Part III: What Does an Artist do when Quarantined

This is a strange time. There are days when I love not having to go anywhere. Days when I feel blessed to have a studio to hide in and paint. Extra days I have to catch up on projects. Days just to be lazy. Yet there are days when I feel the heaviness of this pandemic. Days when I don't understand why my breathing is different. Days when I just feel down. Can this be me? I don't worry, I don't stress, I have it easy compared to many. Deep down it still affects all of us. I try to keep my home life as normal as possible. I get up early, put on some makeup, and always earrings. My table is always set pretty, and cooking has become very creative. There are fresh-baked loaves of bread, homemade pizza, cookies, soups, and sauces. I always love to cook, but more time has given me the freedom to explore. This is good, right? Yet, something is still missing. Family, friends, neighbors, cocktail hour, grandchildren, dinner out, all that keeps us sane. I have decided not to waste this precious gift of time, so when we are all back to normal, I can spend every minute with family and friends.

My project this past weekend: Years back while attending the High Point Furniture Market in NC, I spotted a chandelier in the Lee Industries showroom. Never have I been this intrigued with a lighting fixture. This was creativity at its highest level. It was big and covered with small antique bottles. While I could not have this one, my mind started planning how I could get the look on my twig chandelier at home.

The twig chandelier was purchased for a Designer Showhouse we did in 2001. When the showhouse was over I bought it home and installed in our foyer. Although it was love, at first sight, I had already given it a makeover with a box of yard sale crystals.

Returning home from Highpoint I immediately started hunting down old glass bottles, purchased a spool of brass wire, and then put everything away. My Interior Design business was crazy and finding time for projects was not happening. This project was shelved for many years.

I have always collected colored bottles. I enjoy seeing the sunshine through the glass when in a window.
Many of these bottles were unearthed in the waterways around Somers Point by my son. The Bay was once a dump for the locals.

These bottles are from Clevenger Glass, which was started in a backyard by two brothers in Clayton, NJ, during the Great Depression. My mother and sister would visit the shop in the late '50s. They were the last of the old-time glassblowers of South Jersey.

Wheaton Glass was also a local business. The miniature bottles I keep are from them. Piling up in glass vases is my way of displaying them.

Some of my windows hold ceramic. I think its the color that attracts me. These are Vermont pottery syrup bottles.

This is the finished project…
I plan on adding a few more bottles, but for now, it is done and giving me a little pleasure every time I pass by. Just what I needed.

Now deciding what I can get into this week. Stay safe!

Part II : What Does an Artist do When Self Quarantined ?

My last time out was March 6th, Using my time to accomplish projects has made this shelter in place direction almost pleasant. I have decided not to complain and make the most of the extra hours given to me. I remind myself of all the healthcare personal and essential workers out there that are not as comfortable as I am.

There is a tiny shadow box 10"x 18" at the top of my stairs. I have always used it to display my collection of Brambly Hedge figurines.

Every morning for the last nineteen years, I pass this and think, " I should paint windows and a floor inside this box." "Decorate it for the mice of Brambly Hedge."

I love Brambly Hedge Books. If you are not familiar with them, they are delightful children's books written by Jill Barklem in 1980.

Winter Story steals my heart. I love nothing better than to be snowed in on a cold winter day with a fire and lots of books.

It is the adventures of a community of mice that live in the tranquil English countryside. The family's of mice share their celebrations, escapades, and daily life dramas. With five years of research, Jill gave these illustrations and stories amazing details of the past and characters with moral values and community spirit that might just teach us all something. Her drawings are intricately detailed . Homes crammed to the ceiling with books, jars of preserves, family photos, nuts berries, and a fireplace to warm you. Your imagination returns to a place of happiness, peacefulness, and comfort. It took Jill two years to finish a book, and some illustrations were up to three months to complete. The drawings were not just pure fantasy but an accurate way of life only in mouse language. Even the recipes you read about were tested in Jill's kitchen to be sure they were delicious.

Here is a recipe Mrs. Crustybread would have stirred up for tea, She was an excellent baker. She prepared beautiful cakes for all the celebrations of Brambly Hedge.

So I started with a primer and two coats of Dove white. The mice were into nature, and I think Dove White would please them.

I studied their stories deciding what elements of their homes would work in my small shadow box.

I can smell the chestnut soup when I view this kitchen. I think my home looks a little bit like the Toadflax home.

From Winter Story, Mr. apple (you can call him Pip) warden of the Store Stump, where the mice kept their treasured food supply for winter. As he walked home after a hard day of work, the first flakes were beginning to fall. Mrs. Apple spent the day baking cakes and puddings for the cold days to come. Smiling, she drew two armchairs up to the fire, and bought their supper on a tray. I decided that in my world, it would be snowing out.

From Autumn story, Lady Woodmouse, or Daisy and Lord Woodmouse, were the head of Brambly Hedge. They lived in Old Oak Palace. Their daughter Primrose had gotten lost in the woods and was wet and cold. Mom carried Primrose to her room and dressed her in a nightgown warmed by the fire and placed a cup of acorn coffee by her bed. I knew I had to include Primrose's bedroom. Oh, and Daisy is a very gifted artist. She loves to draw her daughter and other family members. Some of her portraits are hanging in my shadow box.

With a little help from my friends, I began to paint.

That’s Mrs. Apple, she is a wonderful cook. Mr. Basil Brightberry is one of the older residents and looks after all the wines and cordials. Sometimes he is a little forgetful, maybe it’s the wine.

I drew elements of their homes being careful to fit in my pieces.

Finally, a finished shadow Box fit for the special creatures of Brambly hedge. I think I will feel proud of this and smile as I pass it each day.

That’s Mr. Apple in the rocker and Mrs. Eyebright serving tea.

If you ever stop by my home: say late afternoon. I will fix our English Afternoon tea in my favorite Brambly Hedge winter and fall cups, even though it is Spring. Everything might not match because we like that way. We can sit and watch the sunset over Painted River, enjoy a slice of toasted hazelnut banana bread and talk of better times.

What Does an Artist do When Self Quarantined?

We Paint: but you cant paint 24/7. It is impressive how much slower my days are when I am not arranging or inventing errands, lunches, appointments, and shopping. Somewhere, in this mess we are in, I have found time, a precious asset. My days are usually quite hectic, allowing minimal downtime. I would never dream of taking time for myself in the afternoons. Now that stolen hour or two is not even putting a dent in my accomplishments for the day.

I love Children's literature.
 Good classic children's books offer readers enjoyment as well as memorable characters and insights into human nature. There are moral and ethical situations that help us develop empathy allowing us to understand another's situation better. Fictional children’s stories can open up a new perspective for adults. Help relive our trimmed down imaginations, take us back to a simpler time. With my unused moments, I am going to revisit my collection of Children's literature. I have always loved books; some are from my childhood others gathered along the way; all are treasured.
 Little Women by, Louisa May Alcott
 Charlottes Web by, E.B. White
 The Secret Garden by, Frances Hodgson Burnett
 Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by, Margaret Sidney 
Nancy Drew Series by, Carolyn Keene
 Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tales
 Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. Just to name a few.

Just a few of my favorite

And there are more

Nancy Drew , I was obsessed with these around age 10

To start, I'll begin with my favorite "Wind in the Willows" By Kenneth Grahame. This is by no means just a children's book. It involves four anthropomorphize animals, Rat, Mole, Toad, and Badger. Showing friendship, adventure, spiritual journeys, and living in peace with nature. I have loved this book so much that several years back, I themed a children's room in a designer showhouse around it. I imagined just what Ratty's home would look like and how he would want to entertain his friends. This room won the best of the show, was published in magazines and Interior design books. This was my all-time favorite room I remember men coming to view the space and tearing up as they traveled back to their childhood. 


I treasure all these books

My version of Ratty’s home in Wind in the Willows. Can’t you just see Ratty inviting Mole in to sit by the fire for tea after ice skating on “The River”? That’s Moles’ suitcase, I think he is spending the night. Did you know that Rat is a fine pianist often composing his own music? when the night is over and they climb into bed there are plenty of books above their heads as they both love to read.

If you grew up with a Dad who messed in boats then married someone who also messed in boats you get this. I might repaint this mural in the room my Grand Daughters share at my house.

Ratty would have loved the natural birch mirror, and He was a bird watcher. Peek inside the closet and you will see Squirrel damask wallpaper. I loved this so much it’s in my powder room at home.

Ratty was the perfect host and a gourmet cook. He could whip up a pear tart in no time.

My favorite quote from the book is “So -this-is-a-River “The River” corrected the Rat. “And you really live by the river? What a jolly life".” I feel like this is my story and I painted this quote on my living room walls.


Today between 3PM and 5PM, you will find me curled up in my studio chair with a good cup of English tea, milk, and honey, of course, traveling back to a simpler time.

Loving and Listening to Yourself

I am famous for writing out New Year’s resolutions. Always listing out the rules for next year: stop procrastinating, schedule your days to accomplish more, eat clean, exercise daily, etc. etc. etc... Some I do try to keep, most are listed in the next year’s resolutions to try again. Then the self-imposed criticism begins: you don’t exercise enough, why don’t you paint more, maybe you don’t really have the passion to be an artist, today was wasted, what did you accomplish, so on and so on and so on. The last week in December, I was trying to complete all started projects from 2019. I wanted to have a clean start for the New Year. I thought to myself: this year I will tackle all the resolutions I set. This will not be a wasted year, I will accomplish! I then started the task of varnishing paintings finished in the last few months and was shocked at how many I had completed. This was not the production of a lazy person. Was I judging me wrong? I stopped and really listened to myself. What was I doing? This was a bad approach. You will get nowhere with negative comments. Isn’t a loving, positive approach far more successful in motivating people? It was so apparent to me that this list was only causing more stress and certainly not helping my creative production. So this year I refuse to be hard on me. I will take time to list all the accomplishments of last year, all the good things that happened and be grateful for all I have. I’m going to listen really listen to just what I need.

That morning I sat a little too long with my coffee: I was contemplating my next group of
paintings.
That afternoon I took a nap on the studio sofa: I was banking energy to complete the next
project.
That day I started cooking an elaborate meal instead on working on my book: My family
needed me.
It is all in how we look at things, and this year it will be different.

I was working

That New Years Blog that was three weeks late: I was taking care of my needs.

Beautiful Changes

“Spring:

a lovely reminder of how beautiful change can be.”

Setting out on a different journey this year is just not as simple as I planned. Becoming a full time artist after years of meeting deadlines answering to customers, working around contractors, and having a pretty set schedule is just hard. Now it’s just me and no schedule. Oh yea, we still have laundry to do, Bill asking for lunch, kids coming home, and the art gets shoved aside again and again. Days go by and there is no body of work to show. Painting has always been a luxury for me. So, I tell myself (that little voice inside us that needs to shut up). “You can’t paint during the day, all day.” “ Are you nuts you should be working, this isn’t work.” “Have you been to the food store, cleaned up the house, fixed a gourmet meal,” and on and on… I then put down my paint brush, find a small distracting job and get off course. The ADD doesn’t help either. What I need to be doing is putting my art first. I won’t ever ignore my family, they truly are first for me. But ,I can schedule time for art and stick to it. Give myself permission to explore this new stage in life. And yes it’s ok for me to read a art book in the middle of the day, take a hour walk outside, kayak up river to sketch and just do what feels good. After all I am an artist !

Whats working for me

Mediating in the morning, this is my secret weapon to calm my mind. Setting intentions at this time turns into a type of daily schedule which helps me reach my goals. I have been using the Insight App on my phone. This App is free and has lots of great features for meditation.

A calendar, I am currently using arc notebook system you can customize it to your needs with all kinds of to do list, daily list, monthly, and more. Its available at Staples but amazon also has it. Being able to set up a list each night for the next day has really improved my production.

Starting my day with art first thing. I used to have my two cups of coffee and scroll aimlessly through Facebook in the morning. Now I make coffee the night before and go to the studio with my cup in my PJ’s . I might sketch, read a art book or plan a painting. Its a pretty special time, sets my day in the right direction. I find myself getting up earlier just to enjoy this time.

A gratitude journal, each day I list at least three things I am grateful for. I sometimes put them on my daily calendar page, or maybe in my journal. This gives me a feeling of fullness and happiness, sets my mood to accomplish all things.

A proper North facing window, This was my Birthday gift and what a difference it makes. I now have to live up to this great light. It really feels like an artist studio. I am blessed with the studio I have but I do stalk Rebecca Rebouche she is a artist that has a tree house in the woods outside New Orleans. Rebecca lives in the tree house Monday through Thursday by herself just to paint. She even has her food and supplies delivered weekly. Hmmm, maybe Bill would not mind me moving into the studio, I’ll come back on the weekends. Anyway I feel like I’m in a tree house with my new window.

I even have a view of the river.

Funny but I love putting on clogs and a linen apron to set the mood

I am remembering to take it slow, take time for me. Rushing is a thing of the past and I find my creativity level grows when I savor time. Yep, beautiful changes and a beautiful life.

Practice Makes Perfect

Learning new techniques, and styles, really helps an artist to reach beyond limits they often put on themselves. A few weeks ago I was fortunate to attend a four day workshop with Alvaro Castagnet, a international award winning watercolor artist. His passion for art was contagious. The visions he saw for ordinary street scenes must come only by painting from the heart. He captures the feeling, the moment, the light, the soul of all he paints.

His drawings were very loose using a soft B6 pencil.

Always beginning with colorful washes of paint, using a very large squirrel hair mop brush. Alvaro does have a line of brushes he sells. I purchased a few and have to say they have made a difference in the way I paint.

Finishing with white highlights and a bit of color.

Drawing of the kitchen at the Mad Batter restaurant. It was cold out so he decided to paint a interior for the demonstration.

Beginning washes, he left the white of the paper for highlights but he is not afraid of using opaque white on a finished piece.

The freedom he had in letting the paint create the structures and atmosphere was so amazing

Another demo of Cape May.

We painted ourselves after watching Alvaro demonstrate . We had a choice to use the same subject or find our own. I choose to follow Alvaro’s as it gave me the confidence to be free. I now had direction on how to handle the scene, and problems were already worked out. Never could I have been as loose and confident if I had not watched first.

A Paris train station as Alvaro saw it.

My painting of the same photo. I was somewhat pleased but remember Alvaro had already showed me the freedom of the brush and paint to capture the feeling of the station ceiling. I watched him choose colors, fade out the train, put in detail. But what a learning experience.

So I have now been practicing at home in my studio. I started with a image that I watched him paint, the kitchen. I never finished the painting but learned a little more.

My version of Mad Batters Kitchen

So I then branched out and tried a painting from a reference photo I had. Now I had to solve the problems of the composition and colors myself. Much harder…

The photo of a New York tea room. (I love interior paintings)

My painting inspired by all I learned from Alvaro Castagnet.

I will continue to practice with the freedom of letting the paint do its thing but will bring my own style into it. Never stop learning, and paint from the heart.

Perfect Guide to Changing Careers

It was 1997 and I was obsessed with the book Simple Abundance, a daybook of comfort and joy.  In the early pages, another book Wishcraft by Barbara Sher was mentioned . As a life coach and author Barbara taught me that I could have any life I imagined, no matter how crazy it seemed at present.   I followed her guidelines, with my mind and heart opened to all possibilities. I asked myself many questions.  What do I want in life?  What qualities do I need to see in me?  Where would I be most inspired to live?  How should my days evolve to bring me joy?  What is best for my family?  Then I sat down and wrote my perfect day.  Magic happens when you put your dreams on paper.

Fast forward to 2001:  I moved into my dream house on a river, with a studio back in NJ.    A successful interior design-decorative Arts business followed, with many awards and publications.  This was my perfect day!  I was living my craziest wishes.

 Perfect days need to be tweaked and updated, so I gave myself the gift of rewriting a new perfect day.  In this dream, I was a published children's book author and illustrator with my artwork in numerous galleries.  After lot's of classes, and hard work, I now feel I'm finally ready to begin exploring new possibilities.

Interior design has been a major part of who I am and brought me great joy and feelings of accomplishment. I am so thankful for all my customers (many now friends) for making my dream job a reality.  Now I need to explore the fine arts side of me and set new goals and challenges.  Pursuing a dream just wakes up everything and colors my life so much brighter.  

I hope through this blog I can share my journey, and show that its possible  to follow our purpose in life.  Happiness comes when you are doing just what you were put here to do.  We need each other, and the motivation that happens  just seeing another's path.  Yes there will be ups and downs, but the mistakes that happen can be our biggest teacher.  The simple act of writing down your dreams helps to motivate you to take small steps to conquer your deepest desires. 

Lets keep in touch, and may you have your perfect day.  

New year, new motto

I painted this quote on a office wall  a few years back and it reasonates today more than ever!