TOO much fun!

Author Julia Cameron of "The Artist's Way" recommends "artist's dates" 

as a way to recharge our batteries and gain inspiration.

I have been pretty bad about doing these, but wound up with one today quite by accident.

I have always wanted a BIG wooden easel for working on large canvases and just happened to search craigslist the other day for easels.  When low and behold a really cool one pops up.

An hour's drive away from me.

Crap!

But $40 was a rocking deal and I couldn't stop thinking about it, so you know when that happens.

This morning after a customer came to my house to buy something I was selling on Craiglist, off I went.

It just so happened that the lady who bought the piece from me has a rather new Antique store in Norco, so I promised her I'd stop by on my way home.

(You know what an incestuous circle us antiquer/artists are.)

Seriously.

Off to Canyon Lake to get the easel.

What a COOL little community, where I drive up to a darling house.

The Coolest guy is selling this easel that belonged to his sister, 

so we chat about re-purposing, building robots, lighting, cars, old stuff, etc.

BEYOND happy with this purchase...

TOTALLY doing the happy dance!!!

As I head back home, I think...hey...I have never stopped in at "Mora's Antiques" in Lake Elsinore.

They have purchased things from me at The Vintage Marketplace on many occasions, so I must stop.

Old town Elsinore (Main St. off of the 15 fwy) is so cute!

Their store is FULL of super cool stuff and I am in LOVE with Vicky's sons Dia De Los Muertos Artwork.  Absolutely Rad! (no pictures though as I respected his sign asking to not take photos)

I HATE it when people just whip out cameras and cell phones and shoot pics of my art without asking.

I bought these cool red letters from them today...

11 inch red Plastic letters...1/2 off too.  Woohoo!

Ironically, these are part of an idea that was hatched while driving out this morning...so excited!

Next to Mora's was a darling shop named," Maria's Antiques and Home Decor" 

where I picked up two finds.

A lamp part that screamed CROWN for a statue in my garden

and a random metal piece, because this girl can never have 

enough random metal thingamabobs to work with!!!

There were two other Antique stores in Elsinore, but 

one was closed and the other I didn't find anything in.

Last stop before I had to get Em was Norco, to Peggy's store,

"Antiques Trinkets and More"

I found several things there that I wanted, but was sticking to my budget and wouldn't you know, one thing I was carrying around and pondering, the moment I set it down and walked away this other lady in the store nabbed it.  Then you start doubting yourself, "dang it, why did I set that down." 

So you want to stalk her and wait for her to set it down.  No dice.  She was buying it.

Oh well, let it go Lisa, you didn't need it anyway, it was a WANT.

I did get a cool old floor lamp and three vintage yard sticks (I need 16 for a project)

So, today's theme wound up being "TOO",

as in TOO much fun on what ended up being an impromptu Artist's Date!!

Like the cool letters I got...TOO!

Now, if you are local, GO visit these cool stores and don't be afraid to spread the LOVE, 

we are all just women in business, trying to support one another!!!

xoxo,

Lisa

BLOOMING Adventure...

After 15 years of painting murals professionally, my approach to painting has always been 

fairly technical and with a plan.

1) meet the client

2) discuss the area they want a mural and what they are looking for

3)  View the area and discuss placement, proportions, colors, subject matter,  etc.

4) hit the drawing table and draft a design to almost precise detail

(never want and have had only ONE client ever not like something after painted)

100% of my portfolio was by referral

5) paint for my client

6) add it to portfolio and only see it again in a photo or when I typically painted more murals for the same client.

To say the least, my work have been rather methodical in approach and execution.

A few of my faves over the years.

Everything from tile, concrete, leather...Loved doing Trompe l'oeil

The pen and envelope are painted on, the "real" pen is on the lower left.

It belonged to the client's grandmother.

The sheet music is decoupaged on, the remaining items are painted.

Italian landscape on a fireplace screen.

Leather jacket.

Leather Jackets for a Music Store.

This was my store sign when I had a small Shop in San Dimas about 11 years ago.

My Kids and I on our Carousel of Life.

Hundreds of murals over the years and now I only paint the random mural,

having concentrated the last few years on Altered Art and Jewlery.

Way too often, I stand before a canvas and stare, like I don't know WHAT to paint.

After years of having a PLAN, I am all too often stumped.

Having never taken a painting course, it is about time so I am THRILLED to spend the next 5 weeks taking Flora Bowley's Bloom True E Course

I LOVE her painting style, wonderful colors and approach to life (plus I love Yoga).

I am so excited to learn her intuitive approach and hope to find a way to blend it with my style.

Later this month I am taking a 3 day painting class with Jesse Reno here in Pasadena at Zinnia.

To say I am honored to learn from these two amazing painters is an understatement.

This is a gift to myself and to be true to this little journey I am taking, I will be a little quiet online as I want to really turn inward this month and BLOOM finding my "painting" voice.

I will let you all know how wonderful the journey is.

XO,

Lisa  

Kitchen and cottage cleanup

This week I have been a painting fool. Not really the kind of painting I WANT to be doing,

more the kind that is of necessity.

My house was built in 1978, we bought it in 2002 and moved in Labor day of that year.

The kitchen was HIDEOUS, okay well dated.  

(Emily was 2 here and that's my pretty Mom)

You can't see the counter, but it was butcher block formica....

Pretty....NOT.

John was a craftsman and set about to the task of redoing the kitchen.

Instead of building all new cabinets, he built new doors and refaced all of the surfaces, adding molding to the top and bottom edges.  I don't like Granite, preferring old fashioned white tile.

He thought my idea of butter yellow cabinets was great, until I said I wanted a clouded sky ceiling and olive green walls.  But after all was said and done, he loved the combination of colors.

It will be 9 years this September that we refinished the kitchen and I never got around to painting the inside of the cabinets which always drove me crazy...

So the past few weeks, I decided, it was time to do the insides and scrub and repaint the outside as well.

Removing all of the contact paper I laid down 8 years ago as well.

Seriously, my kitchen is NOT as dirty as this cabinet looks, but dang, how much dust gets in on things you never use.  Also a great time to Clean out and get rid of those very things you never use....

My son Dylan and his girlfriend Tawny, spent two days with me working on this and in total, it took me 4 FULL days to complete.  My shoulders ached from all of the painting and scrubbing, but am I SOOOOO overjoyed at the outcome.

There is not much that brings me more joy than a freshly painted and clean surface.

Last weekend, I tackled painting the inside of the playhouse....

Since I confiscated it back from the kids, who totally ignore it...

When we built it, the inside was all pale pink.

Then one day, I let Emily and Jeremy paint the inside walls green, to make it more boy friendly.

I had long ago painted vines on the floor.

Trouble is, let a 9 & 11 year old paint, and this is what you get...unfinished walls.

Utilizing paint I had left over from my Yoga room, which is now Christian's room due to 

the Man moving in...I decided to put the very lively green on the walls...

The floor got an delicious turquoise color that I will probably paint another vine on top of it, 

I loved it so much.

Will gradually add to this and let it evolve, but want it to remain fairly open.

Feels like a little Mexican/Caribbean/Gypsy so far.

My Dia De Los Muertos cross looks great on the green.
More than likely, this will just be an overflow space for finished merchandise between shows,
or my little escape in the back yard to read, write or paint.

So, even though it is technically still winter,
Spring Cleaning is coming along very well here at my abode
and it feels so good to have "less",which is actually "more".

What projects have you been working on this year so far????

Hugs,
Lisa