More Slipcovers

I haven't touched a paintbrush in over a week, now, but have kept busy being 'creative' in the house. We've had a blue couch and chair in the diningroom, that we got secondhand from some friends, and last week I decided I would slipcover them, since I'm not a huge fan of that particular shade of blue. I went to WalMart and bought painter's canvas drop cloths, came home, washed and dried them, and set to work. This is what I ended up with:

I love how they look, and now it's on to painting the diningroom! I love doing these slipcovers, and as I've mentioned before, I want to try making some funky slipcovers (multiple fabrics) at some point. The nice thing about using the painter's drop cloths is two-fold: first, the fabric is cheap at 12 square yards for $18, second, it's almost indestructible, given that it's heavy canvas. I'm also experimenting with dying the canvas. In the picture below, I've dyed a swatch of it with a tea bath. It gives it a much warmer color. I'm also thinking of trying actual dyes and using a dull red or even a dark chocolate brown.

Two Great Meals On The Central Coast

Not that many of you will be on the Central Coast in California, but if you are--I've got some dining recommendations for you.

My favorite place to eat is the Sea Shanty in Cayucos. I always order the same thing: the crab melt. (I've taken to calling it a 'crabby patty' a la SpongeBob Squarepants, but I digress). It's an English muffin, sliced, piled high with crab salad, tomato, and cheese, then toasted. Yum. Words cannot possibly do it justice. It is served with big crispy home fries, and I always have a cup of clam chowder, too. Did I say yum? I should have taken a picture, as it looks almost as lovely as it tastes, but alas, I did not have my camera with me. The Sea Shanty is located on the ocean side of the main street in Cayucos, which is just a few minutes north of Morro Bay.

The second meal we had was also totally delicious. We ate at Tognazzini's on the Embarcadero in Morro Bay. They will make your fish and chips grilled, rather than deep-fried, if you so request (maybe lots of places will do this and I'm just clueless, I don't know.) For $9.95 I was served three large pieces of grilled fish and a huge pile of crispy fries. The clam chowder there was delicious, but the star of the afternoon was Jenny's meal: A quesadilla filled with cheese and buttery fish, shrimp, and scallops. Jenny took one bite and said, "Oh, this is the best food I have ever had." And it was amazing, though probably not totally healthy, considering all the butter--but oh my! Not to mention that 50-lb. nine year olds can eat whatever they want, especially on vacation!

So there you are. My dining recommendations!

Did I say yum?

A Little Vacation

I'm a bad blogger, dropping out of sight without any plan in mind--but summer can be busy around here. We went to the beach for a few days while Joel had a baseball tournament, so I'll share some pictures...

The tournament was in Paso Robles. Here's a picture of the field before the first game. I'm not allowed to take pictures of Joel, as he says it 'makes him nervous,' but I managed to get a shot of the field, mainly to send to my sister and dad back in Michigan. Funny thing about this tournament? The first team we played was the high school where Richard is principal, so two teams from Porterville drove all the way to Paso Robles to play each other!
Two days before we left for the beach, Katie got her braces put on. I never had braces, so have no idea how they feel, but I do know that when your teeth hurt you just don't feel good. This picture is of Katie on the way home from the orthodontist:This second one is two days (and very little sleep) later:
The worst part for me (besides having to listen to her cry herself to sleep the night in the hotel room) was watching her not be able to eat when we went out. We had two fantastic meals (review to come, I promise!) and she couldn't chew. Poor thing.

And of course there's Miss Jenny, who boogie boarded and played in the sand and just adores being at the beach and eating seafood. She not only had me cover her up in sand, but then gave herself a belly button!

Joel stayed with one of the other boy's family, who were camping in Morro Bay, so he had an awesome time, besides playing four games in three days ("You just have to love the game, Mom.") Richard and the girls and I stayed in Cayucos, a small beach town up the coast where Richard used to go when he was a kid.

And I had all sorts of good intentions of sketching and taking lots of pictures with the good camera, and of course I didn't do nearly as much as I'd planned...I'll leave you of these three shots of my Jenny at the beach.

Evolution of a Mixed Media Painting

This piece isn't finished--there's another evolution of it drying on the table in the back room right now right now--but I wanted to show you where I've come from on this piece. It's interesting for me to look at, especially knowing that it could still change substantially...

Completely Not Finished

I don't know if I've ever even used purple in a painting before!

One of the things I'm doing differently (no idea if it's affecting the final piece) is I'm actually doing a underpainting in black/white/grey. It does seem to affect the color, when I put it on, in a very subtle way.

Also trying to blend less totally, leave some brushy/smudgy stuff.

Mixed Up Media All Over the Place...

I've actually been painting quite a lot, in little short bursts while I can sneak outside to the studio--well, okay, I'll be honest with you. When I get grumpy (which I'd like to say NEVER happens, but...it does) my kids actually ASK me to go out to the studio...So I'm actually not sneaking, I'm being sent, kinda like when you were little and your mom sent you to your room...

"Mom, that is ENOUGH, now! That's it--You go right to the studio, right now, young lady!"

Or something like that...

The whatever it was that I was struggling with seems to have abated, and I can see some new direction in the pieces I've been working on. This first one was painted entirely with my fingers, and I loved loved loved doing it!

I will post more as I scan them.

All Alone?

Jenny's at a friend's house spending the night, Katie's on her beach trip with her friend, and Joel's in Ventura at a baseball tournament. Which means that Richard and I are home alone...

This has not happened for over sixteen years.