work ..work never ending work..

I have been burning it at both ends as the old saying goes these past days since writing last...here is a shot of a mat I finished in my so called down time.."When will you marry" after Paul Gauguin ,years ago when my younger sister married I did a "Gauguin" "Sisters Wedding Day" if I remember the title correctly. It was of one sister combing the hair of her younger sister on her wedding day. Much thought and research was given before doing it and I feel it was very appropriate , special gifts should be just that, something homemade or anything with much thought behind it,as I see it.

Speaking of that, my brain is in gear with plans of doing my older sis a special mat for her birthday to rest on her cottage floor in Summerville. More details on that as it gets closer to Nov. 7th. Also I have been finishing up another couple of mats but right now I will keep them from the blog for now , I am in thought as to what I want to do with them. If anyone would like to view what I have done so far, please call or drop in if my open gallery sign is up. End of season ,left over commission stock has returned and I have a few Xmas products at a very reasonable price as well. The Summer Tourist season was pretty good for my paintings that were out on commission but unlike past years, seldom do I see Christmas product return, hard to believe it but Christmas items do sell in the Summer. Then again it seems by the stores it gets displayed earlier and earlier each year. Here I am in the selling business, will pretty well make you what ever you want and I for one seldom darken the door of these box stores, going to a large Mall or store makes my head spin,it always has...I remember years ago we were doing an art show in a large expensive Mall, I won't say where , it was a special show and only a few speciality shops were open along with the art show, me being and always have been a hat person went into this fancy boutique store when I saw what I thought was the straw hat of my dreams, grabbing it excitedly from the shelf and seeing no price tag, I then asked the clerk "how much?" she replied "$175.00 "yup!!!that much, my response to her answer as I was putting the hat back on the shelf was"does it come with a brain?" I thought she was going to pee herself laughing, me thinking that she would be angry with my comment..not so.....we both had a great laugh and she then came out later that day and bought a painting from me .My step daughter just got a job at "Michael's" art supply store on PEI...I so envy her, I am like a kid in a candy store when let loose in such a place. I remember years ago we would make special trips into the industrial Park in Dartmouth just for "Michael's" these days, online or the art store in Bridgewater. So back to why I have been burning it at both ends, I try, and do succeed most days to sit at my easel but with Winter on it's way ,feeling it in the air and knowing very well when it changes it may change quickly,during these fine days we decided to put all away, taken care of Months of turmoil here there and everywhere in this tiny house and are ready with all my hooked mats cleaned and put away from where the puppy we puppy sit can't play and pull them apart, because of her I started making the cushion floor mats..Thanks Belle.

I remember back in the very early 1970's my Mom died in "73, she and I worked at a local Dept store together here in town which I have written about before. She bought many ,many carpet ends , small mats in all different colors at this Dept .store , they were selling for like 99 cents a piece or cheaper,she and I sat at the cottage one weekend and sewed all these mats together and made a wonderful multi color shag carpet which covered the livingroom floor. We would spring and fall clean the old place together ,at that time there was a collection of bottles from all over the world along the top ledge of the ceiling and we would wash every one of those bottles, today this cottage belongs to my sister and she is smart enough not to have all this stuff to dust, on the other hand I was blessed or should I say ?cursed with Mom's love of stuff...and I have been dusting here for days and I can see clearly now.

I had someone the other day remind me of how much I recycle and have been ever since I was a small child and when I was a teenager I would take from the attic my Mom's old dresses and rebuild them with less length being the 60's and adorn them with lace, to create a new garment. When Chuck and I married ,my wedding dress was made from an antique lace curtain , I did it in such a way so that after the wedding I returned it back into a curtain for our home, I know I should have saved it, but I do have pictures.I took the two lace panels ,folded them down on the outside when I got my desired length ,I tacked them together at the shoulders and cut the one in front to make it look like a dress with a jacket, my under dress was made from a pretty pink satin curtain which I wore for years after.

One of these days I will put up a picture of our wedding and my dress to share here with you . Oh..Chucks wedding shoes were from the old Bills store in Mahone Bay , I forgot to remove the large orange $9.99 sale tag from the bottom of his shoes and as you can imagine when we were kneeling at the alter, all could see how much I paid for him, there was one picture taken of his shoe soles by his father who has since passed and to this day I have no idea where this picture would be, I wish I did.

sea people heads

Here are the sea people sculpted heads . These heads are hand sculpted from potters clay and left to harden and are not fired . When hard the heads are then painted .We have been making Sea People Figurines since 1978, yup that long. The bodies are wood and wire and they are dressed with recycled fabric soaked in a paper Mache' solution and after dry they get varnished and what we call propped with whatever props for their particular characters.

I will be honest , they are a lot of work, but the finished product makes you smile as they take on their personalities, which indeed they do just that. When I start this order I will take you on a Sea People adventure as they progress along and when done and all standing in a row are very amusing. That will be in days or weeks from now.

I have been preparing mats to be painted, the drying weather was perfect this past couple of days so I took advantage of that and I am ready now for days of rain and can continue on with work inside. Our storm windows out front have been taken down, cleaned ,painted and put back up for the winter. Furniture under the pergola has been secured and covered for the coming Winter. A few more things to take care of and we are all set to be stuck inside during our cold Months. This morning we are expecting rain and wind and my dear bicycle is all by herself in the barn, I love my bike and I may have to sit on that stationery bike just for the exercise...blah!!!!

I have an interesting boat bow I plan to do something with this Winter, these interesting pieces are harder and harder to find these days, we don't do as well beach combing like we did years ago when our young legs would take us for miles along our shores to find wonderful pieces of driftwood and treasured boat pieces. This boat bow has been waiting for me for a couple of years now, I have walked past it in the barn for the last time, this will be the season for something special to be done with it. I remember one boat bow which I painted on and it hung on the wall and looked like a boat coming through the wall. I had a Swiss couple look at it. They returned to Switzerland and not a week went by ,I got a call and was asked to ship it as soon as possible to arrive there as a surprise gift for his wife, they liked it that much. This one looks like it will be very similar in size and I look forward to seeing it complete. Before the snow flies I must ready a few boat pieces in preparation for Winter completion.

Also so that I can work into the Winter outside,we are hoping to add a roof off of our shop before the weather changes ,something to keep the rain and sun from us as we work outside Summer and Winter...just another chore to yet be done.There is always something to do,never an idle moment around here, I like it that way.Keeps me out of trouble..yeah ,right :-)

finished vinyl mats

Meet my mats..
i so enjoyed doing the "Mona Lisa" and see more like this in my future ..
I am working on another one which has been on my drafting table for days now, being the long weekend and weather was nice ,we had outside painting to do and mouths to feed so little actual art got done. Oh and my house is clean..that I enjoy when sitting long enough to look at it :-)
Puppy sitting today, it got quiet ..must run. Also have Sea People heads to start sculpting.

a lovely wedding

Sunday 10/10/10 was a wonderful sunny day for a wedding and as everyone is saying the magic day to get married.

Meet Yvonne and Kenny. We had a delicious Turkey dinner to share with them as Mr. and Mrs. It was very special like Chuck and I the Minister was a friend of theirs, Yvonne works for the Church, and it makes it all so special to be united in Marriage by someone who really does know you . Here is a shot of Ken alone,I wanted you to see what a wonderful smile this man has.And his beautiful wife Yvonne. None of us there thought we would ever see Kenny married let alone a Church wedding and tie...Ken you did it...Congrats!!! or should I say Yvonne ,you did it...:-) for he fell head over heels for a fine Lady.

Today Thanksgiving Day ,as well as breaking bread again with love ones and after my early bike ride ,my plan is to get my mats varnished and have them here for you to see tomorrow.

a heavy wedding presant

Happy Thanksgiving to all us Canadians and all who have in the past celebrated with us this wonderful time of year.

I have been painting mats since last I wrote here. But today I am off to a very special wedding ,someone we know from back in our living on the farm days. This young man ,well today he is not so young anymore but this evening he will be a married man and we so look forward to witnessing this glorious day with him. A lovely couple who found each other and we wish them many years of togetherness. Here is a picture of our wedding present for them and it's packaging. He gave me a couple old rotary saw blades which weigh somewhere 25 plus LBS. They raise Highland Cattle,so here we have it. More then likely it will take the two of us to carry this into the reception for sure.

Next week I will share with you the couple other mats I have done since my last writings,or almost done for I am waiting for a good day to finish with the varnishing of them. One is of the "Mona Lisa" yes and I am very happy with it so I look forward to sharing it here with you within the next couple of days. I bought some more cushion floor and made sure to buy the expensive flooring which does not curl,it lays flat because of the good quality and can be painted on the wrong side leaving the pattern as the bottom,the texture on the back side is so nice to paint on ,it paints up like a fine canvas,excitement floods me thinking of future mats.

As well , I got a call from someone in the US who bought one of our "Sea People" figurines from years back .She ordered some for her new shop to open in the Spring 2011, I Will share more of this with you as I start to sculpt the heads next week for them and also once she is closer to opening I will share then her shop info,so you can visit online or in person if you are near.Here now I will show you above a couple pictures of our Sea People who we have been making for so many years , as I mentioned in an older blog installment about how we became the Sea People in the first place back in 1978 in Lunenburg Nova Scotia.

a new project

Well I have been known in the past for saying that " If I want something, I try first to make it myself ". This is how we became the "Sea People" in the first place, we were poor ,living and inshore fishing out of Feltzen South Lunenburg Co. way back in '78.Remember the store bought Kitchen Witch's from back then? Well I wanted one and could not really afford one ,or had other more important priorities . In the attic of the old house we were living I found some fabric scraps, I assume the old girl who lived there before us may have been a mat hooker :-) so I made some salt ,flour dough and sculpted a head and used the fabric and made my first Kitchen Witch, then made everyone I knew a Kitchen Witch to eventually after it got too cold for fishing we ended up opening our first shop in Lunenburg N.S. and the Sea People were born. We have been puppy sitting this past while, Miss Lou Lou Belle" she has given me a rude awakening of just what puppies are capable of getting into and especially her being a busy Border Collie. Over the years I have collected some very nice hooked mats from crafter's I have done shows with , young and old. I adorn or should say did adorn my floors with these lovely mats until Miss Belle came into our lives, she likes to pull them apart. I rolled most up but I miss their bright colors so I decided to paint myself a floor mat on cushion floor as well you can use thick canvas but this is more practical . Years ago I painted a mat right on the floor in Charleston, it was great and so are these. I am on my third one as you can see in the photos. The flowered one is mine and my first. Already one coat of varnish on this one at least two more coats of varnish to go and I believe then a rubbing of Min wax, I need to do a bit more research regarding that before finishing the others.

The two Crow Joy and the one I am working on now with the checker board border will be for sale.Once this High Humidity ends I will start to varnish and finish them. I am excited at the endless possibilities and the fact these are a usable art and can be table runners or mats and be used in any room . They are easy to clean and dog hair will not stick to them...yes I like that idea.
I added the third mat this morning, Friday....of course it as well as the others still need to be varnished but done with the painting of it after working yesterday and finishing up last evening,it was a long day..but I am like that when I start something new and exciting, actually...that is what I do all the time...work and I love what I do..housework is another matter these days....Thanks to Chuck for being my Kitchen Boy . We have puppy again this AM, but my plan is to prepare another mat this morning and this afternoon after Belle leaves I hope to go in search of more floor coverings...the Beast has been let loose again. My head is a spinning with all these ideas for fun mats, the sky is the limit.
I very much am enjoying the bright colors, but have thoughts of maybe this one being a beach scene with a shell border. Wish me luck and anyone who would like to see them closer, do drop in, if you are near, one of us or both are usually here. So off I go to get ready for Miss Cutie Pie...Bright eyes...ball girl....silly puppy...lookin for clues or something to get into....Puppies are always happy...have you ever noticed that? "Lookin For clues and trouble" and so ...so soft...

heavy sea gull fell from the sky

Sunday was a laid back day with a bit of company. As two of our friend's were leaving we discovered a large black back ocean gull and I mean big, it was in my flower garden behind a small garden fence which keeps the dogs from my flowers but obviously not gulls, for there he was,a big boy for sure. We tried to shoo him off,to force him to fly but he wouldn't , letting him out from behind the little fence did not work either. Right then we noticed ,he had apparently regurgitated two chicken legs,feeding these bird's bread is one thing ,meat and chicken especially is bad, chicken bones can splinter if dogs chew them ,and can cause much harm so are very bad.And as in this case and in the past I have found here in town bits of strange looking food which I believe bird's drop while flying over our property So I /we assumed he either ate too much, was too heavy to fly and landed or God forbid maybe it was poisoned which , lets not go there. So here the Gull is running all over our yard afraid of us, trying to fly but can't . Our friend suggests getting a blanket and he offered to catch it for us and put it next door where no one lives and let nature take it's course ,which we would have dealt with that,never would we just leave the bird, but needed to get it out of our yard ,we puppy sit and can you see this Gull and a puppy? I can... We were hoping he would just fly away.

OK,picture our friend running all over the yard chasing this Gull with us all laughing and being of no help at all, at one point he and the bird went missing around one of our buildings, him trying to net it with the blanket, he yells "don't let him get by" and we are all running toward the Gull as it comes around the corner and as I have done in the past many times when chasing cattle through the woods in our Charleston days, I was making more hand jesters and noise then doing any good. And as all this is going on we are all laughing so hard and I, trying to take pictures at the same time.

Finally we got the Gull out from the yard with the blanket as you can see by the photos ,he is very handsome. To our surprise and delight once he was released from the blanket and had more room and we could see he was not thankfully poisoned but simply did not have enough room to take off from behind the fence ,because he was so big. I see a painting in the not too distant future :-) of a gull.

Now to the really funny parts, as our friend is carrying this Gull out from the yard ,his hands full of bird ,his pants are falling down and I am peeing myself at the same time from laughing so hard. So this is what you get when over 50's chase wild animals ,never could it be simple, always funny,even if it is way after the fact... everyday seems to be an adventure in these latter years ,even when we don't leave home. So why this Gull ended up in our yard here in town is beyond us, it had to have come inland because of food and maybe someone did throw this chicken out for the bird's,I hope not... do me a favor out there, pass it along to folk's not to throw out chicken or any meat for these birds, they do drop it at times or as what happened here, and can harm someones pets. I check my yard morning and night because we have pets here, as do our neighbors. I am puppy sitting today and if it becomes too quiet..I always go see whats up, puppies like 2 year old children are amazing at getting into things they shouldn't :-) and hopefully today we won't have any critters besides us here behind our fence. Oh ,one last thing, in Charleston I was very good at catching squirrels in a live trap who were always in my bird feeders , I started to feed the bird's here in town and sure enough ,the word got out into Squirrel ville , I recently have caught two squirrel's, they now live somewhere else,far ,far away, I have the touch when it comes to squirrel's.