a fab vintage sofa, paintings in progress & a sofa for sale...

Leila and I were crazy painters yesterday...both so excited about our projects in progress.  Hers on the floor above and mine below.

this piece will be done this week....it is on a cotton shower curtain and incorporates pattern, color texture.  There is a vintage ribbon wrapped around it and the blue "ruffles" come from a baby's swimsuit that my sister passed down to me.  Unfortunately, it had been worn one too many times to be used this summer... 

And, we have been in the middle of a mad scramble to get this vintage leather Davis sofa in its new home: our living room.  We have wanted a leather sofa to deal better with our dog hair issue and to give use more room, however we didn't want just any leather sofa.  We needed something on the smaller scale with style and good lines. 

Went to Chartreuse and again it did not disappoint. Had my eye on this and the price was a steal... (courtesy of vendor Sue at The Treasured Hunt ...Chartreuse has several "vendors" who sell.)  I texted my husband a pic of it and called him at the office but I didn't hear back.  Sigh, I had to let it go.  When he got home on Friday night he told me he thought I had bought it. YOU WHAT?!?  My heart sank and I immediately e-mailed the owner of Chartreuse asking if it was still there.  Of course not....it had been purchased that day.

However, it was fate.  Apparently the lady who purchased it decided it didn't work in her home and had to sell it.  Score!....on that note though, we are selling this piece:

Make us an offer!  I admit it, I did paint the upholstery after seeing the steps on this blog but now that we are moving our sectional into the playroom to make room for the leather sofa, this has to go.  It is otherwise in great condition and was handed down to us from my parents.  It measures 58" wide and is 32" deep and can certainly be re-upholstered.

portfolio & pinterest marry

I love getting feedback on my blog....the more the better!  Everything takes time and I am learning as I go but ultimately I blog to track my love for painting and art and the craziness of motherhood.  All I really want is for my work to speak to people and hopefully they will get something out of it.  It's hard with just a blog alone to showcase all of your work as a painter and a few people have told me it is difficult to see my samples.  I couldn't agree more!  Aha......pinterest.  How I do love you.  If you haven't discovered this wonderful obsession you must.  Right now. 

I will be adding pieces of my art to my board which is devoted to my original work on pinterest over the next few weeks.  In the end, my entire portfolio can be viewed at once going as far back as my days as a student.  Each piece will be linked back to the blog so they will be posted here first.

 Here goes:

Old Town Alexandria

oil pastel 19" x 24.5"

Model Italy

watercolor 13.5" x 18"

Street Band:  New Orleans

acrylic on paper 17.5" x 30"

Venice

watercolor 30" x 22"

the winning piece complete!

I finished the painting for Meghan, the winner of the drawing held in December!  She gave me a few clues to inspire me.  She wanted the piece for her bedroom which she just finished re-decorating in a romantic theme with red, purple, smoky topaz and chocolate throughout.  I asked her if she could travel anywhere where would it be: Paris.

Eiffel Tower at night

12" x 12" acrylic, gold & silver ink on canvas with polycrylic finish

congrats on winning the painting, Meghan and thanks for being a good sport about having your picture taken ; )....I hope you enjoy it!

final post of 2011

As 2011 draws to a close and I wrap up my last project, I have done a lot of soul searching this last week to figure out how I want to go forward in 2012.  No doubt, 2011 has been a year of personal (many) highs and a few lows.  With that said, I vow to be more calm and enjoy the process of life more.  We artists have active imaginations and I often find I am a ball full of energy, wrapped up and trying to release my ideas.  Often, the stress I experience is self induced and many people have told me I need to not be so hard on myself.  This last project is no exception.

I have wanted to create an assortment of framed photos of Leilani going up our stairs for some time now.  I've had some frames laying around for years just staring back at me.  Not wanting to spend a fortune to have them custom matted and professionally framed, I took on the project myself.  Many hours, lots of paint, five stitches, a tetanus shot and a lot of frustration later....it is done.

But, I learned a few things from it and in due time to go forward into 2012:

1)  I will not be so darn hard on myself and create goals & deadlines that are unachievable
2)  I will take yoga
3)  I will paint and complete projects out of sheer enjoyment
4)  I will be the best wife, mother, sister, daughter I know how to be
5)  I will slow down...and enjoy life more.

Oh...and I WILL de-clutter my closet!

the crazy frames I've been holding onto

creating the perfect color for the 3 matching frames...

and 2 mirrors (which were an antique white to begin with)

I had glass custom cut at a local glass shop. (Joann's was going to charge me $70 for 3 pieces but the local shop charged just $19!!)......However, I will say I ended up cutting my hand on one of the pieces of glass and ended up with 5 stitches and a $40 co-pay, sigh.

But, I think it was worth it...all in all this project cost me maybe $80 if you include my co-pay :) and supplies:

I love using architectural pieces to decorate with.  I have several funky painted shutters throughout our house and ended up using these two (which were once a hot pink, yikes) as part of the wall combo!

Oh, and lastly, Leila on Christmas day....on most likely her most favorite gift from Grandma and Grandpa:

Have a great new year, everyone!  See you in 2012....bring it on!

donna walker

I am a big fan of the artist Donna Walker.  She is based out of my home state of Texas and her pieces are small, bold, gorgeous in color, reasonably priced.  She is just talented and I love looking at her work.  Visit her etsy shop here.  A few samples:

12" x 24" custom original oil on canvas based on photo

8" x 16" custom original oil on canvas based on photo

8" x 8" original oil on canvas  In The Fields

8" x 8" original oil on canvas Small Red Barn Farm Landscape

All photos credit of Donna Walker

like it, comment, share it...WIN IT!!!!

7.5" x 13"  "City Walk"

In an effort to promote my work and beef up my audience I will be giving away a FREE 12" x 12" painting...(Ohhh, yeah!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!) 

The winner's name will be drawn from a hat and announced at 8:00 am this Friday!  Shipping will be free of charge.  The winner will have their choice of the following:

A)  A painting by, hhhmmh...."moi"... based on a photo of a special place which the winner would like captured

OR

B)  You allow me full reign to create a painting for you based on a few questions I will ask...hmmm.

To be elegible you must:

1) Comment on this link on Facebook

2) "LIKE" the Apropos Beginning facebook page (see link to the right)

3) Share this link on Facebook with your friends

Very excited for this!!!  Thanks, as always, to those who have already supported my work and to those fabulous people going forward!  It means so much, thank you!!  Can't wait to find out who the winner will be....and to work with YOU!  The progress and finish of your piece will post on my blog!

sunflowers

Just finished an acrylic painting of some pretty sunflowers we received from friends.  I love sunflowers and how bold they are. This is now up on etsy!

abstract love

This fun little number will be available on etsy as soon as it dries.  This would do well in a girl's room or any room that suits bright colors.

14" x 14" x 2" deep original oil on burlap.  Edges painted soft blue, ready to hang. 

a new leaf turns over & summer begins

The last few weeks have been a roller coaster ride with Max passing, traveling, working, cleaning, being a mom.  You know the drill.  So, I decided to break out of my shell and start a free spirited, carefree, colorful oil (on burlap).  I let the brush do the talking--we'll see where this takes me.  I'm beginning to wonder if I see my shop on etsy becoming real soon...my goal is to have it up sooner rather than later.  Maybe end of Summer?

And, today we enjoyed a fun day of swimming.  Leila loved it...she wondered how her bathtub all of a sudden got so darn big.  Don't worry, dada didn't dunk her. 

I'm off on a road trip the next few days but will return the end of the week!

Baby Hayden

We have been without internet the last week...and the week before that I was in the middle of West Virginia with little computer access.  What did we do before computers?  Really, I was lost and felt disconnected from the world for a good 2 weeks.  But, I feel like a new person and am glad to be back blogging...

Just finished a sweet baby shower gift for baby Hayden out in California.  Was really excited to work on this! The painting coordinates with the little girl's bedding and should make for a sweet surprise for mom come baby shower day!  Thank you, Karen for thinking of me for this:

Drawing in progress

Painting in progress

Final piece complete: 13" x 16" acrylic on paper

finito!

                                                                 

 20" x 20" oil on burlap 



Venice Update

We had my sister in law's baby shower over the weekend and Leila decided to take it upon herself to steal her unborn cousin's sunglasses... 

Working on the painting of Venice....difficult the last week or so to paint.  Leila is much more mobile and my husband is in the middle of busy season, so time is limited.  Only a few more weeks and he will be done, we can't wait!

None the less, it is coming along...I'm liking what is happening with the sky...the photo I am working from was taken after a rain storm and I'm really trying to capture that.  Hope to have this one done by the end of the week.