Yet another "Surreal Saguaro" painting and another home improvement project.

It has been over three weeks since my last post.  In that time I cleaned and organized my studio.  I then started work on three projects which means my studio is no longer neat and clean which is okay with me because the only way it stays clean is if I'm not working.

 I like keeping busy so was happy when I got a commission from a former client/friend from Arizona who wanted one of my "Surreal Saguaro" paintings.  This came about when she saw a photo of the very first one I had painted 7 years ago on Facebook.  It came up on "memories" and I shared the photo.  Since I did that first one I have lost count of how many I have done and sold.  It was probably my most popular Southwest themed paining.  Here is the photo of that first "Surreal Saguaro" painting which I used as my logo on my business cards up until I moved to Michigan.  You also see it at the beginning of this blog.

Here is my newest version which should arrive in Arizona in a few days.  As I mentioned, I have done many versions of this painting but no two are exactly the same.

Our latest home improvement project is the re-do of our first floor powder room.  I decided that since we had a pedestal sink, I need something for storage.  I have a small three drawer chest that I got at a yard sale many years ago and used in my shop.  It was pretty rough looking because of paint spatters that accumulated over the years.  It was just what I needed for the powder room.  I removed all the paint spatters and then painted it and got new knobs.  I thought it would be better to keep it simple.  Instead of making it too fancy I chose to paint a small wooden plate and set it on a decorative easel.  Since I have been on a calla lily kick lately I used the same pattern I did little while back but used colors that would match my powder room.  

This is the before photo and the next photo is what it looks like now and a close up of the plate.

The powder room was a plain-jane room with light beige walls, vinyl floor, simple light fixture and plate glass mirror.  Roger tiled the floor and wall.  We painted the walls and put up a new light fixture and mirror. I added a few decorator pieces and a painting I did years ago that I used in my master bath in Arizona.  We now have an attractive powder room for our guests.  The room is only 7' X 3' so it was hard to get good photos.

It is time to start work on a new painting and more home improvement projects!

Three commissioned jobs and one just for fun.

I got a commission from a customer at the Vicksburg Gallery who saw my "Fun Flowers" painting and wanted one like the original and a matching companion piece.  Since I didn't have an exact matching canvas, I had to start from scratch with two art board boxes which Roger made.  I painted the first as close to the painting she saw at the gallery as I could.  I then did the companion painting of the same pattern using the same color pallet but on different areas.  When I framed them I flipped the second painting in a different direction.  Here are photos of Fun Flowers 1 & 2.

My other commissioned job was from a woman from Mesa, AZ who had played dominos with some one who had one of my train stations.  She liked it so ordered one from me featuring a desert scene.  I used to paint many of them in AZ but this is the first desert scene I have painted since I moved to MI.

The other painting I did was inspired by the plate I painted with calla lilies in a vase.  I liked it so much that I decided to do a larger version on canvas.  I call this one "Calla Lilies in Chartreuse Vase".

Last weekend we took a short trip to Ohio to visit relatives.  While we were their I stocked up on paint at a local craft store.  Over the years I have done this on every trip we made to Ohio because they always seem to have a large selection of the brand and colors of paint that I prefer.  My next job is to clean my shop and restock my paint shelf.  This is not my favorite thing to do but once it is done I am happy because it is so much easier to work when things are organized although, it doesn't take me too long to have it a mess again!  Here are the two bags of paint that I bought. I'm guessing there are close to 50 bottles.