Back in January I was asked to collaborate with a local business on a how-to demo for a home decor project. Basically, a local marketing expert and a paint supply business wanted someone to demo the business’s products by using them for a DIY project. It sounded like fun and coincidentally I had been meaning to fix my patio table anyway. I figured I could kill two birds with one stone.

About the table: We inherited a patio table with a missing glass center when we got this house and we wanted to replace the glass with a wood top. Steve had gone so far as to cut out the plywood for the project and now we were hemming and hawing about what kind of tile to use and should we paint them or try to mosaic something together out of what we already had, and lots of other things–amazing how complicated one little project can be–and no surprise, the project was in limbo until we made some decisions.

Since the demo needed to be simple enough for anyone to do and it needed to use paint rather than tile, I decided that this was the solution to our patio table design problems. I designed some tile-sized stencils to use in place of tiles and then picked a color palette based on ideas I’d found on Pinterest.

My fellow collaborators and I eventually decided that rather than doing an entire table top, the demo would use one stencil to decorate a small 8×8″ piece of wood to hang on a wall. I enlisted the help of another local business to cut the stencils for us, the paint place mixed up the paint colors and provided the applicators, and the marketing expert took care of the video production.

After the initial trial run, which enlisted family members and friends to participate in the paint-along and was surprisingly a lot more fun than I expected, I got some nice feedback on the design (see the chickadee stencil below) and used that to make some changes to all the rest of the tiles. In a nutshell, I needed to simplify the stenciling part of the project to try to make it as foolproof as possible.

Since then, the collaboration part of the project has been put on indefinite hold, so I’ve decided to forge ahead with the table top on my own. It’s starting to warm up outside and I need to have a place to set my cocktail down once Steve and I resume our nightly drinks-on-the-deck ritual. The table top must go on!

Here are my stencil designs and the tabletop layout I’m going to do. The middle tile will have a hole in it where the umbrella goes through, but otherwise, it’ll look pretty much like this. I think it’s going to be cool.

I wanted tiles that reflected where we live out here in the woods, so there’s a squirrel, a chickadee, a woodpecker, a bear, a coyote, a deer and a moonrise. What do you think?

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Maybe down the road I’ll do another set that’s all about living by Lake Michigan. I could do some dunes, a sunset, a wave, a boat, maybe even the carferry chugging along in the distance. I’m thinking a backsplash in the kitchen would be the perfect place for them.

This piece was a collaborative effort between myself and another local artist, Linda Sandow. There is an art show coming up at our local art center for February called “Duets” and the idea is for artists to work together on a single piece. 

On the Saturday after Christmas, Linda brought a 12×24″ canvas over to my studio downtown (still there for a few weeks, yet) and, listening to instrumental music and chatting (with masks on), we went to work with acrylic paint, brushes and a palette knife.

It took about two hours from start to finish. Here’s the photo reference we used:

Here’s the photo reference we used:

We chose this photo because Linda wanted to do some moodier versions of downtown and liked the idea of using pictures of alleys and backs of buildings–places that are off the beaten path. 

For the painting we used mirror images of the same photo, one on each side of the canvas. Linda had a palette knife and I dug out a couple of brushes and after dividing the canvas right down the middle, we jumped in.

Here’s the time-lapse:

When I saw the time-lapse, I was struck by how differently we approached the work. I painted from the outside in and Linda painted from the inside out. I loved watching her lay on color like icing on a cake, working from light to dark. Such a great contrast to how I worked, sketching in all the shapes first and then going from darkest dark to lightest light, matching values and hues. 

She started giggling toward the end and I asked her what was so funny and she said, “I’m done!” What a great way to signal the end of a painting!

I’m so grateful that Linda agreed to work with me on this. I admire her fearlessness and playfulness and her exuberance! Painting with her was just the pick me up I needed after this year. 

Even though the subject is an alley at night, a typically dreary location, in this piece it is lit up like a Christmas tree and beauty is reflected on every surface. I love how it came together and I really enjoyed sharing this with Linda. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner.

It’s made me feel more inspired to paint subjects that are hidden and overlooked in the new year and see how I might transform them into something beautiful. And then to see how they transform me.

Thanks to my lovely husband, Steve, my she-shed/studio/woman-cave is all wired up and we are now in the process of insulating the walls and ceiling. Woohoo! We’ve come a long way already!

Next we will be putting up the walls and then a floor and I can start moving my stuff! I’m thinking about a gas wall furnace, too, so it’ll be toasty in the wintertime, but until that happens a couple of space heaters will work just fine.

The walls are gonna be slat boards. I found a ton of them on Craigslist, used, but in great shape. Slat walls are really cool because you can literally cover them with hooks and then you can hang everything everywhere. Hurray! No more clothespins!

And Steve came up with a brilliant plan for the ceiling which involves thin sheets of metal that we can get for practically nothing from the local newspaper office.

As usual, I’m of two minds about the new space. For one thing, it feels like I’ve been waiting all my life for this. Growing up in a large family meant that space was tight for everyone and resources were limited. Since I was little I’ve always dreamed about a big castle where I could do anything I wanted, whenever I wanted.

Steve and I used to daydream about the perfect home/studio combination. “We’ll have a house with a turret on each end,” we’d say, because we each wanted our own private place to make stuff.

But life intervened, as it does. We had kids and a mortgage and all the turret building time got used for other things. No regrets! It’s been a grand adventure so far with more to come.

I’ve been making do with the spaces available to me since we moved back to Michigan in 2016. There was the Makers Market space on the main drag first, which was pretty awesome, not least because I was working adjacent to a lot of creative and crafty people every day. And I’ve enjoyed my various spaces at 307 S. James Street since I’ve been there. Combining creative space with retail has been a learning experience, for sure. I just never knew who was going to walk through the door there. Sometimes it was someone friendly and sometimes it was someone who’d clearly made a mistake. I never did open up my flat black gallery after all that work we did on it, but it’s okay. Everyone’s had to make sacrifices in 2020. Mine haven’t been more than I can handle, certainly, and I feel lucky to have gotten off so lightly compared to so many others.

In a few more weeks I’m going to start a new chapter in my arty art life and I’m feeling by turns gleeful and a little bit freaked by the whole thing. Like I said, two minds. That’s my m.o.

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You can buy my art imprinted on all kinds of cool stuff in my Fine Art America Shop. You can purchase my original art on Daily Paint Works.

My annual X-mas sale Friday, November 27 through Thursday, December 3, 2020 is officially over.

It’s the end of the line(s)

Please note: I will no longer offer cards and prints handmade in my studio. Cards and prints along with masks and canvas wraps and home decor and t-shirts and all that other swag will still be available, just not made by me personally. Instead, you can find everything in my Fine Art America shop (in the menu on the right).

Basically, I want more time to create original artwork. Making and packaging cards and prints takes time and energy, not to mention space. And, if you didn’t already know, I’m going to be moving soon and there just isn’t room for a big printer, plus all the paper and inks, envelopes, plastic sleeves, mats, foam core, etc., etc. in my new studio. But more about that later. Stay tuned!

Oh, all right, here’s a sneak preview of my soon-to-be-new digs being delivered by the great folks at Wanna Buy Sheds…

Once I get it wired up and put some heat in there, it’ll be sweet! Promise I’ll post pictures as I go.