I love red transfer ware. I am not pattern specific. Although my maternal grandma's pink Willow serving platter by Royal China began my collection when I was in middle school. And as such it is my favorite piece.
I finally finished the painting in the dining room. The red just pops off of the blue. My DH presented me with four of these plates. Now if he would just finish the set.....

These are my new project to add to all the other projects I am working on. The woman I received them from gave up in the middle of priming. Lucky me. I have just the place and color for them.

Now on to the Boy and His Dog painting......

I have blocked out the images and refined proportions in acrylic and begun my first layers of oil. I had to stop at this point to let the canvas dry. Things were starting to get muddier than I had anticipated. Once I finish the lake I will let that dry and dive into the figures.

With the rain from Fay hitting today, I feel like fall is upon us even though it is August. I love autumn. The beautiful leaves falling. Pumpkins in pies, on porches and frothy Starbucks drinks. The wind blowing in the change. New jeans and old comfy ones. Smells of cinnamon and clove. Funny scarecrows all haphazard. I think I will have to add one to my porch. Maybe in a rocking chair......

I found some 1" X 2"s left in the rafters of our garage from the previous owners and decided it was time to tackle the painting that had been sitting on my mind for the last two years.

You would think building a canvas would be a simple task. Things are never simple for me. I knew from the onset that the blade to my saw (handsaw mind you) was dull. But this did not deter me as I had set my mind to making this canvas on this night and damn anything that stood in my way. So I sawed away with more patience than this mother of three should have a 8 pm. Nearing the end of the hour of sawing I realized that I had made a mistake, I had reversed the 45 degree angles on one stretcher. So that meant cutting the parallel sides again to make them matching. Add 15 minutes. I then proceed to assemble the pieces. Power tools and L-brackets are wonderful inventions. After screwing everything together, I realized the screws were a fraction of an inch too long for the width of the wood. Off I go to find the rasp that I am quite certain is in one of the four toolboxes in the garage. Feeling satisfied with my completion of the frame after sanding for around twenty minutes, I go in search of my canvas. I searched every nook and cranny of my house to the point of awakening my 1 year old while digging through his closet. But alas, no canvas.

Fast forward to the following day. After laying awake all night fretting over exactly where in this small house I misplaced several yards of cotton duck, I decided I would find that canvas or it would be the end of me. After an hours search I came up with the fabric and set off to begin stretching. It should be noted that getting a taunt canvas is an ordeal in itself but with the help of 3 toddlers it is quite the adventure in patience. After removing my 1 year old for the umpteenth time, I was proud to set back and look at my masterpiece. Being lunchtime and the natives being restless I did not have the chance to make an appropriate inspection.

With nap time looming on the horizon I could barely contain myself at the idea of priming this monstrosity. It is 48"X30". My eldest and I set off to the garage while the other two took to their siestas. After laboriously applying two coats of gesso I stood back to view my work.......

That was when I noticed the perfect hour glass shape to my previous 24 hour labor of love. In my excitement I had forgotten to put a supporting bar in the center to prevent sagging. I was downtrodden and infuriated at the same time. I painstakingly pulled out every staple along one of the stretchers. Thank God I had decided to wait until after I finished the painting to trim the canvas extras. I fortunately had enough wood left over to make a support and knocked it into place. There was just enough canvas left for me to pull it taunt with pliers to staple back into place. I then proceeded to regesso the new area. If I was not a patient woman this project would have long been left behind.

Never object to an artist when they say their creation was a labor of love.

More to come on the saga of the boy and his dog painting.......

"We revel in the changes in our marriage. No, I don't feel the same as when I married him — I love him more and I love him differently. The spark we had for each other in the beginning is now a comfortable, predictable, gentle glow. Things aren't what they used to be and I'm glad because we're better than we used to be, having weathered life shoulder-to-shoulder for 22 years."— Cathy, British Columbia, Canada

I came across this quote today and it intrigued me. I had never quite thought to put my feelings in words, but she hit the nail on the head for me.

Holiness does not consist in never having erred or sinned. Holiness increases the capacity for conversion, for repentance, for willingness to start again and, especially, for reconciliation and forgiveness.--Pope Benedict XVI discussing the disagreement between Paul and Barnabas in his book, The Apostles

As I stripped wallpaper today (did I mention I hate stripping wallpaper) I meandered over the last week in my mind. Realization was the word that kept coming to the forefront.

I think I have finally figured out what my job is as wife and mother. And I think I have found a way to balance it all with my own self needs and wants.

I have recognized that my husband leans on me more than I acknowledged.

I have decided I need to lower my voice with my children instead of raise it.

I have set a goal for the end of the next week, for the month and for the summer.

I have decided that a clean house is a good house. And I am going to make every attempt to keep it that way.

Maybe I do like stripping wallpaper. . . . it turns out to be pretty cathartic.