Art and ideas for creative living
Lucky green, plucky lime and sassy sage, March is all about green. And so apparently is this entire year according to those universal home-interior color experts. All paint manufacturers have chosen a shade of green as their color of the year. And with good reason. Green is the color of calm, that calm that… Continue reading Living with Green
Analytical thought vs perceptual intuition. Linear vs abstract. Bookkeeping/emails vs art making. Because these opposites require the use of different sides of the brain to formulate, it has always been a tug of war for me managing the “responsible” activities in my artist’s life while keeping the creative juices flowing. It literally feels like I… Continue reading Switching Gears: left brain/right brain
With cabinet designs firmly under construction next came the fun part of creating that backdrop to showcase the work of the League of NH Craftsmen in their new space. As much fun as it would have been to go crazy with fixture design (I am an artist after all) restrain is always needed when showcasing artwork to… Continue reading Artist’s gallery design; paint choices – part 3
The once inside, then outside, then inside again room in this old house contained the most history and was the room that needed the most help. It's laundry facilities were battered and out of code draining into main pipes that were leaking and the 40" apart floor joists let the tile floor sag and crack. So it… Continue reading Old House rehab 8; the laundry and new half bath
At first look the cheery yellow kitchen in our old house had it's merrits—bright and sunny with solid wood cabinets—but upon closer inspection it needed some work. The cabinets needed rearranging for better use of the space, the paint everywhere was patchy and the floor was sagging. So we tore into it. The initial plan was to move… Continue reading Old house rehab 7; the kitchen re-do
Color changes everything. And when I have helped people choose colors for a room, the first question I ask is "how do you want to feel?" there. In a bathroom where we start and end our day we want to feel restful and serene. It's a place where we gather ourselves together, thusly, quiet colors without… Continue reading Old House rehab 6; the bathroom make-over
Carpeting is never a good idea in a rental property. Think; potty training, pets and exuberant beer drinking on game day. It all gets wicked away to settle down in the pad—yuk—and when it's not our own home... So in removing the carpet from our old house we had yet another opportunity to uncover some of its… Continue reading Old House rehab 5; reinventing the floors
It's hard to choose interior paint color for a multi-windowed open-concept house when each area has a different light exposure. The color changes in each direction. We were fortunate that the previous owners of our old house had freshly painted most of the walls a lively cream color with touches of red, yellow and blue undertones making… Continue reading Old House rehab 4; choosing interior colors
Through stops and starts working against mother nature's autumn time clock, the exterior of our little house project is completed. That before & after computer mock-up I did really helped me plan my colors with the plant material, purchasing at the end of the season while trying to imagine their blooms at other times of the year. Except for… Continue reading Old House rehab 2; completing the exterior
Creativity expresses itself in many ways and one of the ways that David and I have expressed ourselves over the years is in rehabilitating houses; old ones in particular. We are drawn to their stories, love reinforcing the layers of history they contain, are excited with the creative how-to problem solving - AND it's something fun… Continue reading Old house rehab; part 1
"How long did it take you to make that?" is the question most often asked. The honest answer? Weeks. And months. To create something original in stitched fabric - without a pattern, without a super clear direction - it does take a very long time as the piece builds upon itself before one's very eyes. It's… Continue reading The making of an art quilt
I have fallen in love with the color white. I can't think of when this affair started exactly but a couple of years back I started surrounding myself in it. My rooms have become white, I am collecting white brick-a-brack but most noticeably white has become the back drop color for almost all of my… Continue reading Color study; falling in love with white
One of the most thoughtful and creative gifts we have ever received at the holidays was this gift given to us last year. I would like to re-gift it to you. Fashioned from a match box, the gift was hand painted with over-lays of paper and glitter finished like any canvas would be and is… Continue reading Re-gifting; quotes to live by