Painting and Teaching

I just realized a couple of encaustics slipped by my notice. The square one is 12x12" on a deep box and the long skinny one is 12x24" on the same type of deep box.

My daughter's birthday is on Monday and she said all she wanted for her birthday was for me to come over to her house and paint over her ugly kitchen doors so that's how I spent the day.

Here are the ugly doors before. Notice the completely unacceptable blotches. Had to go.

I brought over a load of paints thinking it would take a lot to cover the door but I was wrong. The entire operation took only 4 hours or so with a big mexican food lunch and then ice cream to break up the fun. The sun came out so Shellie pulled weeds in her yard while her sweet dog Moose (enormous black lab) and savvy white and black cat (Sam) kept me company inside.

Every so often Shellie would come in and snap a photo of the progress and give me helpful advice. Then my other daughter Steffi came over with her friend Susie and they had ideas too, like "add dinosauers" and "where are the peasants". Uh, thanks, guys.

I had to talk Shellie out of a stone arch, a pathway and a water feature; what does she think I am, a PAINTER? Hard enough to fake your way through a mural painted with chip brushes without adding features. (Hey, I just found the color doo-dad on my menu bar.)

While I painted I drank green tea and listened to loud music and had a thoroughly blank mind. Just dibble dibble here and dabble dabble there until the doors were covered with paint. Then step back and scratch my chin.

Here they are at the end of the day. She's going to live with them a couple of days and then see if she wants any changes but she was very pleased and glad to be done with the ugly "befores".

Now a little update and reminder about a great retreat scheduled for October. I'll be coming to Cedarburg, Wisconsin to teach at the Raevn's Nest. This is a first year effort by Kim Rae Nugent to create an artful gathering in the midwest for all of us who love to get away and make art; I have never attended a class where I did not learn something wonderful or meet great people or have my spirit renewed by the experience. Check out the site and see if it fits into your fall schedule; I've never been to Wisconsin before and I'm so excited to teach there.

You have some wonderful teachers to choose from and many interesting classes in a historical setting at a gorgeous time of year.

The gathering promises to be intimate and fun; I've heard several people say that the midwest could use a great retreat so now is your chance. I hope to meet some of you there.