Lemon tree in the kitchen

I finally did it! I painted an art deco looking lemon tree in the kitchen.

Gran in Texas--reflection

One of the thinks I like about Ros' style is that she freehands a lot of things in. In decorative painting you often work from a pattern and a set of instructions. With Ros, she'll give you color options, and you are not always working with a pattern. It's a nice stepping stone for me. I'm trying to branch out more as an artist (ooh, I still cringe to type that word, but I am working on being able to say or type it without cringing!). It's nice to have a pattern to fall back on for a building or structure, but it's also good to know I can paint trees or flowers with out a pattern.

I learned so much this week, and feel like my self confidence continues to grow. One of the things I like after taking a good painting class is how it opens your eyes and you see things differently. On the drive home, I kept looking at the trees and shrubs and thinking about what colors were in them, and the shapes they made, and how I would paint them. It's fun.

Ros is also just a lot of fun. She encouraged us to be loose, bold women in class. She was referring to our painting, but it's good advice always to not be shy of color or paint and keep things loose (or at least some things! ha!).

We were awarded a certificate today into the L.O.O.S.E. Women Society, which stands for Ladies of Originality, Style and Elegance. The best part though is where it says that it is "an annual event to develop and maintain skills in giggling, tapping, flicking, shoveling and the general slinging of paint with gleeful abandonment."

Gran in Texas--Day 4

Poppies were up for the last day of the seminar. We painted them on burplap-like placemats. I do not recommend that material for painting at all. Ugh. It was awful...the loose weave, and they seemed to absorb even more of the paint that "normal" fabric. I was pretty whiny today, and struggled with the surface.

However, I really liked painting the poppies! They were fun. I didn't finish the placemats as I just needed a break from the fabric. I need to do a little more work on the centers, and there are some bluebonnets that go in the design too. This whole design was freehanded in, so that was pretty darn cool.

Gran in Texas--Day 3

Day 3 was a challenging day. I was bit worn out from Day 2, and boy is painting a reflection a brain bender!! There were some interesting logistics to this, but I got the hang of painting wood, and for once my building isn't leaning! I have a tendency to have leaning buildings when I paint. I didn't finish this that day. We took a break and got some dinner and I did manage to put the glaze of color on the water section. Ros had to work her magic with the water ripples for me the next day. The first picture is without any water done, and the second is the finished painting.

Gran in Texas--Day 2--part 2

After the fruit painting we took a dinner break, and ate some good Cranky Frank's BBQ, and then painted a small beach scene. The downside meant this was a 13 hour day!! The plus side was a pretty awesome beach scene. These are a bit challenging too, but I'm looking forward to trying it again and seeing if I can get the waves right without Ros' touch ups! She has a way of making two or three strokes on your painting and bringing the whole thing together.

Gran in Texas--Day 2--part 1

Day 2 was fruit...strawberries and kiwi on a tin box. I decided to multi-task and also paint the fruit on a set of coasters, and paint some strawberry pins. It was fun until we hit the leaves. Leaves are my painting arch-nemesis. I don't know what it is about them. They make me grumble and whine almost every time. However, I got through it and wound up with some nice leaves. Again, a finished project at the end of the day!

Ros Stallcup--Gran in Texas Painting Seminar--Day 1

Ten years ago I took a week long painting seminar with Ros Stallcup, and had the best time. I've been wanting to take a seminar from her again, but she stays on the East coast a lot, and I just haven't been able to make it happen. I was so excited to learn she was coming to Texas, and I am so happy that I got to go. It was a wonderful 4 days in Fredericksburg.

The first day we painted this lovely flower cart on a wooden tray. We painted the background and then traced the cart on; everything else was freehanded. The best part was finishing the project that day! :-)

Simple Skirts

Back in the beginning of October, I took a Simple Skirts class at one of my favorite places, Stitch Lab. It's just an elastic waistband skirt. Super simple, and a couple weeks later, I made another one in about 45 minutes start to finish.