Griffins Antiques and Main Street Market

I may have mentioned that I've decided to join lots of friends in a new adventure. There's an old antique store in Bunkie and a young family has purchased the building to turn into an artists/crafts market. I bought the smallest size available and will attempt to sell some of my work. I'm committed to four months of rent, so that means through Christmas. Hopefully, sales will pay the rent. 

So what will I be selling? Well, I've decided to put out the cotton and magnolia paintings, perhaps a few of the stitched art pieces and some scriptural quotes. The newest pieces are the quotes. (I've been calling them simply "the quotes.") They started out as a fun, fast way to get some painting in. Quite by accident, actually. I went out to meet Rich in the shed, saw some scrap pieces of wood and picked them out. 

A little sanding and a good cleaning, and they made for fast canvas. At the time I had no idea what to do with them, but hey, that's how I roll. After painting sunsets/sunrises on them, I decided to add quotes. (Thus far no costs since everything was left over from other projects. Huge selling point, BTW.) When I ran out of pieces of scrap, I mentioned it and ask my guy to put some pieces aside as they  arrived. I meant arrived naturally, as discards from his projects.

He bought me a sheet of plywood. The good plywood (as opposed to MDF or cheap plywood.) Hmm, that's eating into my no cost budget!

So for a while now, I've been having great fun painting, searching for quotes, and relearning the Silhouette machine. Those are the quote pieces that I mentioned. I'll take pictures of the booth when it's all set up. I probably have about ten quotes and a couple of door hangers/welcome signs. I've also picked out about 10 or so lap/baby quilts that I will drape over a quilt rack. I really hope those sell, but who knows what people are looking for? Wish me luck!

Pin It Weekly # 330

The weather has been quite blue/blah and gray/icky since the hurricane. We absolutely can't trust the sky. However, the temperatures make up for that. We absolutely CAN trust the temps. 

So I've been feeling a little gray and blah. I did load a quilt top on the long-arm and I've gotten in the groove. I had forgotten I had this top. It was in the bin waiting a turn. Apparently, there's no rhyme or reason to taking turns in my world. This is neither the oldest or the newest in the bin. So... 

But enough of my gray/blah life. How about looking at a few more of these abstract pieces that I pinned while looking for inspiration to use up some scraps. How do they multiply so quickly? 

There we go! I feel better already! You can find many more pieces on my "abstract-art paint oil pastel prints" board.

A gallery wall process

Our 42nd anniversary was last Wednesday. Richard and I decided to work on a gallery wall for our living area. Who wants to work as a way of celebrating? Me.  When Rich says "what do you want to do?" if I answer with a project, I get the project--completed. How's that for a romantic date?   

 It took us from Wednesday to Sunday. There are a few reasons for that. We work slowly, for one. We had several (good) interruptions. I wanted to make use of the frames that we already had, but I wanted black frames. Plus, I didn't have mats or a clock, both of which I picked up at Hobby Lobby on Friday. 

Nevertheless, we have completed it, and I L-O-V-E, love it! I thought I'd share with you our steps in case you ever want to make your own gallery.

1. Remove photos and glass from frames. Ours had been sitting in boxes for a couple of years. So I  cleaned the frames and washed the glass using glass cleaner.

 

2. Once everything was dry, Richard hung the frames outside to spray paint them. Despite the 99 degree heat. 

 

3. I had the chore of putting the frames and photos back together: frame, glass, mat, photo, back. I spent a great deal of time choosing pictures. 42 years of photos means there are too many for this one wall.

4. Use the frames to make paper templates to hang on the wall. Mats have two sizes on them, the picture size and the frame size. Frames, on the other hand, have only the picture size. However, the frame itself adds to this size. So an 8 X 10 frame means it can hold and 8 X 10 size picture. If the frame is two inches wide, the paper template will measure 10 X 12 because it is the outside measurement of the frame. (That's why you put the frame on the paper and cut around it to make your template)

 

 

5. If necessary, put hangers on the backs of each frame.

 

6. Paper the wall. Choose the places for each photo using the paper templates and painter's tape, which doesn't leave a residue.

 

 

7.  Measure and put up wall hooks. Again, I went the cheap route and used metal hooks from years ago. Rich didn't want extra holes in the wall and he knows my math level. That translates to he took over the job. And did fantastic work.

 

Suggestions: 

Write something on the paper templates so you can easily match picture to template. It's amazing how confusing it all becomes. 

Use your template notes to add the corresponding picture as you put up each hook. 

To add interest to your gallery, mix in other items. We added a large clock and a couple of souvenirs. To tie everything together, our frames are all black and the mats are white or b/w.

I made a few changes along the way and am still considering whether I want to add yet two more small photos. I think of this gallery wall as a living project. We can change portraits or items at will. So long as we stay within the sizes and colors that are now set. Do you have any suggestions for adding interest to a gallery wall? 

Pin It Weekly #298 Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans, LA

Welcome from the Open Studios at the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans! Well, I actually went yesterday with BRMQG sisters from Baton Rouge. There were six of us, Lori, Crissy, Alice, Marquita, Smittie and myself. 

The main house serves as offices for the Foundation

Ah! What a lovely, beautiful, wonderful place. I want to go and stay a while. Seriously, please recommend me. Okay, okay, back to reality. First to BR to meet everyone, then to NO directly to the Joan Mitchell Center where we met with those artists-in-residence who were holding open studios. 

The kitchen and dining and patio area of the main house

I spoke with each of the artists, though I did not have time for pictures in every studio. I did, however, chance delaying the team with a longer pause when visiting the fiber artists.

Studios!

Studios are all in one building and are large, with high walls and lots of natural light. Artists bring their own supplies and I was impressed with how little each one had. I suppose that hauling your own studio on a flight might be difficult.

Residences

The campus is inviting and invigorating. It's no small wonder that artists are inspired here. A reason for such a setup I had not considered before is that the residents are inspired by each other. 

Residences

After the open studios, we trekked off to the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA).  

Ouch! and the Arts Festival

A front porch with the funniest table and chairs.

Did I tell you about the foot accident? Ah yes, I did here.  In a nutshell: Milly accidentally pushed a hitch out of the truck. Onto my foot. Right on the bone that goes to the big toe. A metatarsal, I'm told. I find out, for sure, whether it's broken on Wednesday.

Today  I'll see a doctor to find out why this shoulder hurts so much. The last time I saw him, he gave me a shot right in the joint. Ouch! It has not helped. I'd take another shot though, if there's a chance it will help. The shot is painful (oh so) but that pain ends in a few seconds. This pain is constant. How's that for attitude?

My weekend was great, though and I'll focus on that instead. I went to the Contemporary Fiber Artists of Louisiana (CFAL) meeting on Sunday. No pictures...I felt that as a guest that would be overstepping. 

Then my little group went to lunch, followed by the Covington Arts Festival downtown. That was great fun. First a delicious Fat Spoon Restaurant salad. Then all manner of inspiration and visual delights at the festival. These pictures are from the festival.

We were a little pressed for time, so we strolled down maybe four or five blocks, each one lined on both sides of the street with vendors, and at sidewalk level were the permanent boutique shops and stores. There were also a few live musicians scattered about and occasional live DIY displays. 

The day could not have been more beautiful: bright sunshine and cool weather. Perfect. 

These are just a few of my favorites. Some artists requested that photos not be taken, others had "No Photography" signs, and some encouraged photos. Where there were no signs, I asked. Now I wish I'd also asked for business cards.

All in all, it was well worth the trip. I'll add it to our calendar to return next year. 

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: Art Nouveau

After taking a look at Art Deco last week, I became curious about Art Nouveau. "What's the difference?" kept entering my mind. So I did a little research. 

Flower border

Turns out I'm addressing them backwards: Art Nouveau (new art) is the earlier style and is more naturalistic. That should have been last week's inspiration.

Art Nouveau architecture

My mnemonic: First, art is "nouveau," (pronounced new-voe) and natural; it includes shapes from nature such as leaves, arcs, ferns. 

Note the arcs, parabolas,
and flower stamens

Then, it decorates and styles a space, including sleek, geometric lines, chrome, zigzags. This is a broadly defining way of remembering the differences, but I need something.

As you look at the modern quilts below, note the arcs, parabolas, flowers, and stylized, contrasting lines.

Do you agree that these have some elements of Art Nouveau? Do you find that they also have elements of Art Deco as well? It gets a little confusing, doesn't it?