Painting again, coffee mugs galore

I have finally finished the coffee mug portion of my mural.

I feel like I've really accomplished something. Another step in the process is complete. I'm happy with it.

It still is far from done.

I need to walk around it and look at it and 'see' where it wants to go next.

This cranberry colored cup is my favorite.

I really love how there's a touch of blue in it. It's definitely my favorite. It's funny because I was so frustrated with this one. I just couldn't get it to work. It was too dark and I couldn't get it to show up right.

I added white and used black to shade. Lightening it up really helped to see it against the green. I added the blue just for texture and interest.

I did this grey one the same time, but I wasn't happy with it. So, I had to fix it up last night. There's a little pink in there to break up the grey, not sure if you can see it. I'm happy with how the lighting came out. It's easier to see in person.

Then, I did this blue one right at the top. It's bright and fun. I like the deep cuff of the mug.

Lastly, this little pink one. The pink was so light and bright that I had to add a darker color to give it depth and shading. Grey just took out the pink, so I used dark purple. Then pushed it back with more bright pink and accented it with some white to brighten it up.

I think it's cute!

I cleaned up my owl a bit.

Here's my mess. Lots of colors and mixing.

You know, when  I started this project, I wasn't even sure I could do it. If you remember, I had a muralist come by the house to bid it. I was totally going to pay someone to do this. I was afraid. I hadn't ever really painted before.

This isn't about how amazing I am, or how I became an overnight painter. Cause I'm not.

It's about the fact that you can change your life. You can decide, I want to learn to paint, or write and do it. I don't care if you're 20 or 50 or 73. You can start a new chapter of your life every day.

If you're 74, apparently, it's too late....

Sometimes I think about what my life's going to be like in 5 years and I haven't a clue. I quit trying to make a hard plan years ago. Plans change, you change. And you know what?  That's the best part. I love not knowing. I love the fact that I can change and grow and learn forever after. I'm not scared to change, not anymore.

Does that make me sound flighty? Weird? Maybe.

But I really like the feel of it. 

Painting Coffee Cups

I started the coffee cup portion to my ever expanding wall mural.

Finally, I know. It's taken me forever to continue the work on it.

I blame the economy......and Spiro Agnew.

I don't know what I'm saying.

The real problem was that I had decided what to do with the coffee cups, but I think I realized that it was the wrong plan. Somewhere in my mind, I didn't want to start because I knew it wasn't right.

So, I kept rolling the idea around in my head until I finally got the right picture.

Owls and Tiling

I've added an owl to my mural. I have this thing for owls. They're so retro and cute. Not like, actual owls. But the cute little ones in funky colors, with too big eyes or stitched with funky fabrics. Awesome.

I started with a chalk outline. Remember, the tree is whimsical. It's not supposed to be a realistic owl. I finger painted a dot onto the body to check the color.
I think he's fun!

Painting Leaves

First of all, I want to apologize for the quality of these photos. They are dark. It's already dark when I get home from work and it's hard to get a good photo of a dark wall. The wall doesn't show up this dark when you're there, but with lighting and all.... Difficult.

I have been working on the shading of the leaves on my mural. They needed to be fleshed out and shaded to give them depth.

It's hard to know when to stop working on them. When to say, this leaf? She is done!

Leaves, Cupcakes and Face Painting

No, I'm not posting more fall leaf pictures.

I'm talking about my mural. I did some more touch ups to the tree, and started my leaves!

Halloween Plans and Mural Updates

It's been edging closer and closer to Winter. The winds blow all the beautiful, vibrant colored leaves off the trees, leaving behind the bare branches. I was happily surprised this morning to see the sun shining, lighting up all the green and it felt like we had yet a few weeks of Fall left, even though the temp was 40.

However, the girl's soccer game last night was cancelled due to the cold, the wind and the rain. It definitely felt like Winter was treading too close last night.

We are making last minute Halloween plans. This weekend, we're going to try to make it to a Haunted House. The girl is a little too nervous to go this year. She did go last year, and did fine, until the pitch black hallways, then she walked into a wall and her bravado was gone. We will go with the older kids Sunday.

I'll take her to another local Halloween festival, prob Sat night. They have a train ride that's geared towards the younger kids.

The next weekend our gym is have a Spooktacular and I'll probably take the girl to that as well. Just for one more festivity before Halloween. They're only young once and I don't want to lose any of it.

Besides, more chance to use that costume of hers. :)

I think the fireman and I are going to a Halloween party. Not sure what we'll dress up as, but if we're going to do it, we have to figure it out soon. But the other fireman that are throwing the party get really elaborate with costumes and we haven't a clue where to start.

The fireman suggested: Sonny & Cher. We have a 1 1/2 inch height difference and if I wear some high heels or platforms and get a wig, we'll be set. We'll see. If we do, I'll def post pictures. He thought he'd stop by Goodwill to see about a retro suit. He'd need a wig, too.

If we go, it'll be my first real Halloween party. I'm kinda psyched,

On other news, I've been working on the mural.

Again, I forgot my cord for the camera, so this is a phone shot. Difficult to see, but mostly done.

I hadn't yet wiped off the chalk marks, it looks better without it. I have to say that I really love how the Delta Ceramcoat is matte to the satin of the wall paint. Makes the branches stand out.

This was the second night of painting.

Again, the white on hte left is from the chalk. The white onthe right is highlighting that I painted on. Just a few spots to draw the attention. I really love how the black shadows on the left side came out.

I could really keep tweaking this continuously, but I'm going to move on.

The roots. If you remember how they were before, which I was happy with, they have much more depth now than before.

Before shot.

My next step is to chalk in the roots along the wall. I am going to have some exposed roots leading away from the tree. Just so that the bottom of the wall won't be entirely bare.

I plan to try to do that tonight, and maybe start on them, if it's not too busy. We do have parent/teacher meetings tonight. So, you never know...

Paint Class and My Mural

So, this last weekend, I had my Social Artworking class. This class takes their simple to use canvas painting instruction packets and allows the student to learn the methods with a teacher present. My class was at JoAnn's Fabrics.

If you haven't heard of JoAnn's classes, please look into it. They have sewing classes, polymer bead-making classes and even teen-sewing classes. Awesome!

The Wall

You will not believe how difficult it was to download this picture. I posted earlier about how I decided to paint my own wall mural. I picked out different ideas online and put them together in my own way. I drew it out and have a file full of other details and inspiration to look at while I'm painting.

But this is the base.

I scanned in my drawing and it wouldn't open on blogger. I don't know why. So I did what any other self respecting blogger would do.

I took a picture of it.