Mr. Hoots in Boots

My 16 year old grand-daughter bought this cute owl and asked me to paint him.  Her stipulations were that he be very colorful and that his boots be red. She did not want to see him while I was working on him.  She wanted to wait until he was finished.  I am happy to say she was thrilled with what I did with him.  I named him Mr. Hoots in Boots. Here are before and after photos.

I had started working on an abstract ostrich egg before I did Mr. Hoots and went back and forth between the two.  I painted on one while waiting for paint to dry on the other.  Once I got to the design part I concentrated on finishing Mr. Hoots.  I am now working on the designs on the egg but will also start work on the background of a new 11X14 painting.

I'm finding I don't have as much time to paint since we made the move here to MI.  There is so much work to do on getting the house remodeled and we are spending a lot of time with family.  I'm glad we enjoy  the remodeling process and see it as way of creating the vision of what we want our home to be. Our art is taking a back seat right now but that is okay. We moved here to be close to family and feel it is a blessing to be able to spend time with them.

 I set up a temporary work area until we find time to finish off the basement into two efficient studios.  One will be my painting shop and the other for my husband's stained glass shop.  In the mean time I am stuck with a makeshift work area with no sink which means I have to make trips up and down the stairs every time I need water. Along with no sink, is the problem of finding things.  Everything is all in a jumble.  Until I have a place to put things they remain in boxes or on the temporary shelves and workbench.  What a mess!

 I will post a few pictures of what the basement looks like now.  Stuff is everywhere and many boxes need to be unpacked or stored.  It is like trying to work in a war zone. I'm guessing it will take us a year or more of work to get the studios we dream of.  These are the "before" photos.  It will be a happy day when I can post the "after" photos.