Paint Splatter & Mind Over Matter

Do you know those television programs where designers paint walls while dressed in fancy, pristine clothes? Well, that's not me.  I have spent the past three days painting my eldest daughter Emma's room and have been pretty much covered in paint from head to toe. Witness my paint-splattered Toms' shoes.  (I used a pair of old ones with holes in the toes. Do I have particularly pointy toes or does that happen to everyone? :)

Emma's room was previously a deep aqua colour which suited her perfectly six years ago. Now at sixteen, she has her own grownup taste. She chose a pale, elegant green.  It's called 'lime sorbet' on the paint chip but Emma says that it makes her feel like she's inside of a cucumber (a good thing, by the way).  The room is completely painted as of the end of yesterday afternoon but is not yet 'photo ready'.  I will let you have a peek in a few weeks once she has everything the way she wants.

A quick painting of cucumber slices to celebrate finishing Emma's room!

I wanted to share a story and have asked Emma's permission to tell you.  As I was about to paint the frame of her doorway, I noticed that she had been using it as a height chart. I asked, 'Are you okay with me covering this up?' As I spoke, I looked up and several inches above the last pencil mark and well above the top of my head was a line with the word 'Goal'.  I grinned and asked, 'What's this?'  She said, 'Yeah, that was my goal but I don't think I'm going to make it. I think Chloé is going to be taller than me.' That's my quirky, lovable Emma. Setting a height goal. Mind over matter. And why not?

Isn't She Lovely?

Before Christmas my sister Nancy, who usually spends her time making beautiful jewellery, made the sweetest mouse for my Mom as part of our family's rainbow project. Isn't she adorable? (My sister too.) Mouse is knitting a rainbow scarf. Nancy talks about it on her blog here. I can only look wistfully at something like this as I didn't inherit the knitting gene in our family.

It is an odd day when I am not wearing something that Nancy made.  I wore these gorgeous jonquil vintage glass earrings through much of the holidays.

This is another pair I wear very often.  They are quite small and delicate and go with so many of my clothes, plus, as I've mentioned here before, I have a thing for hearts.

When I was visiting her over the holidays, she made me a pair of these ones as a gift (lucky me!) and I've worn them all this past week!

I own a lot of earrings and necklaces made by Nancy. I actually try not to look at her Etsy store too, too often or I would buy something each time!  I like making things out of wood and one of the projects I have had in my head for a long time is to make a big storage tray for my earrings that can fit in my dresser drawer. Maybe this year I will finally do it. :)

Arabesque Painting in Progress

I am painting large swatches of colour these days. You know those things called walls?  Meanwhile I have visions of my own paintings swirling in my head.

This morning I woke up far too early for a Saturday morning--at 5:00 a.m. (Trust me, it was not on purpose.) But that early rise made it possible for me to go quietly to my loft and start a painting.

I told you that I was stuck on the image of the tree that looked like a ballet dancer. That is the image that I have decided to paint.  I was inspired by the recent paintings of my friend Lucile and chose coloured paper (Canson Mi-Teintes Pastel paper). I have used a combination of gouache and watercolour.  This is a real departure for me--choosing a coloured background, using gouache.  What is happening to me? The new year is clearly shaking things up in my head and that is good.