Painted Furniture

Today I am posting pictures of furniture I painted over 10 years ago for our office/den in Arizona.  I am using this same furniture here in Michigan but not in our office.  Since this is a two story house with a completely different layout I had to find places to use it in the downstairs area.  We have our office in the loft area upstairs and bought new furniture for it.  I have the game table in the living room, the small cabinet in the kitchen area and the chest in an open area by the garage door.  At first I had planned to repaint the flower designs in a different color but when we had the kitchen installed I realized how well the current colors match so I am leaving them as is.  Here are the photos.

This is the game table with the new swag light we made from two different light fixtures.  As you can notice, I don't have any window treatments yet.  I left up the mini blinds that came with the house but those will eventually be gone.  I am not sure which direction I want to go with the windows.

This is a closeup of the game table top.  Roger built this table.

This is the chest.  It is about 3' long by 17' high.  I got it at a yard sale for $10.  It was solid black before I refinished it.

I'm not sure where I got this small cabinet but it was probably another yard sale item or maybe I bought it at Target.  What I do remember is it was solid white before the refinish.  

In my last post I mentioned I would be painting a napkin holder.  So far I got it base coated but haven't painted a design on it because I can't decide what I want.  Too many decisions to make when re-decorationg a house.  Granted, a napkin holder is a small thing when I have to pick out hardwood for the floors and window treatments but it is still another decision to make.

A 30 year old painting and a preview of my new kitchen

My new kitchen is nearing completion. I hung some art and thought I would share what I chose with you.  One of the paintings is something I did at least 30 or more years ago.  It is a still life done in oils on a wood plaque.  I painted it before I switched to using acrylics.  The pattern is not an original drawing done by me but a pattern traced from a pattern book.  That was back in the days when I taught decorative painting classes and all my students used patterns from books.  It is so long ago that I don't remember which book it was from or who the artist/author was. If I remembered I would give her credit for the drawing.   I did my own take on the painting with my own color palette.  Here is a photo of the painting.

The other painting I hung is a cross painting I did a few years ago titled "Cross in Colors of the Southwest".  Here is a photo of it hanging in my new kitchen.  I am not ready to post photos of the whole kitchen because it is not finished yet.  The back splash still needs to be installed.  Once that is done I will share pictures with you.

It is hard to get a good photo without all the light reflections.  At some point in the future, after we get our new work shops built in the basement, Roger will make stained glass windows for the back door and the windows over the new cabinets.  I had the island and cabinets painted in a contrasting color to the other wood finished cabinets in the rest of the kitchen. The color is called "Winter Wheat".  We painted the wall you are seeing in a deep burgundy color to add some drama. It is the same color as the entry wall with the coat hangers from a few posts back.  The rest of the kitchen is painted in two shades of tan.  When the project is done I will post before and after photos.

I haven't painted in over a week because I have been busy with other things but today I don't have much to do so think I will change the color of a napkin holder that I used in Tucson to match my new kitchen color scheme.

Something for me!

My latest project something that I did for myself.  I needed a side table on my side of the couch so I went on a hunt around my house to see if I could find something that would serve the purpose.  Since we moved I keep moving odd pieces of furniture to different rooms to find just the right place for them.  After looking on the first two floors and finding nothing I went to the basement where I found the perfect thing.  It is a magazine rack - side table that I had been using in my shop as a table to hold my paint pallet and water jar.  It was in pretty rough shape after years of use. Here is the before photo.

The bottom wasn't too bad but the top was a mess.  I went to work on it and here is how it looked after I cleaned it up.

It took me awhile to decide what subject I wanted to paint.  Most times when I'm doing something for myself I have a hard time making a decision on what I want.  After I finished the tray with the teal rose that was featured in my last post I got a lot of good comments on it and since teal is an accent color in my living room I thought it would be the perfect thing to paint on the top of the table.  I liked the natural wood bottom so left it as is.

Yesterday was the day they started the installation on our new kitchen and I wanted to keep an eye on what was going on so I made a painting area in my living room and worked on the table while I watched the men working on my kitchen.  Here are photos of them working and me painting.

They put in a long day of work and so did I.  I'm happy to say I got the table finished but there is still more work to be done on the kitchen.  I'll post photos of the kitchen when it is done but that may be a few weeks away.  We still have to get the sink installed along with new light fixtures and cabinet handles.  What I can show you is the finished table.

The first photo shows a closeup of the top and the bottom photo shows it in place next to the couch holding my nice warm, cozy couch blanket.

I have no idea what I will be painting next.  I'll be spending a lot of time working on filling all my new kitchen cabinets.  I will also need a painting for a wall in the kitchen so may start work on that soon.

Stacy's Tray

My grand-daughter Stacy asked me to paint this tray for her.  It was unfinished when she got it at a garage sale for $1.  Her home features the color teal which is her favorite color.  She asked me to paint a version of "Endless Rose".  I decided to do the teal rose on a dark brown background.  I am happy with the way it came out.  The rose has a very 3D look.

I am a day late wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  We had a house full or family for dinner yesterday.  There were 19 family members here.  We feel blessed to all be together.  We miss the nice Arizona weather but love being close to family.

I think my next project will be a magazine rack/end table.  I stripped it down and it is ready to paint. The problem I have is that I haven't decided on colors or design yet.  I am doing this for myself so I should know what I want but I don't.  I don't know if I want to match or contrast with the other painted pieces I have in the living room. Decisions, decisions!

Home Improvement Project

This post does not show a new painting but a home improvement project that we just completed today.  This project has been in my mind for probably over 20 years.  I'll post photos then tell you the story of how it came to be.

This is my front entrance hall.  Even though we have a coat closet I wanted hooks of some kind on the wall.  We have so many people stop by for short periods of time.  Since this is Michigan, for over half the year they are wearing a jacket or coat.  I thought for convenience  it would be nice to have a coat hanging wall.  We went shopping at the home improvement stores but all the coat hangers were so ordinary that I knew I had to come up with another idea.

So.....Flash back to 1960.  For the first year that we were married every time we drove by Hammers Furniture Store on Market Street in Youngstown, Ohio I commented on how much I loved a clock that was hanging on a wall in the window.  It had a round center about 12" in diameter with the clock face which was very simple with round little knobs as the numbers and streamlined hands.  Coming out around the edged of the clock, randomly spaced, were stems with large and small flowers on the ends.  It was made of off white metal highlighted with  antique gold. The all over size was about 40" wide by 30" high.  One day as we drove by I noticed the clock was gone.  I was sad that I would not see it anymore.  Little did I know that Roger had bought it for a present for me for our first anniversary.  That clock followed us from house to house for the next 35 years.  By the time we moved to Tucson it was in pretty rough shape and was not working anymore so Roger told me to get rid of it.  I decide to remove the flowers and keep them.  I told him someday I would come up with an idea of a project where I could use them.  When we packed up to move here they were still in a box and again he suggested I get rid of them but I said no that someday I would use them somehow.  That day has come!

While thinking of a way to make an attractive area to hang coats I thought of the flowers.  Since I have a combination of both silver and gold items in my living room I decided to use that combination.  I removed the antique gold centers of the flowers and spray painted the petals a hammered silver then reattached the gold centers.  The hanging hooks are also antique gold.  I love  how it looks.  Just nine days after our 56th anniversary the flowers again have a place of honor in our home.

 I also want to mention the color of the wall they are hanging on.  Slowly we are getting some of the walls painted.  Most of them are two shades of tan both light and dark.  I wanted a little more drama so decided on using this color called Divine Wine on a few selected walls.

The house is a work in progress so it is nice to get a few smaller jobs done.  I am still waiting on news of when my new kitchen will be installed.  It was supposed to be last week but the counter tops were not ready so unless it is done tomorrow or Wednesday I want to hold off until after Thanksgiving.

I will continue to post photos of home improvement projects along with any art projects I complete.

Forest Royalty and Ostrich Egg

My new life here in Michigan is keeping me busy in a different way than my old life in Arizona.  My Tucson life revolved around my art and Southern Arizona Art Guild functions.  I worked the gallery a few times a month and was part of many art exhibitions and show openings. I spent many hours each day painting. We went out to lunch a few times a week with friends. We had church activities. We bowled a couple of times a week.  Roger kept busy with his stained glass commissions.

 Now that we have moved things have changed.  We spend much time with home renovations which include our house and two houses belonging to family members.  We attend church each Sunday and joined a bowling league which meets once a week.  Instead of leisurely lunches with friends at upscale restaurants we share many meals with family members mostly at our house or at fast food places.  Our art has taken a backseat to family and house projects but that is okay.  We are loving being so close to our family and we like the laid back feel of living in a small town.

 When we were younger and planing our retirement we always thought we would move to a small town and renovate a century house but 20 years ago when we retired we changed those plans and moved to a brand new house in an active adult community in Arizona and turned our focus to our art.  We now think of that as our first retirement.  This move to MI is our second retirement which fits the plans we made long ago.  Once we get the house projects done and build our new art studios we will once again make creating art main activity.

 I know that it will take awhile to get established  in the art community here and I have taken the first steps by applying to join the Three Rivers Artist Guild.  I will have to be juried in and that doesn't happen until January.  I also plan to apply to a juried show at the Carnegie Institute of the Arts which again, doesn't happen until January.  Hopefully I will be accepted in both.

 In the mean time I still make some time to paint and have finished two projects which I will post here.  The first is a painting I call "Forest Royalty".  I thought this would be a good fit for the area where I now live.  The size of this painting is 18 X 20.

The other project that I completed is the ostrich egg that I mentioned in a previous post.  I had a hard time getting a good photo because I kept getting a light reflection spot in the center of the egg. I finally gave up and decided to post the photos with the spot.  Here are two of photos showing the egg from different sides.

I am currently working on a tray for my grand-daughter Stacy.  After I complete that I have to work on refinishing a few pieces of furniture for my living room and also we are building some shelves for our new office that I will have to paint.

Thanksgiving is coming up soon and I will be the dinner host.  There should be 20 family members coming.  I am still waiting on my new kitchen to be installed which should happen next week.  I'm hoping it will be done in time for Thanksgiving.

One more thing, even though I no longer live in Tucson I will still have art showing at the SAAG Gallery Holidazzle show.  If you live in Tucson this will be your last chance to buy my work at the gallery.  After that you will have to contact me at rogpamd@msn.com  and order online.  I'll post more information on Holidazzle in an upcoming post.

My first canvas painting done in Michigan titled "Mare and Foal #3"

Here is the first painting on canvas that I have done since my move to Michigan.  I decided to do another version of a painting I have done twice before.  Both paintings sold when I was living in Arizona.  I thought it would be a good one to do here because horse lovers are everywhere and we live in the middle of farm country.  I call it "Mare and Foal #3" because it is the third version of this subject matter. I will also post photos of the other paintings I did. Each has a different title and I will explain why I chose each name.  Here is the newest one.

I thought it would show nicely in this rustic frame.  I wanted to stick to the brown tones but decided to add accents of teal.  It seems that is a very popular color in this area. I'm not sure where I will show this painting but it is ready when an opportunity comes along.

This is the first one I did which was for a SAAG exhibition called "Double Exposure".  The premise of the show was for photographers to submit a photo which was then given to an artist to use as inspiration for a painting done in their own style.  I was paired up with Mary Nation who took the photo posted below.  It was titled "Mother and Foal"  which is what I called my painting.

When I sold the painting  at an exhibition I did in Sun City Oro Valley I decided to do another version to show at the SAAG Gallery.  It also sold.  Here it is.

I titled this one "Queen and her Prince".  I decided on that name because of the gold frame and the use of gold in the painting itself. I thought it gave the painting a royal look.

I am able to do many versions of the same painting because I do my original drawing on tracing paper.  I keep these patterns and can reuse them by transferring them onto the canvas using transfer paper.  I do this instead of having prints made of my art.  This way every painting I sell is an original  hand painted piece of art.  Even though I am using the same pattern no two paintings are exactly the same.

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.

Fruit Paintings from the past

I have not had much time to paint since we made the move to MI.  I am busy with doing things for the house and also doing things for family.  For that reason I am posting paintings that I have done in the past.  I am considering doing new versions of these paintings in the future.  I think they will show well here in MI.  Here are some of what I call my "Tootie Frootie" collection.

"Berries and Blossoms"

"Geometric Fruit"

"Red Delicious"

"Yellow and Green Fruit"

I want to mention that all of these paintings have been sold.

I have a small painting project that I hope to work on in my spare time.  It is an ostrich egg that I plan to decorate with a colorful abstract design.  I'll post a photo when I get it done.

New Logo on Black Background

I spent some time on the computer this morning putting my new logo on a black background.  I wanted to add it under the southwest saguaro logo but have no idea how to do that.  It is soooo long since I set up this blog that I have forgotten how to do anything except new posts.  I am afraid to fool around with it for fear I may delete the whole thing.  So, I decided to just post the black background version here.   I wish I had more tech knowledge to add it to the top of the page but until I can find someone to help me, this is the best I can do.  Here it is:

I love the way it looks on black and wish I could afford to print my business cards with the black background but it would use up too much black ink.

New Business Card and Other Things

It is four weeks since our move to Michigan.  Everyday is full of things to do.  We are working on projects around the house both big and small. We have contracted to have a re-do of the kitchen which may take a couple of months to get done.  We have to tile the kitchen floor before the new island and cabinets are installed.  We are currently working on making the master closet more efficient.  This involves many trips to Home Depot and Menard's which is also a home improvement store,  Making choices of flooring and paint and the counter top and many other decisions takes time and thought.  Anyway, between doing all of this we have interaction with family members everyday. I also made time to work on a new business card.  I did a painting of the tree I did a sketch of that I mentioned in my last post but I was not happy with it. That meant coming up with another idea and doing another painting.  I tried a tree in full bloom done in a patchwork fashion.  I liked the way it turned out so I designed a business card using it as the focal point.  Here is what I came up with.

After I unpacked the paintings I brought with me I invited family members to choose what they liked as a gift from me.  Here are the paintings that I gave away.

I still have a few other family members who will choose a painting.  When they decide what they want I will post photos of their choices.

I have some painting projects I want to do for myself that I will be working on next.  I have some pieces of furniture that I decorated for the Arizona house that I will be using here but I want to change the color of part of the paintings to match my new decor.  I'll post before and after photos of what I do.

I am back!

It is over a month since my last post.  In that time we packed up our belongings from our Arizona house and made the move across country to our new home in Three Rivers, Michigan.  After more than two weeks here we finally have Internet and I am able to do a new post.

We are fairly well settled but still have many boxes to unpack.  It will probably take months for me to get my new workshop organized in the way I want it but in the mean time I hope to get a temporary area set up so I can soon get back to painting.

What I am posting today are the doodles I did while I was traveling here.  There is one cactus doodle that I had started before we left that I finished and the rest are ones I did while riding in the car on our trip.

I have been thinking of what logo I will put on my new business cards.  I am not sure I want to use the Surreal Saguaro that is at the top of this page that was what is on my Arizona cards.  I have been tossing around ideas and doing some preliminary sketches of a tree based on my Flamboyant Foliage painting. Here is a doodle I did using that idea.  If I decide on using it I will do a painting with much more detail to use as the template.  I guess I won't be able to make up my mind until I actually do the painting and see how it will look on the new business cards.  I'll post a photo when it is done. Here is the doodle.

I'm glad to be back online and in contact with all of you again.

My BIG News

I am a day late getting this news out but things are pretty hectic around here.  Our house sold and we will be moving in two weeks.  So much to do!  Twenty years of stuff to sort though and pack up, give away or throw away.

 Today is the day I pack up my work shop so needless to say there will be no painting for awhile.  This will probably be my last blog post until we arrive in Michigan.  The house we are moving to is a two story with a basement.  My new studio will be in the basement.  Right now I have a tiny work room so I look forward to having a large space. I will be sharing the area with my husband who is a stained glass artist but even so, we will both have a lot more room than we have here.

Once we are there and settled I will have to change my header on this blog to "Former Tucson Artist".  I will still paint some southwest art and have a collection called "Southwest in the Midwest."  I will also go back to my roots and paint some of the subject matter that I painted when I lived in Ohio which will be Amish inspired.  I'll continue to paint flowers and some abstract and will try painting quilt patterns.  My brain has been coming up with lots of new ideas.

  I'll be spending lots of time in my new basement studio during the long COLD winters.  I know, are we crazy to leave our beautiful Arizona home to head to the Midwest?  The bonus will be living close to family and I look forward to four seasons again.  Well.....maybe not snowy winters but at least we won't have to endure 100+ temps for months on end.  We may become snowbirds after the first winter....time will tell.

I hope to get involved in the Three Rivers art community as soon as possible after arriving. I know they have a great community art center.  There are lots of opportunities for artists and I plan to explore them all.

This is the first blog post that does not have a photo but I don't think you want to see a room full of packing boxes.  Speaking of which....it is time to get back to filling those boxes.

I'll be back in a few weeks when we are in our new home.  Bye for now.....Pam

"Indian Warrior"

I finished the painting of the Indian I was commissioned to do.  The challenge was to paint a Northern Plains Indian wearing a buckskin shirt that that  the clients own.  This shirt is over 100 years old and is an original Indian shirt.  Here is a photo of the shirt and one of the painting of the Indian.

I have BIG news which I will share on this blog tomorrow.  See you then!

SAAG Gallery Display

Here is my new display at the SAAG Gallery in Casas Adobe Plaza.  I have a double space for this session.  I am hoping to sell as much of my inventory as possible before we make the move to Michigan.  The "Meet the Artists" reception for the new session is this afternoon (July 18) from 4 to 6.  Summer hours for the gallery are Tuesday through Saturday from noon until 8.  If you would like a piece of my art now is the time to get it.  Please go to the gallery or contact me at rogpamd@msn.com.

Something Old and Something New and More

I have a friend who I met in 2007 when she purchased my first canvas painting that I entered in a contest where it won third place and the People's Choice Award.  Over the years she has commissioned me to do many paintings.  I have lost count on how many.  She comes up with the idea of what she wants and I do the painting based on those ideas.  After I am done with her painting I will do a similar painting to exhibit and sell.  Some of those paintings have become some of my most popular images.  Because she has so many of my paintings she rotates them.  She puts some in storage and changes them out with others.  She recently commissioned me to do a cactus painting and also gave me a painting that she bought from me years ago that no longer fits her decor.  She thought I might want to sell it.  I decided to not show it until I make the move to Michigan because it is not a Southwest style painting.  Here are both the new and old paintings.

"Trina's Cactus"

"Trina's Flowers"

I have continued to work on more Domino Train Stations.  I have 12 at the SAAG Gallery and have another 12 at home. Here are the ones I just finished.

I have a consultation this afternoon for another commissioned painting.  This will be something different.  It is based on an American Indian shirt.  I will see the actual shirt today and get the clients idea of what he wants.
  I have gotten busy since I announced our up coming move because people think this may be the last chance to get one of my paintings.  Although, I keep telling people that may not happen soon and I will probably be around awhile.  We plan on staying until our house here sells and so far it has only shown a couple of times.  Mid summer is not the best time to sell a house in Arizona.  Hopefully by fall when the snow birds come back it will sell.