Catching up

I think this is not my forte - keeping up with a blog. I also haven't been doing as much art lately, so I don't have as much to post. I am trying to get back into it a little more, and I am even taking an online class to learn a new portraiture style and medium.

This past fall, I looked through my photos from our trip to Glacier National Park. I decided to try to draw a photo of a leaf just after a rain storm. It was a little different than some of the other things I have drawn, and it was a fun exercise in trying new techniques.

This is the work in progress - I sketched out the lines, then worked from top to bottom (partly to not smear the lead as I worked).

This is the final product:

After doing this drawing, I did some work on quilting, but haven't finished any of those, so I haven't posted them yet. (Maybe that will be my next project?)

In December, I was really missing art, and feeling like I never had (or never made) time to do art, so I decided to just pick a project and DO IT. So, I thought through the many projects I wanted to do and decided to finish one that I started a couple of years ago but could never quite get. It is from a photo of my Dad when he was younger. I think it turned out pretty well. It is funny because at first, it wasn't quite him. I modified some things - especially the eyes - and then suddenly - there he was. It is always fascinating to me when that happens. The eyes are probably the most crucial part of the portrait. Mess up the eyes, and it just isn't them.

Here is the portrait:

The latest project I have been working on comes from a class about realistic colored pencil portraits. I don't know how truly realistic I will get them, but it has a lot of really good information and it introduces how to use a relatively new medium for me - colored pencils. I happened to find a great deal on the prismacolor pencils, so it was the perfect thing for the right class to come along and inspire me to use them. I started by just drawing an eye. This photo is one I posted on instagram to show the eye practice, and how many pencils it took to just color that one eye.  It has been fun, and I am now working on a more comprehensive portrait - hopefully I will get around to posting it in here when I finish. It still has several hours to go...

A new portrait

Some time back, on Facebook, my mom's cousin posted a really fun photo of herself, looking kind of rough, sitting in a bar. I just loved the photo - it had such character. So, I messaged her and asked her if I had permission to try drawing it. I started it soon after, and then I put it on hold for a long time, working on other things. Then, recently I decided I wanted to finish it so I got started again. This one has a lot of detail and was a slow process, but it was really fun to watch it unfold over time. Often when I do portraits, I don't do the whole background - or i will just do a color or mix of colors. The original photo actually shows more of the bar, and it does add a little to the picture, but I debated back and forth about whether or not I wanted to finish all the way across the photo. I decided that I wanted to just focus on her, but throw the background in to give it a little context.It was a fun piece.

The Tetons - Schwabacher's Landing

It is kind of tricky painting a scene that has mountains that are very iconic. In doing this painting, I have looked at this so much that I can no longer tell if it looks like the Tetons or not. But, it was fun to do. I had started it and had pretty good momentum going, and then I got busy with life and didn't do any for awhile. Then one day it kicked back in and I finished it. So, here it is:

Update - other art I have been doing

Once our kitchen was remodeled, I decided I had not been doing enough art, so one day I decided it was high time I get back into it. I looked through all of my potential art photos (I keep a file) and one of Olivia from a few years ago jumped out at me. I dropped all responsibility (which was really nice) and I worked on it for a couple of days until it was done. Here is a photo of it in process, and then finished. (The in-process one is kind of at a funny angle that makes it look warped - kind of weird, but that is okay)

Then, time passed again and I didn't do much art again. Why is it so hard for me to get up to doing this? In March, I decided that one thing that keeps me from doing the art is a fear of doing it poorly. So, I decided to take a different approach. The next project was an exercise or a training. I wanted to experiment with textures and shades and some basic skills and not worry about the outcome. I took a photo a few years back of some rocks that I thought were pretty:

I actually had tried to draw this one in color before but I was doing it on a different type of paper and it didn't work out well, so I never finished it. So, I turned this photo into a black and white one. Here are some photos of the process:

I don't always draw this way - but with this project I started on one side of the drawing and worked my way across bit by bit, carefully examining the photo (I had a hard copy and a digital copy I could zoom in on). This was the final project:

And the last thing I completed was in May. I was asked to do a drawing of a boy who had passed away from a sudden accident. The school was honoring him and had a hero theme at school that year. They had a mascot hero guy and I was asked to put this boy's face on the body of the mascot. This was a stretch for me - I hadn't done anything like this before. It was kind of cartoon, kind of realistic. I also didn't know the boy and only had one picture to use for the drawing. But, I think I must have had some help from above because it ended up working out okay. I wish I had gotten a photo of the final framed project - it looked even better in the frame. But, I didn't think of it in time. Bummer. But, this is the final pre-framed picture:

I also did a "Paint Nite" with some friends. It is a step by step instruction. I learned that paint itself is not my forte. My pastel drawings are technically called paintings, but it isn't painting with a brush. I also learned that I don't like to be rushed, and that I like to have my own tools (I kept wishing I had my brushes there that night). But it was fun, and it got me in the mood, once again, to move forward on art. Here is our final product:

Now I am trying to get back into doing art more again. I have a painting I am working on - of the Tetons from our recent trip there. The other art I have been doing is sewing costumes both for Halloween and for Audrey's play (well, I am making a hat for her play, not the dress). That has taken a lot of my creative time lately, but those are mostly done. Hopefully I will be posting the Tetons painting soon...

Update part one - quilts

Okay, I know, it has been a loooong time since I last posted. I have done a little bit of art since then. I just haven't done a lot and I haven't kept up on the blog. I don't think anyone reads this anyway, but I am posting this for my own sake. First of all, I did some art in the form of quilting. I had started this quilt awhile back (a long while back, actually) and decided to finish it and give it as a gift to someone who has a southwest style in their home.

Once I made that one, I decided I wanted to do a little experimenting. I had taken an online class for making photo quilts. I decided to try a small one using a photo of a sunset from a previous trip to Oregon. I drew up a design, and put together this quilt:

It didn't quite turn out as I had hoped, but it was for practice anyway, and it inspired me to try the next project. I had to look at a few photographs and had to sketch up a design based on a few different photos. You make a simple cartoonish sketch that divides the parts based on color and shape according to how you want the quilt to look. This is the sketch:

Then, I picked fabrics and put it together to make this (this is the final product hung in the room of the person I gave it too:

Here is another up close-ish photo:

It was a fun challenge. There are many more quilt projects I want to do - I just have to make the time to do them. I have 3-4 that are ready and waiting for me to start, keep working on, or just finish the rest of the way.

Who I used for our kitchen remodel

I have people ask me who I am using for various aspects of the kitchen remodel. I will put them in a blog post for people who might be interested: 1. General/ Contractor: Tim Madsen. I don't know what to really call him because he is just our "everything guy". He has done several things on our house - remodels, repairs, water damage, plumbing, electrical, etc. You name it, he has probably done it. He does an excellent job. Once he starts the job, he sticks with it until it is done. He pays close attention to detail. We have known him for years and he takes really good care of us. He is a big reason why this job went so fast. 2. Appliances - Mountainland Design. These guys were great. We worked with Kirk and Dave (though everyone there has been very nice) They carry really super high end stuff - like Thermador and Wolf - but they also carry appliances for "normal" people like us - Whirlpool, Kitchenaid, GE, etc. They also said they can often order something if you are looking for a specific model. They only sell products they back. They only work with companies that they feel are reliable who back their products. And, if you end up with a lemon (because they do exist) they will get the problem fixed or give you a new one. They have excellent customer service, had better prices than anyone on the appliances we got (saved us 25% overall above the best prices I could find elsewhere), and were not high-pressure on the sales. FYI - they sold us our appliances at "builder prices" because it was a remodel. I asked if someone could just come buy a single appliance and they said yes, and that if you say I sent you, they could give you a good deal on it. They also have a working showroom where you can try several of the appliances yourself, which was really nice. They have big demos, etc (though I never went to one of those). 3. Cabinets - Chateau Cabinetry - Again - these guys were great. They do custom cabinetry which just means they design it to fit your kitchen and you can basically do anything (within the size you have to work with). Rick is the designer and installer, Kyle is the office manager, I guess. Rick came to our house and came up with the brilliant new design of my kitchen. I felt my brain shift as he gave me new ideas. He had lots of ideas and suggestions that were better than anything I could have come up with. He designed my pantry too. They do bathrooms and entertainment centers, and really any type of cabinetry. They had the cabinets ready on time, installed them well, and when there were any issues, they immediately resolved it (things like a scratch on a door, needing additional shelves, wanting a handle instead of a knob, etc). Their prices were the best of the ones I got bids from, and it includes an allowance for handles, (most didn't) and a lot of things come standard - like full extension drawers. 4. Countertops - Tim Lunt of Lunt Kitchen and Bath - He was recommended by Chateau, and, because they work together a lot, I figured I might as well. Tim was helpful, gave me some good suggestions, explained the difference between the granite and quartz, suggested a sink that I LOVE, and he was on time, thorough, did a great job, and I have no complaints. 5. Appliance Installation - Klint Smith. Mountainland suggested him. It turns out he is the brother of Kirk at Mountainland. When he came out to install our dryer, he was so incredibly nice and so helpful. He could tell I was getting a little upset about the fact that I had just bought a dryer for nothing, and he was just really nice about the whole deal and he even came out the next day, unscheduled, to see if he could help fix the problem. And, he did a great job installing my other appliances too. His company is actually called San Pitch. 6.Flooring - I looked at some local places and I almost bought my flooring from Lumber Liquidators, who offered me a good price. I just wasn't 100% committed to the floor I was looking at there. Then, Tim told me that he was working on a job at the time who used builddirect.com and really liked their floor. So, I went on their site. They send you 5 samples for free. I got the samples and narrowed it down to two, but wanted to see more of that same wood since it had variety in the color and grain. I called them and they sent me 3 more of each kind - for free. I was willing to pay for them. And, the guy in charge of my order, Gary, kept in good contact with me about the status of my order, answered several questions for me, and was very helpful. They held the order for me because I wasn't ready for them to ship it yet (what do you do with 41 boxes of wood if you aren't ready to install it?). The only glitch was that he had put in a tentative order shipment date and went ahead and shipped it before I was ready for it. But, it really was only off by about a week, and it worked out fine because it gave us time to let the wood acclimate before installation. So, it ended up not being a big deal. Plus, Gary apologized over and over for that. He also followed up afterward to make sure we were happy with it and there weren't any problems. A couple of boxes were damaged, and he offered to replace them, or refund that part of our money if we needed him too. But, in the end, only a few boards were damaged, so we didn't bother. Their prices were VERY good, (It was $3-4 less per square foot than similar wood I had seen elsewhere) the order got here in 4 days from the time it was shipped. The quality is excellent, and the floor is beautiful. I had looked at another website (iFloor) and the quality was HORRIBLE. This acacia I bought is really hard wood, and iFloor's sample was lighter than pine and you could scratch the finish with your fingernails. A tip about floor samples - take them and try to beat up on them, drop your keys on them, if you have time, put them in a window with a post it note covering part of it to see if it fades. It helps you know what kind of durability your floor will have. 7. Tile - Dan Bishop - he is someone Tim knows. His company name is something like "Bishop Tile and Stone" Tile was one of the last things I picked, and my heart just wasn't really in it because I was SO tired of making decisions. But, Dan came out and helped me decide what I wanted to do and even offered a suggestion on how to lay it out that I hadn't thought of. They installed it with no problems, and it looks great.

The finished product

I just realized I never posted the final Before and After photos of the kitchen. I posted them on Facebook and then forgot to get on here and post. So, here you go:

I left that last post hanging a little - about our house having a curse on it. In the end, things got all worked out of course. It was a tough week. But, we love our kitchen now. It is a happy, comfortable room, and I am very grateful for the chance we had to do this.

There is a curse on this house

I have to say first of all, things have gone really smoothly with this remodel, for the most part. The dryer was a problem, but that was only sort of connected to the remodel. And then, yesterday, it all decided to freak out on us. We got the countertops installed with no problems. They are beautiful. It turns out they cut the hole a little too big for the cooktop, but he made it work anyway. They pointed out that the drawers under the cooktop needed to be cut smaller, yet again, and that, with the sink installed, our little pull out trays by the sink wouldn't close all the way. So, when the cabinet guy came out with the front to our compactor, we told him about it. He said the trays couldn't be fixed, but he did take the drawers and took care of that. And, he went to put the panel on the compactor and they had been told the wrong size, so it doesn't' fit. So, we have to have the panel remade. The counter install went so smoothly that Tim called the tile guy to have him come and just get the tile done. I was excited - it was going to be done early! Well, the guy never showed because his car broke down. Then, Tim went to install the sink and the plumbing was all wrong. It was too high coming out of the wall, and he didn't know the sink would be so deep (who knew - I never thought to tell him), so he had to tear into the wall behind the sink, the compactor, and then (gasp) cut into the cabinet base in order to access the pipe and lower it 4 1/2 inches so that water would drain from our sink properly. It was a mess. It was not a good situation. He was here until 7:30 trying to get us a sink that would work so we could finally have running water in the kitchen. This is what my kitchen looked like at about 5:30 p.m.:

And then, as Tim was finishing up that project, (he did get us a working sink and dishwasher, by the way), we found out that there was a problem with the lights that had been installed over by the stairs. They had worked fine and then suddenly they weren't working. By the end of the day we had all had it with this job. Today started out much better. Tim came and fixed the light and patched up drywall under the sink. The tile guy came and got the tile installed and it looks great. The appliance guy came and installed our microwave and cooktop. Everything went pretty well. Tim wrapped up some loose ends, the tile guys will come grout the tile in the morning tomorrow, and Tim plans to be back on Monday to finish the last little bit and make sure all is well. After Tim left, one of our new lights started freaking out on me. He came back and checked it out and couldn't find anything wrong, and it stopped flickering, so we will keep an eye on it. But it must have been a warning. I was excited to try my new cooktop, so I planned out a recipe, thawed some chicken, put a skillet on my cooktop, and turned it on. Or, I tried to turn it on. No power. I checked the breaker (I am getting really good at this whole breaker thing) and I turned it off and back on, just to be sure. No power. I checked the instruction manual. No, I am not an idiot and I really was doing it right. Then I called Klint (the installer). He has no idea what happened. He will come tomorrow to figure it out. In the mean time, I had raw chicken and no way to cook the rest of my recipe. So, we had hot dogs and brats. Not what I planned on, but it was all I could come up with quickly before Jeff had to leave for a meeting. So, I think there is a curse on this house. Why can't the cooktop just work? Why does everything in the past week or so seem to be falling apart? I just wanted to cry. I am SO close to being done with this kitchen. I just want it to be done so I can do something besides sit at home all day and wait for various people to show up at my house. I really have been good about not complaining through this process (except for the dryer), but now I am tired, and it is wearing on me. I hope we can finally get this all sorted out and that I can have some peace soon. I love my kitchen and I am grateful for it - don't get me wrong. I can't believe it is really in my house. And, I guess it wouldn't be a remodel if something didn't go wrong.