Even though I've been away from this post for a very long time, it does not mean I've been away from art. Creativity, for me, is much more than sitting down with my paint brushes and canvas... I have created many things in the past 8 months including a complete remodel of 2 very 1970s bathrooms, designing the tile pattern for the master shower and then my husband and I tiled it ourselves... I've also sewn some adorable curtains with huge flowers and ribbon on them, and I've painted an old window as garden art for a friend. I also took time to celebrate my 15 year anniversary with my husband, develop many beautiful beds of flowers in my yard, take a much-needed vacation to Venice, Florida (think convertible, top down, sun, beach and porpoise) and I've begun preparing for a class I'm going to teach in a few weeks - painting vinyl floorcloths. My husband and I are also in the process of finishing out the last room of our house. We've made it into a 5th bedroom, but it's really going to be my art studio. I will actually have finished walls, plenty of light and a great place to sit and ponder...

The photo included is the painting on an old window I created for a friend...

The winter is killing me. Last week we were teased with a 40 degree day and puddles everywhere only to awake, this morning, to a howling wind, 5 degrees and a coming snow storm. I just about can't take it anymore.

I have many art projects just waiting for me to get in the mood. But the mood is waiting on the weather. And the weather seems to be in God's hands so I will be patient.

I must find a way to lift my spirits and pull myself out of this cold, skin-cracking winter.

I did manage to finish one more vinyl floor cloth. It is a pear. My next several projects include a dog mat in the shape of a bone, a lime, a turtle and a small manikin to donate to a non-profit trying to raise awareness of children who needs foster parents. Lord help me find my creative soul...

Bird floor cloth

Today, I finished making a vinyl floor cloth in the shape of a fat little bird. I'm passionate about interior design involving everything from construction to finishing touches so I'm constantly looking through catalogs from Pottery Barn, West Elm, Anthropologie and others. I'm often inspired by rug colors and patterns, bedding and found objects. My little bird was inspired by a felt shape I found on a tree skirt from a Pottery Barn catalog. And the project of making a vinyl floor cloth (made from scraps of vinyl flooring) was inspired by a trip to Seattle where my friend Kristin and I discovered a very cool pear-shaped mat on the floor of an antiques/home furnishings store. It was a hand-painted mat by a local artist. Then I remembered that my friend Judy Greenwood had also owned a vinyl floorcloth when she lived in Minot. I looked up the process and Kristin and I decided to make several. The bird is done now, and she and I are working on a pear. Kristin provides the vinyl and the base coat and I provide the painting. Once the creative process was done, I finished the mat with 3 coats of gloss medium and then a final coat of wax. The wax is a paste wax that is rubbed on and once dry, buffed to a shine. I'm not sure where I'll place my fat little bird mat, but due to the materials it's made from, it should be weather-proof and foot-traffice-proof.