From my point of view there is nothing better than a peaceful day at the beach, unfortunately living in the Chicago suburbs those are few and far between.   I always told my mom, that something is amiss, I was truly to be born in a warm climate, and it wouldn’t have hurt if I was born into a very wealthy family so I could have just been a beach bum and sat on the shores and painted. 

Well, that’s not the case, so with my painting, I bring those beaches to the midwest. 

This is a window mural that I painted for my god daughter Nicole, who over this weekend, will be celebrating her 28th Birthday!

Happy Birthday Nicole!

Currently Nicole is heading up the Dance Team for the Peoria Pirates! With a passion for dance, never giving up on her dreams.  Moving to Peoria and giving up her dancing with the Chicago Luvabulls was a tough move on her.  It’s awesome to see that she has delved into her desires and dreams and found a destiny.  (sdk-2008)

I especially like this set of paintings because of the greens and the blues that were used to create the waters of the Caribbean.  Delta Ceramcoat Acrylic - Tropic Bay Blue and Caribbean Blue, blending them together to form the crystal waters of the Caribbean.  The canvas of these paintings is actually cardboard, using the cardboard as a painting surface can be tricky, if you over saturate it, you can see the ridges.  These windows came out of an old school house off Lake Cook Road in Barrington, Illinois. 

These are part of my recycled collection, a little less rubbish in the landfill.

Do you remember growing up and having Saturday Chores, when all you wanted to do was watch cartoons?

I do, but it was my sister who got to do the chores, I got to watch her and cartoons! (me-sticking my tongue out)

Well, now that I have grown up and have a home of my own, those chores need to be done regardless of what cartoons are on.

I set out one Saturday morning to clean the stairwell that leads to our basement. It gets alot of traffic, this is known as “The Bat Cave” and my batty husband spends the majority of his winter down there. Well, needless to say, with the nitty gritty dirty salty dusty residue that collects on the shelves and the walls. I had pulled all the junk out of there, and was all set to clean it.

I realized, I didn’t want to clean it, it needed something else. So, out came the paints and five hours later, we had Buck’s Beach. This was done in all Acrylic Craft Paints, I put some real sand in the paint to give it a bit of texture, as if you are looking out at a beach. Done on the 3 walls that encase the stairway, it gives a brighter look to the “Bat Cave”

So, when you are not up to cleaning.. I say paint it!

I also ran across a new RSS Feed Site today, you may all want to check it out!

http://www.rsshugger.com

~ Soul to Soul

This is a stratocaster style hand cut solid mahogany body guitar clock.  My husband created this on a band saw and hand sanded and rounded the edges. 

I used acrylic paint on this, and the deep blues were alot of fun to work with.  I used about seven different shades of blue - with a larger paint brush to give the waves a  bit more clarity.  Finished in with a high gloss laquer.

Embedded in the beach is real sand from the shores of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.   I used Fender guitar picks for the 3,6,9 and 12, thought that added a bit more guitar”ism” to the piece.

The clock actually has a small glow in the dark effect, as I used silica sand that is used on streets for the reflective effect for the surf hitting the beach.  I stupidly took this project fresh after the paint to an outdoor craft fair, and I will tell you - that’s a no - no.  Some of the laquer bubbled in the midday sun and I needed to re-do it.  Word to the wise, keep these things covered!!