September 22 - Massachusetts

Good afternoon, intrepid followers, and happy Equinox! It has been a few weeks since I posted, but the past few weeks have been very busy. Apologies in advance for not many pix tonight.

Appointments and car issues took a good chunk out of last week. Appointments and dealing with paperwork & red tape took a considerable chunk out of this week - spent 1 1/2 days on the phone. Previous Post Office did not forward correct paperwork in time, etc. All is under control now.

My best friend from Webster visited me last Sunday. It was so good to finally see her & talk in person!! Unfortunately her husband was home dealing with a recalcitrant hot water heater. I hope to see them more frequently in the future :) She brought me some apples from the tree in her yard.

Apples!

Apples!

She told me they were not good for eating this year, but very good for cooking.

I think I will make 2 small pies :)

I was SO very, very happy to see her and visit for a few hours. Quite reluctant to see her go, but she had a long drive home.

My 'Stang goes into the shop Monday to have all her issues fixed. As she is older with about 123K miles, I was worried about her making another trip to Canada next year. I did not want to have to purchase another vehicle with the high probability of inheriting someone else's mechanical problems.

Pepper and I have been together for about 11 years now. I know her nuances and noises; I know what has been replaced (and not).

She is a '94 ('95 production model) - the last year Ford produced the 302 V8 5.0L Windsor engine. 240HP top end. After that their V8s are 4.6L. Here is a (stock) picture of her when she was new.

Last week she went in for a thorough check-up with a list of things I wanted them to check (yeah me & my lists!). Mostly she needs front end work, as I knew. Struts, stabilzer control linkage (not surprised; I am pretty brutal on front ends for some reason). Rear brakes.

Not unexpected as all are original to the car. Her engine is in excellent shape! Not one single thing wrong, & I asked for a compression test, etc. (In another life I was married to an excellent mechanic and do know my way around cars.) She has another 123K miles left in her!

Yay!! I was soo happy to hear that! Did the happy dance!

In between I have been busily repainting the Dutch girl statue. She was in worse shape than the boy & has required 3 coats of paint. One small portion left to go, then the sealant. I think I can do that next week. Then they can be reunited :)

I actually named these darn statues - that is how much time I have spent refurbishing them. Nick and Ghiselle. And no, I did not even have Tom Brady or his wife in mind when her name came to me. [If you do not know who Tom Brady is you are living under a rock & need to google NFL NE Patriots. New Yorkers get a pass on this; they are as fanatic about their teams as we are!]

The statues are named after very, very close High School friends. So Ghiselle - she reminded me of you; your innocence and defiance. My BFF throughout High School and beyond. Nick - wherever you are, whatever cause you are following now.... I remember everything.

I will leave you with some very rare pix of the kitties today! Normally they all have their own sleeping spots during the day. Phoebe does not get along with Panda. On this one rare day they were all snuggled together.

Three cats!

All the kittles!!

So yeah, it IS home :) This is HOME!

September 8 - Massachusetts

Good evening intrepid followers! It is late and I am going to bed, but wanted to update.

It has been awhile since I posted; I have been busy and much has been accomplished! My studio is finally to the point where I can actually use it. Yay! Yes, some work remains, but it is minor compared to what it looked like a few months ago.

Studio few months ago

I will actually be able to paint and use the room for my intended purpose! I unpacked many boxes in there. Found ALL my computer hardware that connects to the desktop computer in there and got it all hooked up (yes, I did it myself, and yes it all works properly :) ).

Art stuff & rug

My easel is set into place, as well as most of my art supplies. THAT makes me very happy! I even have a new rug put down. The rug set I ordered for the living room came with an extra, smaller, room rug. Fits my studio perfectly.

Easel

My brother has been away the past two weekends for some needed vacation time. I was on "cat duty". Last weekend (Labor Day) I had a few friends over. They helped moving some of the bigger boxes, which was most welcome. We had a little barbecue - hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad. Not fancy, but very welcome that day.

The "Dutch boy" cement statue is complete and in place outside!! THAT makes me happy as well :) I am now working on the "Dutch girl" statue. These things weigh about 60 pounds each. No I am not kidding: they are solid cement and as tall as my knee (a little over 21"). I cannot move them far on my own.

Here are some "before" and "after" pix of the boy statue. A daunting undertaking. But I needed to paint something! So glad I did! He looks much happier now :)

Dutch boy before

Dutch boy after

Dutch boy before

Dutch boy after

 Made the mistake of looking at my other weathered yard statues.... sigh. On my "to do" list to refurbish. I have a raccoon, a dove on top of a nest (2 pieces), and an angel.

My friend took the boy outside and brought the girl inside. I am working on her. Now that the humidity is down the painting is going much faster. Plus with the first one under my belt I know what to expect and will be able to complete it more quickly.

Here are some "before" pix of the girl. Pretty rough shape!

Dutch girl

Dutch girl

When she is done I will resume work on the canvases I started last Winter in Maine. Oils. They are my passion.

There are so many art mediums - charcoal, pastel, colored pencil; tempera, watercolor, acrylic, enamel, oil.

I have tried, own, and do, use them all. They all have their uses but I always return to oils. Some people think oils are difficult to work with - yes and no.

You do need a moderate talent of drawing to begin with. Otherwise it does not work out so well. I think that talent (drawing) is likely a bit innate. My drawing skills fall somewhere in the middle. Prior to doing an oil painting, one must draw at least a rough outline on canvas.

Charcoal pencils

With more precise paintings (ships for example) I make a grid, then draw the picture (perspective).

There is something about painting with oils that stirs me deep inside. Yes, they take forever to dry and chew through brushes shamelessly. The turpentine required to clean (and mix) messes with my hands (no manicures!). As do some of the other solvents and chemicals (fixatives, etc.). It requires a change of clothes in which to paint.

Oil paints are expensive, depending on the color. A 5 oz. tube of Grumbacher Titanium white costs about $15. It is the most common color one uses, and relatively inexpensive comparatively. You mix it with everything. Most come in 1.32 oz. (5 oz.. does not sound large, but in oils it is huge).

5 oz. Titanium white

Some colors cost upwards of $40/$50. For a 1 oz. tube. You need to prioritize the colors you want. Some are very hard to find; some are not made any more. Due to their chemical components.

Oil painting requires blending colors, so you need a good eye for color and know what works together and does not. Cerulean or Thalo blue with Cadmium or Naples yellow?

Brushes start at size 000 and work their way up from there. It is incongruous, but the smaller the brush the more expensive. Russian sable is the best, but also the most pricey.

So between the price of the paints, brushes, the mixing and dry time - yeah, they are the "yes" part of the difficult people have working with oils.

So there is that.

However - for me there is nothing more satisfying than putting oil to canvas. I love the feel of oil under my brush; I love mixing the colors. I love how the paints flow onto canvas and can be manipulated from creamy smooth to a gritty ocean sand. Gentle soft flowers or roaring white ocean. I love the feel, the smell. I breathe it all in; zone out and paint. Sit back satiated & so satisfied.

That is the "no" part of the "oils are hard/difficult". They are not. It simply requires patience.

Painting oils reaches my soul in a way that is complicated to describe. No other type of paint comes close as far as I am concerned.

It is a feeling that stems from deep inside. Maybe you are born with it. I have been painting since I was a very young child. My earliest memories are painting watercolors before I was even in school. Then paint-by-numbers - oils. My Mom signed me up for classes when I was in Elementary School, and every year for Christmas I got paints:) I took classes for years after, well into my adult years.

So yeah, there is that too.

That is how far back my love affair with oils goes. Yes oils are/can be difficult. Heaven knows I have had my issues with them throughout the years. In the end, however, I always return to the canvas :)

Stay tuned, my friends!

August 27 - Massachusetts

There is a "National string cheese day". Who knew? It is September 20 (I learned from today's paper) . I do not care for the stuff. While I firmly believe in Kraft singles (thank you, whoever invented them), my taste in cheese runs to the real thing: brie, swiss, cheddar (milder cheeses). String cheese - why?

Your trivia for the day.

No pix today, just a short-ish post.

I was incorrect last week when I said no one could see my blog followers. As my sister pointed out. I do not normally view my blog from a reader's perspective; typically I log in as the author. Thus I did not know. I tried it, and yes, the names do pop up when you hover over "followers". Although I did change the title on that! Humor me :)

I did a bit of work in the front room / soon to become studio. Caught up with daily tasks. Spent a very enjoyable Friday afternoon with a neighbor sitting on my deck. Weather was perfect. Next week I have to buckle down and make some real headway in there. Smaller of the 2 bedrooms, but perfect for my needs - and has a FULL bath in there as well! Half the boxes are reference books and paperwork which can be discarded now (the paperwork, not the books). The rest is art supplies & computer equipment.

But at least I am down to that! Far cry from my box-filled kitchen & living room of several months ago!

Spoke with my best friend from Webster the other night. She and her husband are going to visit the weekend after Labor Day. I am hoping they will spend the night so we can grill up some steaks or kebabs or something :)

As a last note, I FINALLY finished painting my Dutch boy yard statue. In retrospect, it was painful from my perspective. The Dutch boy & girl statues are solid cement & predate my time. They belonged to my grandmother. For anyone who has not tried to refurbish / restore a yard ornament: it requires special 'outdoor' acrylics. Several coats as cement sucks them up like someone in desperate need of water. Rough edges; hard to paint to my standards. Verrrrry long cure time on the paint.

He is done, just needs 2 coats of sealer. Then I can paint the Dutch girl. Yay. At least I know what I am in for :)

Stay tuned!