A vintage Christmas tree

I decorated my Christmas tree with my 9 year-old daughter this year but I did it like I always decorate it using vintage ornaments. The ornaments are from my grandmother and my childhood. There are real eggs that my grandmother made into ornaments, little dolls, and weird mushrooms in the collection.

There is this little flying thing that must be quite old.

I remember this little Santa from when I was very small.

I believe my grandmother made this egg. 

There is a mushroom with a Christmas elf inside and another egg with an angel in it. I'm not sure what mushrooms have to do with Christmas but there are a few ornaments with mushrooms in them.

This little doll looks a bit rough and she's gotten rougher over the years but it cracks me up that a little angel is so bad looking. I used to tell my children that she was a naughty angel and that is why she looks the way she does.

There are also a few fun shaped ornaments that don't really look so great but I still hang them each year.

My tree full of vintage ornaments is so pleasing to me.

My must-haves

I am just sitting here sipping my coffee this morning thinking about things I can't live without. Coffee used to be one of them but I just don't drink much of it anymore. Yesterday I skipped it altogether.

In terms of beverages I do love this glass.

I have a set and I use them everyday. I've even broken a few but they are so inexpensive that I just grab a few at the store.

I'm sure I'd be fine without them but I do really like them.

This may seem a bit odd but I love my dishwasher. Yup, it's that good.

I have a Bosch dishwasher that is a few years old but cleans everything off of my dishes. I've never had one that was so awesome. I had no idea such a thing existed and I won't ever buy another brand.

Another thing I don't know if I could live without is white towels. They have to be white.

Not red or blue or any color but white. 

I love my wool Oriental rugs as well.

I have little ones and a very large one and a few in the middle. My house would not be the same without them. You can find quite a few on Etsy or eBay. That is where I got most of mine.

My art collection is pretty important also.

I have quite a few pieces from artists you may know.

Sally Kelly

Christina Baker

Jenny Andrews-Anderson

Linda Monfort

These are just a few photos of my art collection.

I have pieces from Tim Hussey, Sara Pittman, Sally Kelly, Ellen Dodd, Jenny Andrews-Anderson, Christina Baker, Linda Monfort, Mia Malcolm and, of course, my own artwork.

What can't you live without? Tell me in the comments.

Using photos for inspiration

A few years ago I wrote a post about using my flower photos for painting inspiration.

I took those photos and translated them like this.

or this.

But these days I take my paintings elsewhere with the abstraction of the flowers.

"Serendipity" is a further abstraction of these roses.

Also, I've abstracted others in this way.

From these flowers to this painting.

"More" 36 x 48

You can see that I use a lot of imagination in my creating in terms of colors and brush strokes.

"Finding Autumn" 30 x 48

In "Finding Autumn" I had to use a bit more imagination on looking up at the sky through changing color leaves because our leaves barely change color.

I was thinking of this photo for "The new pink"

"The new pink" 48 x 36

I find my flower photos very inspiring.

What do you find inspiring in your work?

Life Lately

I wish I had some Earth-shattering news but I don't, I just have the daily ups and downs of life to report here. It's been a long while since I blogged but a few things have happened.

My husband quit his job and it took quite a long time to find another one but find it he did. While he was off we got a dog.

She is much bigger than this now but not so naughty.

Since moving to Charleston we have had quite a few visitors so I try to keep my home looking nice. We have not painted and added new lighting like I wish we had but it'll happen eventually.

I am very happy to live here. The weather is gorgeous. There are beaches just 15 minutes from my house and art galleries and restaurants galore. There is a historic downtown with church steeples, and more galleries, restaurants and shops. We are lucky to live where we do.

I have been painting quite a bit. I have even put a few of the pieces in my shop

I have also restarted my Etsy shop for small paper pieces like this one.

"Got the Blues" 22 x 30

I've listed cards for Christmas and other holidays.

I also went to the Traditional Home Southern Style Now Designer Showhouse.

I should add that the house on Hasell street is owned by the designers and shop owners Michael Mitchell and Tyler Hill who also own Mitchell Hill, a shop in Charleston that sells my artwork.

The house was so gorgeous!

I saw a few friends there.

Traci Zeller and CR Laine's Holly Blalock

Traci Zeller designed the carriage house den which was the original kitchen to the very old house. She used furniture from several dealers but the things from CR Laine were exquisite. The showhouse is now over and I hope you were able to see it. If not plan a visit to the next one, they are so delightful.

While I was there someone from Mitchell Hill asked me if I had seen my painting hanging upstairs. I didn't even know my artwork was being used!

You can't see the toilet under it but trust me it's there! Haha! I doubt it stayed behind after the showhouse was over but it was fun to see it there.

My dining room

Hi there all of you. I hope you are still reading my rare posts.

I do have a good one today with lots of photos. It's my dining room. It is the largest room on my first floor and it's the first thing you see when you enter the house.

Here are the before pictures.

You can see that the wall color is tan and there is that ugly border above.

We decided to go dark. We used SW Naval as the color and here it is.

This is in process.

And here is the finished (or not quite finished ) product!

None of my artwork is hanging in this room. We wanted to keep it traditional.

As you might notice there are several things left undone. We need to change the chandelier to the one we had in our old house. The hallway off to the left needs navy paint but that was decided after everything was finished. Last but not least the window treatments need to be hung.

It is a bit of a list of things still to do but I know we will get them done one at a time.