Cabinet Photo

studio computer area

My husband started the cabinet installation yesterday and while we aren't finished by a long shot, I thought I'd share what's been done already.

The upper wall cabinets are already in place and although it may look as if the bottom cabinets and counter are installed, they are just sitting there not attached anywhere.  We were doing a practice run/dry fitting before actually installing them.  We still have to install the actual cabinets and the countertop and the center drawer.  Then we have to put knobs or handles on the doors and drawers. 

I still haven't decided what kind of handles I want yet.  I looked online and thought about some really funky ones that looked artistic (see HERE) but they were $36 EACH (and I need 13 of them!) and I decided I'd rather spend that money on art supplies.  But I did find some that were a lot more reasonable but can't decide which ones I like best!  (see HERE or HERE)   Or maybe, in the interest of time, I ought to just go with something I like at the local home improvement store!

The studio is such a mess, I couldn't get a good shot of the cabinets and it will be a while before I get things in some sort of order but I promise to post photos when I do.

I also wanted to tell you that I may be offline for a while as I need to move my computer stuff and that may mean re-installing my router as the phone line is currently clear across the room and the router is hooked up with an ethernet cord (is that what it's called?)  Not sure what I need to do to change it as my desktop computer does have a wireless card but I imagine it will take some time for me to figure out.  lol  That means no internet access for a while if it takes any time at all.

Domestic Goddess Day

Some of you may know that I lived close enough to New Orleans at one time to know about their muffalettas.  I used to buy one and it would last me for several days.  I thought they were wonderful.

Since then I've moved far away from New Orleans plus have become a vegetarian and put thoughts of a muffaletta out of my mind.  Then Rachel Ray had a recipe on her show that I was pretty sure I could make using non-meat ingredients.  So I gave it a whirl.

It took most of the day yesterday but I made the olive salad and the bread from scratch and put together two wonderful, fragrant and ultimately delicious muffalettas!  I made one of them from standard ingredients since my husband does eat meat and he loved it.

Art and creativity take many forms and yesterday they took the form of homemade muffalettas!

Just Stuff

I've been working at trying to arrange the studio so that my husband can install the new cabinets this weekend.  But I have to admit that I was also checking out things on the internet and noticed that there's been a run on visitors viewing my Kelpie puppy painting from way back in 2008!  It's not that great of a painting and when I see things like this, it always makes me curious!

If any of you who have searched for the Kelpie puppy and viewed it recently would like to explain why it's so popular, I'd appreciate it.  Or, if any of you who know what's going on with it would like to tell me, I'd appreciate that also!

I do notice when paintings are viewed frequently and will change them around from one host to another or add additional or heavier watermarks to them if I feel it's warranted.  

I do hope that people using the internet know by now that items posted online are copyrighted even if there is no copyright notice on them.

Anyway, I'll keep my eye on the various "popular" and may even sign up for a photo tracking program.

I also wanted to comment about the areas of the US who have been absolutely slammed with snow and ice.  I do feel for you and you have my prayers.  You know I don't particularly care for winter weather so I'm especially aware of the inconvenience at least that you're suffering.  I hope there's a break soon and that spring arrives early this year!

Stay warm everyone.

They're Here!

As you can see, the cabinets for my studio have finally arrived.  Right now they're sitting in the living room (my studio is just around the corner) waiting for my DH to have the time to install them.

Of course, I need to finish moving a large bookcase and a little table out of the way so he can get to the area!  lol  Who knew a bookcase could hold so much stuff?!!!!

We haven't opened any boxes yet - just checked that everything we ordered is here - but the cabinets are supposed to be white.  I have two windows on the north side of the room which is the only natural light so I wanted white cabinets so as to reflect the light.  I thought dark finished cabinets would only make the studio dreary.

So, let me get back to work getting stuff out of the way so my darling husband can hopefully get started installing them this coming weekend!

I'll keep you posted!

German Shepherd Dog Commission

This is the commission I was working on right after Christmas.  It was a gift that has now been given so I can post it.  I'm very relieved to say that both the person who commissioned the piece and the gift recipient were very pleased with the portrait. 

This painting is pastel on velour, my usual surface, with various pastels and pastel pencils and went fairly well,  As usual, the reference photos were not clear and did not show some parts of the dog they wanted painted.  The ruff under the neck was cut off and the eyes were "flashed" so I couldn't tell what color they were.  So, between the memory of the person who commissioned the painting and looking at similarly colored GSD's online, I made some educated guesses which were evidently close enough as the owner assured me that it looked just like the dog.

I was concerned that the fur was too long but both the commissioner and the owner told me that this dog was not at all smooth and that the fur length was right on.

So, on to the next commission which will be in gouache and I need to both finish the magnolia pastel painting and get the studio ready for the new cabinets.

Jeanne, from Jeanne Grant blogspot, left a comment about wanting to see the finished studio and I promise to post pictures.  The cabinets were supposed to be here by today but as far as I know, they haven't arrived yet.  After they do arrive, we'll have to install them (around my DH's work schedule) then I'll have to get everything tidied up to show everything at it's best - lol.  So, it might take a while but I'll eventually get pictures up here for you all to see!

Pastel - Blonde Cocker Spaniel

I've been working on this little Cocker Spaniel instead of doing stuff I should be doing!  But how could anyone resist that sweet face?

I'm still not finished with it but wanted to get feedback from the owner before I went much further and she was pleased with it so far.  She also gave permission to show the reference photo I used.  As you can see, there was some guesswork involved in painting the ears but I think I have them pretty close.

I still have some touching up to do and also need to finish the background but I'm in the "short rows" as they say down South!

This is various pastels (mostly Rembrandt) and pastel pencils on a 9x12 inch sheet of PastelMat.  It seemed that the tooth filled up fairly quickly this time and I had to vacuum off some of the pastel in order to make some changes.  I don't advise using a vacuum unless you have a lot of control or your vacuum doesn't have a lot of suction!  Most of the touching up I have to do comes from the vacuum cleaner leaving visible pathways on the painting!

So, I won't show this again as the basic painting is there - again, just some touch ups and a little blending here and there.

As always, if anyone sees anything that needs some attention, please don't hesitate to let me know!

In the Studio: Re-Organization and Re-Model

It's begun!  My husband gave me cabinets for my studio for Christmas and the countertop we ordered arrived yesterday!  The actual cabinets are supposed to be here by the 31st then the fun really begins. 

This set of cabinets is for the "office" area and will hold my computer and peripherals.  There will be cabinet storage both below and above the work surface.  We started with the office wall because I'll need to get the desk and tables out that currently hold my computer stuff.  Once that's done, we'll be able to get the cabinets for the other walls.

We haven't ordered them yet as I'm not sure exactly what I want and they're too expensive to get something I don't like.  I don't think I want any wall cabinets for the other walls.  I do want the counter space and cabinets beneath the countertops would be ideal.  I'm not crazy about wall cabinets because I'm so short that the shelves above the lowest ones would probably go to waste!

I'll keep you posted on how it goes!