Bird Alert!

Hi there. How are you?

I've been neck deep in art fair prep. All studio time has been spent pumping out new work for my first show of the year. (If you're in the St. Louis area, do come see me at the Art Fair at Laumeier Sculpture Park over Mother's Day weekend.)

I've made a flock of new birds. Well, maybe not a whole flock, but some! I've been having a tough time capturing the actual look of the graph paper on these pieces. It either shows up a little too strong or drops out entirely when I try even out the white balance. Even so, I'm still really liking working on gridded paper and have done most of my new work on triangular isometric paper.

This new collection is a bit more minimalist than those I have done in the past. I'm trying to simplify in my art these days. I have to constantly fight not to over-do things. To read about how I create these birds, click HERE.

All of these new pieces are for sale, but are not listed on Etsy. If you are interested in purchasing, do give me a shout!

Hope things are well and springy in your world. Ta-Ta for now!

P.S. Do you Pinterest? I've got a great "Bird Nerd" board going there. Go see and follow along!

We bought a fixer - Lighting update

Hi there. How are you?

We are starting to see the light at the end of the remodel tunnel.

Things are truly starting to come together. 

Today, I'll give you a little glimpse into our new lighting. 

Pre-renovation, our fixer was filled with all sorts of lighting "treasures" like this......

I actually kind of like this one (above), but it doesn't go with our current aesthetic.

This is just a small sampling of the fixtures that once lived in our house. 

I  wish I would have documented them a little better prior to demo.

I'm kicking myself for not taking a better picture of the sconces that you can barely see here.

We did a little HGTV/DIY action on them.

We spray painted them Swedish blue, added a more modern looking "shade" and reinstalled them so the bulb was pointing up. Cool huh?

Prior to renovation, there were many dark corners in our house.
(Matt likened it to cave.)
We've added a lot of track lighting and pot lights to brighten things up.
This particular set of light now hang in our entry way.
(Wait till you see full transformation in the entry!)

My favorite new fixture is in our dining room.
We came across the "Huck Duck" (now called the Manhattan Project) on Pinterest.

This string of sockets is made right here in the USA.
Matt installed a galvanized pipe and artfully wrapped the twisted fabric cord around it.
He finished it off with 2 different styles of old school Edison bulbs.
We love its industrial vibe!

I leave you with a little glimpse of things to come.
What do you think?

I'm off to finish up painting at the house! Yes!
Ta-ta for now.

Weekend iPhoneography

Hi! How was your weekend?

This was the first weekend in ages that we got to stay home and do some more Southern Illinois exploring. As always, I documented our weekend with my trusty iPhone.

On Friday, we tried out a Thai restaurant we'd never been to (yum!), heard some excellent live music at the Carbondale Friday Night Fair, and had a nightcap at Walker's Bluff (the new tasting room is awesome!)

We found this awesome looking caterpillar munching away on our tomato plant.  It's amazing how well camouflaged it was amongst the leaves!

We did a little walking in downtown Carbondale on Saturday.  Trains still run right through downtown. We got caught by this one for a time.

The weather this weekend was incredible! We took advantage of it and did some hiking in the state park. 

I tried out the new panorama feature that came along with the recent iPhone iOS 6 update. 

I'm just enamored with autumn light. It has such a distinct, crisp quality at this time of year.

Lastly, we cooked! (Man, my oven needs cleaning! Ick!) Matt made homemade biscuits complete with lard and bacon drippings. (Yum!) I tried out 2 Pinterest recipes. Crockpot Apple Pie Oatmeal for breakfast and turkey sausage, kale and bean soup for dinner. (Double yum!)

How was your weekend? Do share!