New Shop Artwork

This week I painted in Old Town Sharpsburg for a lovely woman,  Susan, opening up a handmade children's items  boutique called Toodles. It's amazing to see the cute and creative things people come up with. I painted the sign for over the doors interior and the mural in the back near the nursery area. The building is so extremely old and used to be a general store for the little town. It still has the running ladders on each side to access the long-ago-removed shelving for the general store. The walls are old brick and the back door is like that of an old cotton gin. No running water and no restrooms. The only restrooms in town are at the recreation center as all the buildings are antiques.
The shop opens in August due to a filming company utilizing the space for a few episodes of a television program- I don't know which one.  The mural is of Velveteen Rabbit meeting Peter Rabbit as he gathers radishes. Looks like it came right out of a storybook page. I tried to use lime green and raspberry as much as I could to match the future  shop decor colors. A few more accents need to be made but that might have to wait for after filming or maybe just next week!.


And after meeting  with a past client that has become a member of my family, I again get to paint in her beautiful home for her daughter. We will be taking some scrapbooking ideas and bringing them to life on the wall. I think it will be so fun to look at when finished for this teenager client!

And a follow up note on the wonderful paint used for striping ---- well the representative at the paint shop was most gracious in reimbursing me totally - covering the extra time and supplies needed to repair. He didn't even squirm on what I think was a defective paint or paint mixing so that was a plus !  Although I am completely over painting stripes for the rest of my life !

The day after

So.... with the advice of a salesman, I used what we all thought would be the strongest paint to use to stripe lines on some indoor/outdoor carpeting using a spraygun. Unfortunately, all the work ( in no less than 17 hours in 95^ heat ) began chipping off the surface like powder!  Yesterday was spent repainting the entire area by hand w a paintbrush and different paint . So what is the day like after you spend another nine ours bent over painting stripes on the floor by hand?  SORE !!!!

Still plugging away

So yes still plugging away at getting work for painting. I must say that although I enjoy using my airbrush for the effects it can give, I can see that parts of the airbrush service industry I don't think I am a great candidate. I am a bit impatient on waiting for some aspects of airbrushing- I am so used to the paintbrush for the last 30 years and I can get things done more quickly with my brush where I have to change colors , clean and so on and so on with my airbrush. My paintbrush is an extension of my fingers where the airbrush is still a machine in my fingers. I am having to use paints that thin with different mediums and that too can get hairy when changing colors. (Sometimes you gotta use what you have on hand.)

And on a different note, I must say a big stinking thank you to this economy. It after 30 years is killing my customers. I have lots of experience and skill when it comes to painting, but in the scheme of important items in this life, the opportunities to bring art to my customers, is growing thin. I'll never give my art up, but I don't enjoy taking jobs that I wouldn't consider for my expertise or skill. Still gotta pay bills. I just don't want to hate waiting and then rushing through the work just to get to the next paycheck. And lately the Georgia heat is terrible this year making any outside work, miserable, time consuming and unhealthy.

So - patience grasshopper! Adapt and overcome and I am doing just that.

Airbrushing

Well I am hitting the road again this  Saturday and headed to Buford Athletic Fields.Airbrushing helmets is the plan for Saturday. I am hoping I get enough orders to pay for my gas this week. I enjoyed the little spending time with my brother and sister in law which is never enough since I live on the other side of the state from them, but the two days so far has not brought as much interest in my services as the director of the BAA would have liked.  Hopefully Saturday will be different. It will be the last day that I will be painting helmets for a long while. I enjoy interactng with the people and the kids, but I would rather make a little money while doing it also.

Meanwhile, today I go finish up the box truck that I have been working on for HogWild. I will be glad to get out of the hot sweaty sun for a while.  Georgia heat and humidity makes me hair cringe !