The little things

Laugh with me a little...

This is what I got done the other day.

High on my to do list these days is packing up non-essentials ahead of the real move and decluttering, staging and photographing each room.

I thought I might pack up some barware but then I had the idea to photograph my living room because it did not look too bad.

See that flat shelf and column on the right? Well, it has never been styled right and neither has it's twin on the other side of the room. It was loaded with antique books so I started packing them up in a too small box. Then I got a larger box and tried again but halfway through the marks on the painted white shelf bothered me. Off I went to grab cleaning products to remove the scuffs. It didn't work so I went to find a can of paint. I painted the shelf but the matching shelf had clutter. I left it there.

I started pulling things of of all tables and shelves and piling the on my dining room table to be packed. Then I thought it looked a little dusty...

Can you see where I am going with this?

I got the living room photographed and two boxes of books packed and a bit of dusting done and it took me hours!

I am so overwhelmed with work and travel and moving that I could barely complete a single task.

Sorta pathetic but this move is happening!

P.S. If you are going to go to High point market be sure to stop by CR Laine showrooms and say Hello! The party is Saturday 5:30 - 7:30 and is co-sponsored by Duralee.

Paintings, floors and chaos

I gave you a sneak peek at this a week or so ago. It is a 70 x 50 inch canvas that I did for the CR Laine showrooms during High Point Market 2016. I actually did quite a few special pieces for them.

I was given fabrics to coordinate with and free reign when it came to my ideas. It was a joy and also challenging but the two go hand-in-hand to me.

You can see a selection of my work for CR Laine on this page of my website or better yet, come to market!

Whilst this was going on my studio, that is still in my home, major tile work has been underway.

My dear husband did tile work right out of college with his brother in-law. They were meticulous. Lucky me.

Our house had 100% builder grade and ugly finishes. Last year I got new quartz counters in my kitchen and my tile guy installed the backsplash.

The floor was was much debated and the quicker solution than hardwood throughout was chosen to facilitate the move to Charleston.

Take a gander of the floors I lived with for 5 years.

It was always ugly but recently began to delaminate.

Our goal is to upgrade at a reasonable cost. Many of my choices would have been different were we staying but I was not willing to compromise on style and harmony. We are going for ROI not cookie cutter suburbia, yet cost was a consideration.

Welcome lovely new tile!

This warm gray tile paired well with the counters and the warm, mahogany colored cabinets. It also works beautifully with the Sherwin-Williams Repose Gray on the walls.

At less than $2 per square foot, it is a deal my husband, spent 9 days on the floor at a cost of about $700 in materials.

We love it!

It was not pretty process. Our fridge had to live in the foyer, and my large paintings were leaned wherever I could find a spot. The pantry was emptied onto the dining room floor and our kitchen table was in front of the TV. Oh and my kids in college came home for Spring break. In case the level of chaos is not apparent...

As I write this, my dear husband has finished a 13 hour day of tile work in our master bath (a blog post all its own just for the sheer crazy factor) Today was day 8 on said bath and tomorrow appears to be another 12-13 hours of backbreaking work for him.

Master bath goodness coming soon!

What I learned about color while painting commissions

One of the best things about being an artist is the places it has taken me, both literally and metaphorically. I am partnering with furniture manufacturer CR Laine again for 2016 High Point Market. This time I was given sizes and color palettes to create pieces specifically for their vast and inspiring showroom.

I love this new colorway in Bruschwig and Fils' Le Lac fabric

This kind of project is what I live for. I love the process of color matching and the wide open freedom to create whatever I think will work in a space given a set palette.

While I can't show you any of the completed pieces yet I want to show you the process and how it changed how I get to a finished work.

Detail of larger work

The fabrics above were the collection I was given for a 70 x 50 inch canvas and the color palette scared me. There are viridian and turquoise and Pthalo blues that I normally avoid in my work. I decided to use the yellow ochre as a starting point. I really used a bright yellow spray paint and some ochre for my first layer. Next I layered sheer and opaque whites. Grayish, beige-ish, yellowish, and bright whites but those bold colors still needed to find a way on to the canvas. In the photo above you can see areas of viridian that were part of my next step that absolutely terrified me.

Detail of larger work

I spoke to an artist friend and she said the thing that she has often said, "Give your self permission to paint something ugly." I knew she was right. I only had two layers on so I began roughly adding all of the scary bright colors with no clear idea how I would turn it into something that someone would want to look at or hopefully, buy.

I began adding in the black and brown found in the fabrics and had a little epiphany. You see I was also painting a 36 x 48 canvas for the same space and I started with a painting that was in progress that had a few of the right colors but also had a peachy coral and a hint of lavender. Why do I have to stick firmly to these colors, I thought ? Maybe add another green or a variety of grays along with the prescribed colors. I did and also continued layering on the grays and beiges while finishing with more ochre and the bold blues in the fabrics.

Wet ochre color in this detail of a larger piece

Well, I can tell you that the most challenging painting is my favorite of the bunch and it taught me something about how I use color. The discovery in each painting is a big reason for my doing it at all and this did not disappoint. I heard an apt quote recently. 

"You will never know everything about something you love"

Stay tuned in April and I will be showing you what I take to market. If happen to go to High Point Market this Spring please stop by the CR Laine showroom and say Hi. I will be there on Saturday and Sunday.

High Point Highlights

I spent two days in High Point NC last weekend for the bi-annual market. I was so fortunate to partner with CR Laine, a high-end furniture manufacturer, whose huge showroom was host to some of my artwork. CR Laine has a line of upholstered furniture designed by Tobi Fairley as well as other offerings and partners with Woodbridge furniture, Fromental and Currey and Co. lighting to name a few.

I spent several hours in the CR Laine space on Saturday and then attempted to navigate the the shuttle and Market Square showroom across town. I met with artist Alexis Walter and Linda Donohue as well as the girls behind the brand the Blush Label. It all took far longer than I estimated so it was a scramble to get back across town to the book signing for Jullianne Ellerbe Taylor's book DesignHer at the Wesley Hall showroom.

Vignette at the Wesley Hall showroom

Selfie with me and Julianne Taylor

It was great fun having some of the people in the book there to chat with and sign my copy.

Me and Lance Jackson

Lance Jackson and David Ecton of Parker Kennedy Living wrote the foreword.

I chatted with Dana Gibson (no photo) and Kelli Ellis, both featured.

Kelli Ellis and me

I had a "moment" with Meg Braff and Amal Kapen.

Amal Kapen, me, Meg Braff

It was so much fun! 

With Leslie Moore

Me, Traci Zeller, Lisa Mende

Sunday afternoon CR Laine hosted there party and it was non-stop chatting with old friends and new contacts in the design industry.

One thing I learned is that the lighting in showrooms is meant to flatter the products not especially people. There were many photos that did not make the selfie cut and some that should not have.

It was a very long, lovely day that ended with me driving home and arriving after midnight.

Monday morning was a slow start and I decided to get a better look at the DesignHer book.

Imagine my delight upon seeing my artwork in the feature about the founder of Cotton and Quill, Mary Catherine Folmar whose fabric and trim was used by Lisa Mende in her Shophouse kitchen and breakfast room last April.

Name dropping

Name dropping and a few dreadful pictures of me that we will have to endure.

Raina is wearing heels, I am not

Last week I met up with Raina Cox, the voice behind the blog If the Lamp Shade Fits. We met for for lunch in Old Town Alexandria and I let my daughter play hooky in order to spare Raina's daughter from our bloggy chat. It was so much fun!

I think our girls were best friends in a past life and stand a good chance of being besties if Raina would just move next door.

We enjoyed our day and saw a few really strange things.

Part of our post lunch conversation:

Raina: A shopping cart just drove by.

Me: What?!?

Raina: A shopping cart full of people just drove by. Is that some local thing?

Me: No?

After lunch said ginormous shopping cart had been pulled over and tons of people were snapping photos. Hours later we found it by us in the parking lot.

Fun but weird.

On Friday I hopped in the car and headed for High Point NC.

The opening gala for the Junior League High Point Designer Showhouse was in the evening and I had done a painting for Lisa Mende's kitchen/breakfast room and tons of people I know were going. Sorry for so many craptastic iPhone photos.

Her space was a showstopper. I want the kitchen in my house!

Kim Macumber and David Ecton (of Parker Kennedy Living) posed in the carriage house bedroom that David and Lance Jackson designed.

 Here is where I make excuses. Friday was the worst pollen day and I sneezed more than I have in years. Let me tell you, sneezing at 70 miles an hour is terrifying so I took every allergy med known to man to try and make it stop. Therein lies the reason I look puffy and demented.

Kim Macumber, Kerry Steele, David Ecton, Linda Holt

It was great fun chatting with Nancy Powell and Bethany Brower, two old friends. I met Kim Macumber in person for the first time and her pal Linda Holt.

I chatted with Meredith Heron and giggled with Traci Zeller.

It was fabulous.

I really wish I had taken more pictures. The house was really incredible.