The window bench in the home office was getting worn out on top because my large dogs like to lay there often. A hole was starting at a seam on top and batting was peaking through a thread-bare spot. Before the damage got too far along Jake and I spent… Read More »The Reupholstered Bench
After months deciding what color we wanted the front door to be forever, we settled on the best, safest, darkest choice: black. I ordered myself a jar of Art Deco exterior metal door paint and waited for a dry 65 degree day when we would be home all day (oh,… Read More »Finally Painted The Front Door
Furthering my exploration of neutrals for spring, and practical sewing for the home, I’ve made a cloth storage basket. Because we have a dog, we are frequently in and out of the front door. Because that dog needs various leashes and collars to go out, we tend to leave that… Read More »Cloth Storage Basket
I have practiced a ‘no shit, genius’ technique using gel medium and liquid acrylics. Simply spoon some gel medium onto a horizontal canvas and dribble strategically liquid acrylics, and dabs of solid acrylics as well, why not. Using a pallet knife, move the medium over the pigment and across the… Read More »Gel Medium Technique
The new spear has been assembled and hung in the expanding armory
Finally, I’m calling them finished. The large pair of abstract, moody landscapes that I’ve been working on since the start of the new year are done and hung. Not that I have put an excessive number of hours into them, but I have to tell myself that they’re finished more… Read More »Dining Room Diptych. Abstract Landscape in Acrylic.
When planning a large painting, it is wise to map out color, form, and composition on a small scale first. Thumbnail drawings and color studies help an artist explore different images for the same visual problem quickly, and make executing the final piece much faster. I have settled on the… Read More »Color Studies for Large Dining Diptych
It’s that time of year again! That’s right, the spookiest, most haunted season of them all: Yuletide. The season for blood sacrifice, frantically cleaning your home as to not upset the visiting spirits, and of naughty children being dragged off to hell by a cloven-footed beast! To celebrate another year… Read More »Family Hearth Stockings
We have transformed our master bath with paint and a medicine cabinet. It only took *checks notes* two years to get this room finished*, but the day has come. Below is a photo of the before. Plain white walls, not enough storage. Lucky for us, the fixtures that came with… Read More »Master Bath Makeover
Abstract art has it’s place in home decor. Representational work is my bread-and-butter, and how I’ve worked exclusively my entire career. The art I make is either utilitarian, or representational. Usually it’s both. But there are spaces in the home that don’t need the specificity of realism. For these spaces,… Read More »Desedimentation (My First Abstract Painting)
The earth has been good to us this season. Our raised garden beds have been a great success, we went blueberry picking, and our yard has had enough flowers to spare some for indoor arrangements. So far this year the garden has produced more lettuce than we could eat, a… Read More »Abundant Earth
Another skull painting to add to the series I’ve been working on: a bison. This is the first full-size watercolor that I’ve completed in the new house, though the sketch and reference photos began last year before the move. Very straight-forward, I start with a pencil sketch transferred onto a watercolor… Read More »Bison Skull Watercolor
I’m back! It’s been a long time since my last post because life has been very busy happening. Those of you who have checked in before might know that Jake and I bought a house at the end of last year. It was a very scary and joyful experience and… Read More »We Do A Lot of Dreaming
Goodness, I’ve been so busy lately with absolutely no time to post because we just bought a house!!! Finally, the process is done, and the house is ours. We’ve been trying to close on this thing for the better part of a season, but as anyone who’s ever bought a… Read More »Get Ready for the DIY Home Improvement Posts
Last Friday night while we were on an evening stroll Jake and I spotted two free chairs on the side of the road in great condition. We snatched those up to refinish them to go with our tiny kitchen table. Here’s the chair before: After $3.30 in fabric, $6.00 in… Read More »Free chairs, refinished for under $10