore me out all the more. Plus, I felt it really was just a cold and my body needed to fight it off on my own. Had it not been for my dear, sweet husband buying Pride and Prejudice on DVD (the Colin Firth/ Jennifer Ehle edition) I may have not been inspired to move at all those two weeks and would have sunk into a bored stupor (we packed up all of our books for the move). Oh yeah, and we are renovating the Foursquare and packing up this house, too. Oh yeah, and I started up that business last summer...

But back to move exciting things like Pride and Prejudice, DVD.... It was great because if I did not want to watch all 6 hours of it (like the embarrassing mother scenes, Mr Collins painful proposal or bad Lydia) I could skip to my favorite ones, like Lizzy and Mr. Darcy's dance at Netherfield, Mr. Darcy's first proposal, Elizabeth first visits Pemberley, Lizzy plays Georgiana's piano at Pemberley, Mr. Darcy's renewal of his addresses, etc. etc. etc. I could even watch the same scene over and over and over again. If you like the book and DVD, this all needs no explanation. You know exactly how I feel...

And on sickness....I think my healing was largely due to "MeMe's Firecrackers." They are these crackers my MIL makes that have crushed red pepper flakes and cayenne pepper on them. It will clean out your sinuses in no time flat! Made me feel so much better. Also, I made myself some cheesy cauliflower soup. I had a meat aversion while sick (a food aversion in general) and this is, for the most part, a vegetarian soup. So yummy. Every time I eat it I feel like someone loves me... I guess it's a comfort soup of sorts.

Oh, and in further affirmation of my fried brain, I discovered this video. I made Sam watch it over and over last night. I was just cracking up and he sat there with a blank stare.

Anyway, you've probably already seen it, but it's funny.

All that to say, I'm caving on coming up with all of my own curriculum. Sam has to go to the local home improvement super store tonight and there is a book super store just a feet away. I buyin' some teachin' books so I can start learnin' some kids more better.

House of Blues...and pinks too, I suppose

I wrote a post yesterday, but it was yucky, so I took it down.
Yes, we are having trouble with some of the things with the money side of the house. We HAVE the money in a way. It's just the Big Bank's appraiser REFUSED to appraise our future home and they don't want to send out another appraiser, but hey, they want to charge us anyway. The appraiser didn't even go inside of the house and did a write up that basically said the house we want is a crack house and absolutely disgusting. It's dirty, it needs updates, but it was never a crack house and the problems are quite fixable and the house does have SOME form of value.

Anyway, I have been reacting like an angry pit bull locked in a room with Mr.Vick and my poor, Southun' gentleman of a husband has had to deal with an angry coona$$ of a wife.

So that's my update. My blood pressure is going up, so let's move on to a better topic.

My little neighbor friend came over this past weekend to spend the day with me one on one, and we had a great time. We had our "Pink Day" we talked about with my pink mixer, pink apron and pink cupcakes. Little Sally's demeanor is very much like mine, so we get along quite well.

We had fun watering my garden, making "Compost Stew" out of berries and grass, etc., baking cupcakes, painting and playing with the toys at my house. It was a good day, but I was ready for bed with not an ounce of energy left by the time 10:00 rolled around!

Here are some happy pictures of our fun times:
Think pink! It's much easier to smile if you are making cupcakes!

Wearing her hair "Miss Michelle Style" (pre-hair cut) while painting.While watering the gardens, Miss Sally got her clothes wet. The only thing I had was a dress that I saved that I used to wear as a little one - a perfect fit! Sweet memories...

Christmas Portrait Blitzkreig # 1

I'm in the midst of a painting frenzy (and a creating frenzy for an open house next weekend!), all of which must be done by December 1st! It's great to be busy and have my work in demand. I think my favorite thing is seeing people's faces the first time they see a finished portrait. It's still quite a rush though since we have so much going on outside of work (old house, other house, travelling plans, Thanksgiving, Christmas and all that goes with it!).

So, what do you think? I still have about an hour's worth of work to do on highlights, shadows, nose (the nose always gets me) and landscape. The flowers are inspired by Gustav Klimt's style and colors.

Below is a photo of a photo that was printed out on paper..... just to give you an idea of what this guy really looks like.

Helpful hints on painting noses? Suggestions? Questions?

When I am not blogging...

...I am doing things like this:

Some one asked me how retirement was going the other day.
Hmmm.....
Well, it is not that I don't have a low stress job or a job I really like. I love what I am doing, but it does require more than just painting and creating. There's a business to run here, folks. On top of that, since I am working at home (Read that? It said WORKING. No, not eating bon bons and sipping on lemonade... working.) I am responsible for my home. The whole house is my office. It needs to stay clean, picked up and ready for company at a moments notice. I have dishes, laundry, daily chores and meals to cook, plan and prepare. I don't mind doing any of this. My hours that I put into working for TPP are probably less that what my husband puts in at work, so it all turns out even in the end.
All that to say, just because someone is a "stay at home mom (or dad)," works from home or even works part time is not to say that he or she doesn't work. Or that he or she is not busy. Or that he or she lays in a tanning bed and eats gourmet cookies while watching Oprah in the afternoons. Some people do actually do that, but probably not most.
Just had to get that off of my chest. Thanks for listening!

Well, Art You Cute?!

For those of you who do not know, I will be giving art lessons to one little student (who will remain anonymous on this blog) in October! It is exciting for me, because it will allow me to really examine art and its technique, which I studied, but came naturally to me. I do enjoy teaching and children, so throwing in a little paint and creativity will be fabulous!

Here she is painting a butterfly in my studio - we did a trial run to see if this energetic little girl would be able to handle sitting still. She had to ask me about the cereal I ate, clear up confusion about what I actually did for a living, find out where Mr. Sam was, see if I had made any progress on the dollhouse and find out what Lil' Henri was doing. Once she determined that all was OK at my little house, we got down to business. Needless to say, she did great! Don't you love the frog painting, below?

I'll keep you posted on future projects (currently, I am not accepting any other students, by the way) and paintings - maybe even some of my own!

I am facing down a poodle portrait, and I WILL win!

The Painted Pony

Sorry for the long silence.....
We now have Internet at the House of Many Feet, so I will hopefully be posting more often.
Updates:
* The three adorable kittens we loved and raised are now up for adoption at our animal clinic. I know that one has a home, but I am not sure about the other two. I was so heart wrenching to say goodbye to them, especially since they were so frightened, but I knew they had to go if they were ever going to get good homes.
* The Painted Pony site is up and running, but not yet complete. I think it will get there once I have the time to dedicate to it.
* My current office job ends Thursday. All I can say is YAY!
* My parents are done with the Great Boat Swap/Sale Adventure. My Father is once again content/busy for the next 3 months.
* We will not be changing the blog name to Twenty-four Feet as we had hoped. Keep our little family in your prayers. I have a strange feeling we may have a difficult journey ahead.
* We have a land-line. Wow. Haven't had one in over four years!!!! I don't really know what to do with a big, clunky phone that I can't put in my purse!
* We did not get the house (or any of the houses) that we tried for. We feel that this is God's way of telling us to STAY PUT! We can put up with one bathroom. It is really not that bad.
* It was about 105 degrees in the shade today. SO HOT and no rain. Please pray for the people who need relief (farmers) and the innocent animals who have become dependant on humans to supply them with food (grass), my horse being one of them. Please pray for rain.
* I am the chair person for our neighborhood membership drive. If you have ever been to one of our neighborhood meetings, you will know that I need lots of prayer. Let me just say that they are a cultural and psychological smorgasbord with no time limit and no agenda. Anyone may speak at anytime about anything. Even the great deal you got on some tools at the hardware store, or that you think we should have a purple, long sleeved polo shirt. What I am saying is pray that I have patience. I love the people, but they actually make me feel normal and ordinary with no quirks - and we all know that's not true! ;o)
More updates to follow!


(See? I'm not normal! I wear this hat every Wednesday.)