Happy 1st Birthday Hannah!!

It has been quite a year filled with joy and laughter.

Update on the house

Things are looking really nice. The drywall is almost finished, so it shouldn't be much longer.

Much work has been happening around the house, the front porch is almost finished and the heating system is being hooked up. My painting has been restricted to that on the walls. This is a new venture for me. I really have never had the time or resources to decorate the way I really wanted to, so now I am really taking my time to pick out exactly what I want. This past summer I got hooked on the show, Design Star. I got so many ideas, I am now officially addicted to HGTV.

I have been keeping up with what has been going on in the art world, via the blogosphere. One website that I found, thanks to a blog, is www.dailypaintworks.com. Many talented artists are featured, I highly recommend visiting this site, especially if you are an art collector.

What I Have Been Up To

As some of you might know, I teach art at a private school. Every year there is a fund raising event with a dinner, dancing and a chinese auction, silent auction and live auction. As the art teacher, I contribute to the event by doing an art project with each class that is then auctioned off at the event. I started working on these projects at the beginning of the school year. The last month has been spent matting and framing and putting all the finishing touches on the pieces with each class. There was 9 projects created. Pictured is a paper collage that I did with the 4th grade class, the cross made by the 2nd grade class, a print project by my 3rd graders and, my favorite, a performance project that I did with the 8th grade. Each child in the 8th grade posed as part of a letter to spell out "dreams". Each student is pictured and the class worked as a whole to create this work. They even chose the quote to use. I am very proud of this class. This piece went for $3,000. I was soooo excited and am happy that the school will benefit. So that is what I have been up to, but now that the event is over I can (hopefully) get back to doing my own art.

Extreme Makeover

It has been a while since I have been blogging, but, I'm back!!!!!!

As you can see by the picture, things in my part of the world are changing. My house is transforming from a 2 bedroom, 1 bath to a 5 bedroom, 2 bath with an extended living room. This is something that I have been dreaming of for many years. The kids and I are sooo excited. We are hoping that the construction will be done by Christmas (fingers are crossed). I will post pictures of the progress. Yesterday they finished with all of the wiring and Friday the last of the plumbing went in. I am not much of a carpenter, but with the electrical and plumbing done, I am hoping that it will go quickly.

I have been on a long hiatus from creating my own art. Since May my studio has been packed up. This past summer I purchased some vine charcoal and paper but, to be honest, have not done much with it. I have had great intentions but no time. I guess that is one of the reasons that I am starting up this blog again, to get me going in the right direction. Things at work have calmed down and with the addition getting closer and closer to being finished I am dying to do some art. Since the space I have at the moment is limited I have purchased some small 5x5 and 6x6 canvas boards. I figured, new house, new studio, new direction in my art. Could be fun!!

Its been a while......things have changed quite a bit, in many, many ways.

Hannah is a joy!! She has brought such life into our home. I have finally gotten use to not waking up in the middle of the night when I hear a baby cry ( after 5 children its kinda hard-wired into me). My house is still in a state of chaos, which is why I have not posted any art in many months. I am having 3 bedrooms and a full bath added onto my home and a new septic installed, and needless to say, it has been crazy.

I am sad to say that my studio is no longer existent. I had to temporarily box up my supplies and put them into storage until the construction is over. This brought a dull cloud over me as well as a pit in my stomach, which has kept me from doing any kind of art in my limited spare time. The only things that I left out were my charcoal and graphite pencils, some kneaded erasers and a sketchbook.

Even though I have not created much art work myself I have spent a bit of time researching a variety of artists and techniques. One artists that has just infatuated me is William Bouguereau, his work is just incredible and it is his influence that has generated a desire to work with the figure again. When I was in college, I loved my life drawing classes and found a drop-in life drawing class on Wednesday nights. I am really excited to start them. That dull cloud is starting to lift.......drawings posted soon.

New Digs

It's been a wild couple of weeks. The sketch you see here is one of only 4 sketches that I have been able to produce since the baby has come home. I have forgotten how much work one little being can be. Also, last Wednesday construction started on my house to add on 2 bedrooms, a full bath, extend the living room and replace the septic system.

So, given the circumstances I have given myself permission not to feel guilty because I am not able to get into the studio as much as I would like. In fact, my studio will be moving as soon as the constuction is finished. I have decided to change the studio into a den, the family could really use the space, and my studio will move into my bedroom, since it will be quite large. I am not sure how this will work but I though that since my bedroom is the one area that I can get some quiet it would be the best place to create. Also, I have a habit of waking up in the middle of the night with some great vision for a painting and then never putting it down on paper, hopefully this set up will somewhat remedy that. Now if I can only get myself out of the bed.

Welcome Home Hannah

We brought Hannah home yesterday. She is adjusting well, but grandma and mom are exhausted. I forgot how much work a newborn is. Mom has been nursing her and I have taken burp patrol so mom could get some rest. The problem is this little angel wants to eat all the time. Boy how easy it is to forget this part of parenting.

As you might guess I have not been doing much painting. I have been invited to participate in two shows in mid January, but after last night, I am not sure that I will have the time or the energy to get the work done. I am also a bit concerned about using turpentine in the house with the baby. I started working in oils about 2 months ago and would like to continue but if the fumes are harmful I can switch to acrylics. I will be doing some research on the internet about this, but if anyone has experience with this issue I would love to hear from them. As for now, I am working things out in my sketchbook, that is, if and when I have time.