I felt the earth move under my feet.....

I felt the Ontario Canada earthquake today at work. I was working on my computer and thought I was getting dizzy, and then I recognized what it was from feeling an Ohio tremor in the mid-1980's. Most of the people in my office were all excited feeling the tremor, but some didn't feel it at all. Cool, but a bit scary. Of course, it wasn't strong enough to do any damage in Ohio.

Sorry I haven't done anything artistic lately to post. Still feeling out of my element with the move. I am continuing working on getting the place setup to suit me, but haven't even unpacked the studio yet. Haven't had the energy to paint with the group on Saturdays......  I haven't even got my bike out for a ride lately. Its been way too hot - in the 90's. So in honor of my lonely bike, here is one of my older, favorite watercolor paintings: 

Blue Bike

 

Slowly Coming Together

Well, its been a good week at the new condo, but I have been moving pretty slow getting things done. Here are a couple of quick shots of the only room that is completely setup - the sun room. 

Moved!

I'm in my new place. Exhausted and of course, need to put away all the 'stuff'. I've hopped on a neighbor's wireless to check on email, mine won't be hooked up til Tuesday, so won't stay on his bandwidth long.
The new place is WONDERFUL, clean spacious bright and so quiet. Hard to get used to not hearing any traffic noise. I'm taking the whole week off to get settled.

More later in the week!

Down to the Wire

Getting down to the wire for the big move! I think I have packed and organized as much as I can for now. Closing(s) are this coming Friday and I should have the keys to the condo by noon. I'll move what I can on Friday, and the movers will be here on Saturday morning. As of Friday, I'll be away from email for about 5 days til the cable guy comes out to get me setup.

I've had a tough few weeks. I rarely get sick, but somehow contracted the flu and was out of commission for 4 days. I'm still working on getting my stamina built back up. On top of that sometime while I was ill, someone must have been casing my house, seeing the 'sale pending' sign, and decided the house must be empty (I keep my car in the garage), and they stole all my outside decor - the wreath on the front door, the clay pot with my flowers, the watering can, all my solar lights and garden sculptures! WOW what gall some people have. Of course, I haven't heard a peep from the police yet - they won't take your report over the phone now, you have to file a police report online now....Sigh..... Of course, it all is valued at less than $200 but it made me a bit frightened and angry. Then a storm with winds came through last week and broke a big limb off the tree out front. Of course, I had sold most of my garden tools at the garage sale, so didn't have tools to clean it up. Luckily one of the neighbors in the cul-de-sac saw me struggling and came to help out. And to top all that off, having to take my cat to be put down was the topper.

Stressful things always seem to all come in a cluster, don't they? Hopefully things are starting to swing the other way now.

My Buddy

Spanky

Sept 1992 - May 2010

My buddy for 18 years. 

Tuesday Night Art - Abstract #2

Monday Night Art - Abstract #1

I'm a big fan of abstract paintings, but never had the confidence to get the look I wanted in my own work. Yesterday, I visited one of the well known high-end decorating stores. I saw an abstract that I really liked, but it was way out of my price range. So, I thought I'd just play around and see what I came up with, because I wanted some new art for the condo.

Tonight after work, I was feeling ambitious - surprising for a Monday evening! So I dug around in the garage to see what supplies I had. I still have a few tubes of acrylic paint, although a very limited palette. I also found a 16 x 20 canvas wrapped board, which luckily fit in one of my many watercolor frames. I decided to use the abstract I saw in the store as a jumping off point, but certainly didn't intend on copying it. I used the colors I had and went at it with a plastic palette knife. I enjoyed using the knife, but when I tried using a brush it just didn't work at all, so went back with the knife and completed this in about 30 minutes. I'm quite pleased with the results.

Now I am feeling like heading to the art supply store and getting a larger board or stretched canvas and a few more tubes of paint.........  Strike while the inspiration hits!

Glacier Ridge Metro Park Iris

The group met at Glacier Ridge Metro park on Saturday to paint. It was a lovely day, lots of sun and a nice temperature, although after 3 hours with no shade, I'd had too much sun. I'm such a delicate flower, hahahaha.....

The area is mostly meadows, so I painted close up of one of the wetland areas. Although its not evident in the photo, there were iris growing along the edge.  I did refine this painting a bit more today, but couldn't get a good photo, so will leave you with the one I took in direct sunlight yesterday.

Nothing much, you?

Nothing much happening on the painting front here....Nope, haven't painted the last two Saturdays. Last week, it was nasty weather and a marathon that kept me from meeting the group. No, I didn't run a marathon - haha fat chance - but the painting venue was in the middle of the race route, and I didn't want to deal with that, let alone the rain..... Today was really nasty here too - high winds, temp in the low 50's and rain. Several of the group soldiered on and painted....but I stayed home.

I'm busy getting ready to move. We finally got all the paperwork from the buyer on the approval of their mortgage. FHA loans sure take a long time..... My condo loan is conventional, and it only took less than 2 weeks. This whole process has taken a long time, but the time frame sure helped both me and the buyers, so I am grateful for that.

I asked to see the condo last week, as I was getting ready for a garage sale yesterday, and wanted to view the condo again to decide on whether to keep some stuff or put it in the sale. Next week, I do the walk-thru with the builder on the condo before they add the finishing touches. I'm really happy with this condo - its just great! Can't wait to get in there and put my touches on it. We're set to close on June 11th - both on the house sale ( 9am) then at 11am for the condo, then I'll have the keys!!! YEAH. That will give me half of Friday to move the stuff I want to carry, and I'll schedule the movers to come on Saturday morning to move the heavy stuff.

Did a garage sale yesterday with my good friend Barbara to get rid of STUFF. We opened up the 'store' at 8:30am and by 10am, most of the stuff was gone! We stayed open until the posted time of 2pm, but there wasn't much traffic in the final hour. We have a nice amount of cash in our pockets. I'd planned on opening again today, but we decided to just donate the stuff that was left since there wasn't much interesting stuff left.

The house is starting to look plain - with a lot of my decorations already taken down. Now that we had the garage sale, I can really start packing. I think I might have half the amount of stuff I had when I moved in here 5 years ago. I have continued to clear out stuff over those years, as I realized a lot of the stuff stored away was not important to me.

Painting in the Rain

Yesterday, our group met at Slate Run Metro Park, at the Buzzard Roost picnic area. A few of us setup under the shelter house with a view of the pond. It was a moist damp day with the threat of rain. I actually enjoyed painting in the rain in the picnic shelter. Reminded me of camping! Several of the group who braved the weather down by the pond, soon came to join us when the rains started. They got pretty wet, but all were painting in oils.

I used a canvas wrapped board. I've decided they aren't my choice. I prefer a smoother surface.

"Buzzard's Roost Meadow", 8 x 10, oil on canvas board

Oil Painting - Spring Red Buds

 'Spring Red Buds', 5 x 7, Oil on canvas board

The group met at Highbanks Metro Park yesterday. It was brisk - about 45 degrees with gusty winds. Bbrrrrrr. I stayed in the parking lot and painted outside the back of my mini SUV so that the door would shield me from the wind. This was a scene of red bud trees, but not sure I captured the correct color. They've always been a favorite tree. When I was growing up, we had one in the back yard and I always was amazed that the flower actually grew from the bark, instead of off a stem.

On the Road to "Condo - town"

Happy to report that things are going well with the sale of the house. We got back the appraisal which was fine, and the inspection report with nothing major to fix. We are scheduled to close on June 11, and I'll move out on the 12 and 13th.

I went to see a great condo about a week ago, and as soon as I walked in the door, told my realtor  - this is the one!! She laughed and said - you always know by first glance! She helped me find my present home, and we've become good friends over the last few years.

Its perfect and exactly what I wanted. Its 'new' as its still owned by the condo builder. Although it was built in 2006, because of the economy, this was one of the last to be built in the complex and it hadn't sold. So they leased it for one year with the tenants leaving just 3 wks ago, as the builder wanted to put it on the market and get it off their inventory. I saw it within a week of being on the market. I quickly took a spin around the interior and told my realtor I wanted to put in an offer. Although the listing price was $30,000 less than what these sold for in 2005, we decided to put in a low ball offer. AND THEY TOOK IT!!!! AND they are paying up to $2500 of my closing costs!     " I am one happy dude" -(to quote an old friend of mine - hi Joe ;-)  )  AND I'll qualify for the $6500 tax incentive, so my bank account will be happy too. All of this far outweighs the loss I am taking on selling my house.

The condo is only about 3 miles north from my house, so still fairly close to my work and I feel its still 'in my neighborhood' - I'm very comfortable in this area of town. Its a 3 bedroom, 3 bath (no - I really don't NEED 3 baths, but hey, that's how 3 bedroom condos come these days....), has a 3 season sunroom, 2 car garage. It has a southern exposure, which was on my list... They have repainted the whole place a nice taupe with white woodwork, and will be replacing all the carpeting. Guess I'll need to buy an area rug to put down in the bedroom which will be my studio to protect the carpeting.

I've already begun to decorate it (at least in my head), and have ordered 'real' bedroom furniture for the first time in my life! I've always had hand-me-downs, auction pieces or stuff from that 'Swedish build it yourself' store - but now want a few pieces of really nice stuff.

In art news,  I have painted with the plein air group each Saturday, but haven't posted anything here because they weren't complete. I lose steam on them after I get home and never finish them. Guess I need to paint smaller so I can finish while in the field.

Under Contract!

We have a winning offer!

A young family viewed the house on Tuesday...they came back on Wednesday to look again, and submitted an offer on Friday. We negotiated over the weekend with a final agreement reached on Sunday morning. Its contingent on the inspection and appraisal, as normal, which should be complete in a couple weeks. Then I will view condos and make a quick decision.

Its an interesting plan and I hope it works out. Being first time homebuyers, this couple was looking to qualify for the $8000 tax incentive. They are in a lease until August and didn't want to break a lease, but have to close by the end of June for the rebate, so they will only have to pay a month or so of extra rent.

As it turns out, the timing should make it possible for ME to qualify for the tax incentive for my next purchase getting the repeat buyer's credit of $6500. I will have been in this house 5 years on June 8th, so we have set the closing for June 11(to qualify for the 5 yr mark on the incentive) and give them possession on June 14th.

This also means that I need to sign a contract on a condo before April 30th and close by June 30th. We will request closing on June 11 on the same day, with immediate possession, so that I can move everything over that weekend.

The couple sounds perfect for my house. They have one daughter about 7 yrs old. On the cul-de-sac, there are several girls/boys that age. Funny story - when they were visiting on Tuesday, the neighbor next door saw them outside with the girl, so she sent out her two girls to play and wave at the visitors. Then when they viewed the house on Wednesday, the neighbors across the street came out with their baby and 8 yr old boy to play and wave, to show how friendly the neighborhood is..... Of course, I am sure the neighbors are happy to be able to see the buyers and help influence their decision.

Hopefully everything else will go smoothly. I'm excited to move on.

Pastel - John In Pastel

"John in Pastel", 8 x 10, soft pastels on velour paper

Today our painting group had a 'micro' workshop on portrait painting led by one of the group, Mary Newman. We were to paint one of the other artists across the room. I chose to work in pastels today and chose John as my subject. He was across the room about 20 feet away! 

This is our last painting date inside and we are all looking forward to getting out of doors for the rest of the season.

Oil Painting - Geen Apples and Cabbage Roses

"Green Apples and Cabbage Roses", 8 x 10, oil on canvas wrapped panel

I wanted to do more to this, but everyone said, "don't touch a thing!". Well, I did fine tune it a tiny bit after I got home, but not much.

Oil Painting - Tomatoes

"Tomatoes" - oil on shellac'd museum board, 5 x 7

This was last week's painting, that I forgot to post. It was painted as an 8 x 10, but the left side of the board held little of interest, so as soon as this is dry, I will cut it down to 5 x 7 (as shown). That is one advantage to working on museum board, as it is much easier to cut down.

Blue Cross Tree

This is a tree at a little park where I walk. I love this tree. Unfortunately, its dead and has been for some time. Its huge. I noticed the other day that it had the 'blue cross of death' marked on it and wanted a picture before they cut it down. Not that interesting of a photo, but wanted to document it (taken with the cellphone camera).

I painted with the group on Saturday, but forgot to take a picture of the painting. And I think it might need some more work. I'll finish it up this week and post it. We plan on painting indoors only two more Saturdays, and then we will brave the weather until fall! I'm looking forward to it.

Update about the house sale...

I've been silent about the progress with the house sale, because there hasn't been much progress. I've had a good number of showings considering the nasty weather in the last couple months. The feedback has been positive in general, but the negatives are they don't like the galley kitchen nor the corner lot (on a cul-de-sac, but corner of a busy main road) - those two things I can't change. I've had 2 or 3 families really like it, and have visited twice, but they all have a place to sell before they can buy mine.... So no offers yet.

We are still trying to lure in the first time homebuyers who are trying to get the tax incentive. They have to sign a contract by Apr 30th to qualify. So with only about 6 wks left for that, we will probably lower the price this week to get more interest. Sigh....... I'm ready for this to be over....

My realtor and I took two days this weekend to view the condos I am interested in and we have the list narrowed down to 4-5.... which I am already decorating in my mind.... how my studio will be setup, etc... That's the most important room, right?

Pastel - Two Pears and Apple

Today with the painting group, I got my pastels out and did this small painting. It's been awhile since I used my pastels and I still enjoy them. So much easier than oils!

 

 Two Pears and Apple, 5 x 7, soft pastels on suede mat board

Oil Paintings - Mushrooms and Bananas

I did these two little 5 x 7 oils on canvas boards yesterday at the group painting session. I tried using a palette knife for the first time with the first painting. It was difficult at first, but finally I figured it out. I like this one quite a bit.

'Cobalt and Chiquita', 5 x 7, oil on canvas board

Then I did another using my brushes.

"Mushrooms", 5 x 7, oil on canvas panel

I prefer to work fairly fast, so these small canvases were perfect. I added only a few more details today.

Oil Painting - Onions

Glad to be back at our Saturday group painting at the art center. We missed last week because of the snow storms.

Here's my work from this morning and pics showing the subject and some of the people in the group. I'm fairly happy with this painting. I was having difficulty with the left front onion - painting it several times. One of the guys helped me get it to this stage.

Oh! I am using a different panel today. On one of the many artist blogs which I read, Marc Hanson said he liked using Museum board with two coats of clear shellac. This is what I used today and I really like the feel of it, Most recently, I have been using mat board coated with several coats of gesso. I like the shellac much better. I used spray shellac and didn't have to sand it. I sure hate the smell though! And with the weather being so cold, its not really the right conditions to be preparing these in the garage. Hopefully before I use up the other three prepared panels, the temperature will warm up a bit more so I can make some more.

Oil Painting - Sedona Stream

Saturday, the group met to paint together. I took along this picture from 2005 taken in Sedona - I think this is near Cathedral Rock? I started this at home with a very warm underpainting. Sometimes I really like the abstractness of my underpaintings more than the final painting!

Below is what I accomplished in 2 hours with the group.

 

And this is with the final touches, added this week:

 'Sedona Stream', 8 x 10, oil

Fruit Basket - oil

The plein air group met again at the arts center to paint inside today. Actually, it was probably warm enough to paint outside today, but we had already planned on painting a still life of fruit. Since we only meet for 2 hours, you have to get right into it and push through and get it done! I felt I was having some difficulty, but looking back at this photo, I like it. It needs some refining, but it will need to dry a bit. That is one thing I notice with oils, I want to get it done all in one sitting, but it won't cooperate!

As you can see, I'm a lefty! Bill was kind enough to take a photo while I worked of my painting and of the subject matter.

Fruit Basket, 8 x 10, oil

Pond Side - oil

Yesterday, the plein air group met at the arts center to paint inside. I took along a photo to paint from, that I took last July at one of our paintouts to Everal Homestead. Below is the original view:

 

I cropped it down to the middle left side of the pond:

Below is my finished painting. It sure is more dull than the original! Perhaps after I varnish it the colors will be more vibrant. Today it is pretty grey and rainy, so taking the photo was hard.

Pond Side,  8 x 10, oil

Corsica France; Virtual Paintout

 This month's challenge location for Bill Guffey's Virtual Paintout is Corsica France. Above is the view that I selected of 2 Route de l'Ancienne Batterie d'Aspretto, Ajaccio, Southern Corsica, France.

Ajaccio, Southern Corsica, France, 8 x 10, oil

I painted this today and had a great time. My plein air group met at the new arts center in Worthington and painted (inside). We plan to paint here each Saturday morning until April, when it should start to be warm enough to paint outside again. (By the way, if you are in central Ohio, please stop by the MAC and view the WAAL exhibit in the main gallery - its spectacular! I am super impressed with the quality of this exhibit. I am very proud to be included in this exhibit. See details: WAAL)

New Action!

Showings have resumed on the house - one is visiting while I type this and another is scheduled for tomorrow evening. Sunday we will be holding another Open House. Hopefully traffic will really get moving this week and someone will decide to make an offer.

My realtor sent me a report showing how many hits her company's website and realtor.com recorded of visitors to view the online listing of my house since it was listed the beginning of December. The number was pretty high! I wonder how many of those hits were me.... checking out my own house?!!? hahaha.

Intermission

Intermission, 8 x 10, pastel on suede matboard

Desperate to find something interesting to paint, here is a pair of old Mother of Pearl opera glasses, I bought on eBay a couple years ago.

The Ugly Duck Painting

Here's my next attempt at a still life. I sure picked some colorful objects to paint, huh? This shows the setup and the first pass at the painting. I kinda like the painting in this stage as it seems pretty simple and to the point. But I struggled on and messed and messed with it.

Below shows the final version of the painting. Its not bad, but to me, its kinda an ugly painting - mainly because of the color palette.

I think I need to paint the inside of my setup box a different color. Perhaps a nice neutral grey?

The Ugly Duckling, 8 x 10, oil

I added some minor highlights to the tiny painting from an earlier post. Here is a better picture.

Blue Pot, 4 x6, oil

Trying to Remember How to Paint

Well, I painted this afternoon. I felt like its been forever since I painted. 
I made a 'box setup' to be able to light my still life items dramatically. I wanted to paint the inside of the box pretty dark and was looking for my acrylic paints. After hiding everything away when I put the house on the market,  I couldn't find them for awhile. Took a bunch of searching! Then I didn't have the right colors to make black, so the inside turned out a deep rust color. Here's the setup with a couple of 50 cent items from the thrift store and a little blue note pad book.
Then the next pic shows the setup box at the top, and two paintings (oil). The smaller one was just a warmup and turned out better than the second larger one (that I gave up on, its not finished). The larger one needs wiped off and sanded down better. The board was gessoed, but I must not have sanded it enough and there are alot of ridges showing.

Here's a closeup of the little 4 x 6 inch one, although it is a pretty dark painting, and there is a lot of glare.