Thursday, July 30, 2009

Avery and Clara's rooms

Here is a photo of Avery's Bedroom mural. He loves science! I wanted a graphic mural so I decided to do a cross section of the earth's core. I painted the bands of color first and then I ordered custom wall words in various fonts that I applied on the walls. The text would not have been as crisp if I had painted it. He loves the resulting mural and I think it's not something he will grow out of quickly.Below is a very simple project Avery and I did together for his room. The top half is a peg board that is painted in silver and green stripes. The bottom is a piece of plywood that we painted with both magnetic paint and chalkboard paint. We hung it using a french cleat. It is a very inexpensive solution for storage and display!
Clara's room consists of a number of re purposed items. Basically, I "shopped" my garage and other rooms of the house. The large closets on either side of the window were in the study of our last home. I added floral and butterfly "wall sticker" designs that wrap around the sides. She now has plenty of closet space which I am sure she will appreciate when she is older. I carried the same floral and butterfly designs through the room randomly on the walls. I hung paper lanterns from the ceiling that were left over from a party that I hosted. I love paper lanterns, especially in a little girls room! I bought these at the local Asian grocery store. The painting above the desk is by local artist (& my best friend) Rosemary Daugherty! The girl in the painting is drinking a slushy in front of the a lucky stop convenience store. She reminds me of Clara!Outside of the kid's rooms is a linen closet that was not very functional. The hall is very wide and felt like waisted space. I took the doors down and painted the interior shelves a dark brown. I now use it to store and display books and games. The lower shelves hold the children's frequently used items. They often build a floor puzzle or play a board game right on the hall floor.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Salt and Pepper


My summer oil painting class is almost over. I did these paintings yesterday. We were asked to paint a few, quick, small, still life paintings of simple objects. I had a lot of fun with the salt and pepper shaker trying to achieve the metallic look on the lids.

The rose and pear was a class painting I did a few weeks ago. I still do not enjoy painting flowers - probably because I find them so difficult to paint.


This final landscape painting of Boulder Park was another class assignment. It was daytime but the moon was visible (day moon!) I love day moons! I gave this painting to my husband, Dave, for our 15th anniversary.

I am trying to decide whether I am going to enroll for oil painting again in the fall or take a drawing class. I love to paint but I have had three classes in a row and I think a change would be nice.