Ginger Edwards Seminar

The Society of Decorative Painters hosted a seminar with Ginger Edwards over the weekend. I love Ginger's flowers, and have always wanted to paint with her. So I schlepped out to Wichita, KS for three and a half days of painting. I'm very sorry to report the weekend was tainted by technical difficulties, a freezing room, and less than welcoming hospitality. Oh, and of course I had trouble with a noisy hotel room, and my flight home, so I wound up having to spend an extra night in Wichita.

On the plus side, I painted with a wonderful group of women, and Ginger was a delightful person. And I was quite astonished to bring home two mostly finished pieces, and one beautiful rose (achieved with three amazingly, beautifying strokes from Ginger). While the teacup picture is not really my style (I thoughtfully avoided saying my cup of tea :-)), I am pleased with how it turned out. I need to play with some of the shadows and add some gold paint to the rim of the cup and saucer. The rose is painted on a small stool, and this piece will require a lot of work. I have to finish all the leaves and add the lettering. We painted this on the day it was unimaginably cold in the classroom, and of course it required a lot of concentration. Lastly, I am quite pleased with my little landscape tin. Of all the pieces, this one was more in my comfort zone, and I do think it's a charming little scene. We painted on a tin pocket that already had some writing on it. I want to add an outline around the oval and then it's done.


I suppose it was a character building experience. Hopefully after a couple of days, I'll be able to look back on the experience a bit more favorably and remember the fun of it, and the new techniques I learned from Ginger.

Santas

MIL wanted to try painting, so we did that on Friday. We painted up a cute Pam Grady santa. MIL has done some watercolor, but not much with acrylics. I think she did a great job.

Crafting

What do you do when your mother-in-law comes to town? CRAFT! DH had to work in the mornings with MIL was here, so we signed up for three classes at Archivers. We had a lot of fun making 10 Little Tags, Create a Calendar, and a Recipe Book. We also made up some cute little treat packets for her work, and spent lots of time shopping! It was a fun week.

Media Center

Last weekend, we got all the pieces to make a media center cut out. This weekend, we got them primed and one side painted. We needed a cutout design for the doors so the remotes will work, and as we talked about it, we thought a palm tree or some tropical design would be fun. I wanted to paint a design on the side, and so that led to hibiscus. I practiced painting more realistic hibiscus, but they are hard! So in the end we went with a very folk art style. Now just one more coat of paint, and a couple coats of varnish and we'll have a finished piece of furniture!

Entryway Mural

We have a niche in our entryway (pre move in pic), and the moment I saw it I knew I wanted to paint a trompe l'oeil Tuscan landscape for it. It's a bit daunting to paint something 20" x 54", and I knew I'd have to heavily modify whatever design I wanted, but I think I've finally got it sorted out.

Tony worked really hard to cut a piece of wood to fit in it, and then also made some shutters for the side. With any luck I should have this done by the end of the year, but hopefully sooner!

Pumpkins

Hobby Lobby had these cute wood pumpkins with a laser cut design. I got mine painted and ready for the fall season.

Food

In one of the forums I participate in someone posted a list of 100 foods to mark if you've eaten, will never eat, or haven't tried. I'm sure it might have a few different incarnations, but here's a link to more info on it: http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/uncategorised/the-omnivores-hundred/. This blog has photos and descriptions: http://foodproof.com/blogs/view/post/100-things-you-should-eat-before-246/

Items in bold, I've eaten, and crossed off are things I won't try.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche --I've had the Hagen Daas Ice Cream!
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky -- I don't think it was Pocky, but it was Japanese and it was a biscuit coated in chocolate.
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake