Wednesday, May 20, 2009

In the Paint

We went to the Braves/Rockies game last evening and then spent the night at the condo. We saw a great game: Braves won 8-1, and it was a perfect evening to be outside enjoying baseball. So, this morning we walked Barker through our favorite Midtown neighborhood, admiring the early summer blooms and the wonderful older homes that are so well maintained. I snatched a leaf off of my all-time favorite Forest Pansy Redbud tree over on Argonne, and brought it back to the condo for a little painting fun.

I covered the backside with several different colors of Pelikan opaque watercolors

and then pressed them onto two pages of my Moleskin sketchbook.


Stay-tuned for what happens next!

We were pleasantly surprised with the great progress that Charles and Patrick, our painters, had made during our brief absence. Things are beginning to come together and we love it!! This is the wall where the rubber tree used to crawl:

Here is another view looking from the livingroom into the diningroom and kitchen:

There is just enough of the new wall color in the stacked stone, that you now really notice it. It is so warm, comfortable, and inviting!

And last but not least, here is "Pieces of Grace", my latest in my Grace series:

I've just placed the quilt on top of the treated rusted corrugated tin....can't decide if it needs to go this way, or if the really rusty part should be on the bottom. All of you art folks need to leave a comment and tell me which is best. I like how the steeple in the lower right came out, but now that I look at it, I think the long, skinny stained glass window photo transfer should be in the upper left hand corner. I wanted to keep the two stained glass windows separate. Hmmmmm! Critiques please.............and you know I want you to be honest!

I'm having some separation anxiety issues over going to the SDA Conference in Kansas City! I'm really excited about going, rooming with Gerrie, taking a class with Kerr, and just being there, but leaving Barker, C, and the house during this upheaval are eating at me! I guess that's part of being a Taurus/Gemini person!


HOPE YOU'RE PAINTING UP A STORM!

7 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Ok, I'm being dumb! What is the SDA conference???I was the same way about leaving when I went off to NH for a long weekend alone last fall. This will be a great trip for all of you! The boys will be fine for a time and they will manage and hopefully when you get backt he paint job will be done!! Looks fabulous by the way- love that warm color!!!! I thought that your birthday was after mine???
I like the Pieces of Grace with the tin rusty end down- it grounds the piece. This is kind of a collage fetish of mine but I really like to link my collage elements within my piece. You are doing that a bit with the background quilting which looks terrific but I wonderr if there might be a way to emphasize it more so the transfers look a bit more unified and less polka dotty???
Have a woderful arty inspiring time- NO FRETTING allowed. Think of all of the kisses that you will recieve on your return home!!!!!!
Hugs!
Elizabeth

Eva Hagbjärn said...

First and foremost -
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUDY! Hope you will have a wonderful, sunny day with family and friends.

The finished 'paint work' looks very nice and the colors are, as you said: warm, comfortable and inviting. Plainly lovely!
Sorry, but the 'Pieces of Grace' I'm not able to help you with.
Hope you will have nice time taking the class despite your separatin anxiety. Have fun!!
I think you are more a Gemeni than you are a Taurus. Must be tricky to be born between two star signs.

Lots and lots of ´BIG HUGS from me and Sweden!

Michele/TextileTraveler said...

I think this is my favorite so far in your series. I agree with Elizabeth both about the rust down, and about needing to unify the elements. Right now they seem very "lined up." Maybe a very subtle overlay of some type? Or more quilting that pulls them together? Or adding another element in an unexpected place? You'll make it fabulous, you always do!

Eva said...

The leaf print is lovely. So much you can do with this method. -- And the wall colour looks like a natural clay wall! My brother does clay wall plastering. It is so cosy. Maybe the colour is so welcome to us because in countless generations man has lived in caves and clay huts.

imquilternity said...

I love the paint colors you chose, Judy. Very warm and inviting! I'm anxious to see what you do with your lovely leaf print too. Have fun on your trip. I bet once you step out your door you'll be just fine!

connie said...

I too love the leaf print! It is amazing what works to stamp.

I like the rust down also but agree with a couple of the other comments that the piece needs something to tie the elements together. I wonder if you might be able to put one more item in there so you have an odd number of elements...

Good Luck and have a wonderful trip!

PaMdora said...

maybe it needs something a little darker in the lower right-hand corner to balance the other darker elements?

Didn't know you'd be going to SDA with Gerrie. That's my home state. I should go one of these years!