Jen Bowles Design

Bloom True: More Layers

I can't believe we're already into week 4 of Flora Bowley's Bloom True class.  Time flies when you're being brave and loving what you're learning!

At the last painting group get-together I attended, I worked on Layers 3 & 4 of my canvases.  We've been meeting at my mom's house, she's very welcoming☺.

There were 4 of us at this meeting:  me, my mom, friend Lynn, and cousin Penny.  It's always fun and interesting to see someone else's interpretation of the class--and how that translates to the canvases.  The great part about meeting in person is being able to exhange ideas, share materials, and see other people working.  Of course I'm easily distracted...but I love the kinship.

Here are some glimpses at our in-progress canvases...

Lynn

Penny

Mom

Me

I can only imagine what everyone's canvas will look like this coming weekend at painting group--with 2-4 more layers added.  Totally transformed, I'm sure!

I fell behind on last week's painting lessons and then just couldn't pull myself together to go to painting group this past weekend.  Yesterday afternoon though, I rallied and painted at home in my studio.

After Layer 5:

After Layer 6:

I used my fingers a lot on these latest layers--and loved it.  In fact, when I was done with the canvases for the day, I couldn't resist using up the rest of the paint on my palette.

First I did this background on a 4x6 canvas

Then I went to town on my Art Journal/Play Book. 

Are these backgrounds or nearly finished pages?  Who knows!

I used the last little bits of paint on a book page.
Very fun, very freeing and feeling very fortunate to be part of this journey!

Open Studios visit: Vernon Street Studios

This past weekend my mom and I ventured into the big city of Somerville to visit the art studios at Vernon Street Studios.  In addition to being big fans of art and artists' spaces, we had someone special to visit.

This girl, my cousin & artist, Audrey Mack.  Audrey recently acquired studio space at Vernon Street and has been settling in.  She typically works in oils and creates large scale abstract canvases with striking colors, shapes and forms.  It was wonderful to see her work and her workspace.      Lots of natural light, plenty of room, and lots of fans, including Audrey's mom (my cousin) Penny ☺.

Viewing Audrey's work was definitely a treat and afterward we set about exploring several other studios in the building. 

I took these photos in Steph Koufman's studio.     Great authentic feel to her work and workspace.

Winning the award for kitsch (in a good way) was the display of snowglobes at the Museum of the Modern Snowglobe exhibit/studio.     That was a lot of snowglobes.

The building that houses the studios is an old factory with wonderfully creaky wood floors and lots of industrial touches like these old lockers. 

At Pigweed Press I finally got to see my first real letterpress!  She was printing invitations and it was interesting to hear about the process.  I love the feel of letterpressed stationery.  Swoon...

There were lots of artistic touches throughout as well, including an inpromptu chalkboard wall which everyone was encouraged to doodle on.  Can you see my contribution?  Obviously not edgy enough for the neighborhood, luckily someone else come along and remedied that situation.  Gotta love collaborative art!

Aside from Audrey (of course), I think my mom and I agreed that our favorite studio belonged to Suzanne Lubeck.  My mom spent a long time admiring her beaded crochet jewelry, which was lovely.  I, on the other hand, was busy drooling over the rest of the studio including her encaustic collages, inspiration board and colorful canvases.   We could've spent hours in there.

Speaking of favorites, how about these awesome vintage cash register flags??   One of the artists bought a box lot of them on eBay and was using them for price flags.  So. Cool.  They are my new obsession.  Must. Have.  Hello, Brimfield... 

So there you have it.  Our artful afternoon full of eye candy, family and hugs.  Hard to beat!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend,

 

Basement Project Update: Week 7

Things I've learned while working on my part of the basement remodeling project:  I love blue & green (nearly all shades), a paint sprayer would definitely come in handy and if I have a can of Kilz primer and a roller, I'm dangerous.  Especially late at night.

At any rate, here's an update on the progress in the very cool {literally} basement space...

Family room area:

Since I last posted pictures, I completed the painting of our coffee table and got a new friend for the wall.  We bought this table while living in NC.  It's very sturdy and has lots of storage.  It came with a nice, distressed black finish.  While living in the old basement playroom it became even more distressed while being used as a storage shelf for metal buckets and heavy wooden crates.  Lots of scraping.  So, I didn't feel bad painting it the same blue shade I'm using on the stairs (and on my studio floor).  I think it looks great in there and it makes an awesome footrest.

And then there's Esther.  She was a gift/bonus from a friend I worked on a digital design/book project with this spring.  Esther is right at home with the beachy, vintage, coastal vibe I'm working down there.  And she's coral.  So punchy!

I also finished painting the stairs.  Sort of.  They are now all primed but are still waiting for a topcoat.  At least they look cohesive now, the topcoat can wait...

Studio Space:

Things are really starting to take shape in my new studio space.  I painted the topcoat on the floor on Sunday and after letting it cure for 2 days, we finally moved some furniture in there last night.  It's a little bit scary.  I have so many supplies packed up but I'm not sure how many are going to make it back into the space.  I'm really liking the clean yet colorful look.  I may have to set up some satellite, not pretty storage out in the garage. 

In fact, I liked the clean look so much that I actually decided to paint my beat up work table surface.  We bought this table, oh my goodness, 18 years ago at a yard sale for $50.  It was our dining table in our first apartment.   I love the character of it but I couldn't resist the temptation to paint it.  I'm planning on sewing a fabric skirt to velcro all around the edges of the table so I can have even more (concealed) storage underneath.   

Speaking of primer, I'm also repainting a French Provincial style lingerie chest that Bubbe scored for *free* on the side of the road.  The owner even helped load it in her car!  The cream with gold accents isn't really my style so I dove in with the primer last night.  Topcoat coming tonight.  Or soon.

On the storage side of the studio, we moved a few pieces back in last night.  I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to put the shelves back in the Shabby Chic (from Target) bookcase.  I finally gave up and started searching online.  Thanks to a picture posted on flickr, I saw that not only do the shelves fit in notches, there are also wooden support pieces that I totally forgot about.  Sure enough, when I looked today all the support pieces were stored right there in the bookcase drawer.  I am pleased to report that the shelves are working much better now ;-).

I still have a bit more furniture painting to do.  It could be that I'm trying to delay moving all of the boxes of supplies back into the space.

Maybe...

 

Basement Project Update: Week 3

3 weeks into the Basement Project, 3 more days (hopefully) to go!

Of course the 3 weeks and 3 days refers to the work that we're paying to have done, not the painting, carpet, moving of furniture, hanging of art....But let's not dwell on what's ahead right now, rather focus on all the progress this past week.

Plastering

Not to be confused with 'Plasterhead', the plasterers arrived Monday morning.  They taped, the mudded, they plastered.  At the end of Day 1, they left a big, scary mess.  I made the mistake of peeking, even though our carpenter told me not to.  Luckily by the time they left the next afternoon, everything was cleaned up and the walls had gone from gray drywall boards to plastered masterpieces.  They even got rid of the hideous texture on the stairwell walls.  Hurray!  Next year maybe we'll have them back to get rid of the fish scale pattern on our ceilings...

Trim & Doorways

After the plasterers did their thing, baseboard trim started to go up.  Doorways were framed in and one door was hung.  By design, the door to the laundry room was left off.  We have some space issues (i.e. the washing machine is in the way of where a door would swing) so for the time being I will be sewing a beautiful lined drapery to hang there instead.  A nice way to bring some fabric into the space ;-)  Perhaps next year (or the year after...) we will purchase a stackable washer & dryer and hang our door. Or not.

Stairway

After the plasterers smoothed out the stairway wall texture, the old-new railing and newel post were able to be installed.  The railing is re-used from what we had there before and the newel post (chopped off at the bottom) is a swap pile find.   We changed the brackets from shiny brass to brushed nickel and once it's all painted, it's going to be mucho spiffy.  I hope.

Closet

The closet really came together this week.  It was plastered, got an energy efficient light and 3 built in shelves.  The bi-fold doors were also hung, though the knobs were intentionally left off.  I'm hoping to visit Anthropologie sometime in the next few days to pick out something special.  Or Lowe's.

Electrical

One thing that didn't get done this week was the dropped ceiling.  In fact, it's the last major piece of the project.  The dude that was lined up to do it went m.i.a. , turns out he was in the hospital due to some sort of asthma flare up.  He's fine but he won't be putting in our ceiling.  We think we have someone lined up for Tuesday.  Fingers crossed.  Anyway, because the ceiling didn't get done, our electrician wasn't able to finish up.  He did come and put in all the receptacles and a few lights that are in the sections of ceiling that are drywalled.  As soon as the ceiling is in, he'll be back to install the recessed lighting and pretty up the outlets and switches.  'Pretty up', that's an electrical term...

Built-In

Much progress was made on the built in cabinet and shelving under the new staircase.  I'm loving the beadboard backing, happy that our carpenter convinced me to use the high quality beadboard rather than the thin, flimsy sheets they have at Lowe's.   Once I get in there with paint and accessories, I'm planning on the shelf brackets sort of disappearing.  They still have to build and install the doors on the cabinet but as you can see, Cuyler's secret lair will still be accessible ;-)

It's looking quite nice down there and I'm getting excited at the prospect of having 2 more {real} rooms in our house.  I'm having a bit of a paint dilemma: leave the studio all white and fill it up with colorful art and objects or paint the walls a shade of pale robin's egg blue that I love?  I'm leaning toward white.  In the family room area I'm going for a vintage beachy/coastal vibe and planning on using blues and greens with some brown thrown in (reminiscent of sand and some of our existing furniture that I have to work with is brown or beige).  Not sure about the wall color in there yet either.

Luckily I'll have plenty of time to ponder as I roll primer on 500+ sq ft of newly plastered walls.

House Project: Basement

It's Springtime--and today it really feels like it.

Lots of sunshine, warmth and chirping birds.

Around here, Spring means Project Time.  It may or may not be a coincidence that Project Time coincides with Tax Refund Time.

Last year we tackled {and completed} several projects including fencing in my garden, enlarging our deck and the infamous steps/patio/path/drainage budget buster.

This year we have a new list. Some of the projects include painting the house (luckily only the front is painted, the rest is shingled), staining the deck and cutting back a bunch of brush.  Our big project this year is big in a number of ways--time, square footage and $$.  That's right: finishing our basement.  At least part of it.

Right now we have a full, unfinished basement.  Lots of things live down there: the laundry, the workout equipment, the kids' hang out room complete with video games, board games and toys for every age, and my art space.  Oh, and the cat's litter box.  We use it like it's finished space even though it's not.  We need the room.  Having fiberglass insulation fall on your head is all well and good, but when it's January and there's no heat in your unfinished, uninsulated basement well, then you have a problem.

The actual work down there won't start for a few weeks.  In the meantime we have the monumental task of sorting and packing everything up and moving it out of the space.  Good. Times. 

At this point, how's about some before pictures...

First, our current staircase.  Open, utilitarian.  The best thing about this staircase is the French door at the top of it.  It used to be in our dining room but we had that opening enlarged and had our carpenter move the French door to the top of the basement stairs.  Love the light and open feeling.

The current playroom.  Leftover furniture & rugs, a collection of toys spanning Fisher Price to Wii.

More of the playroom.  There will be a wall where the poles/lally columns are now with a doorway on the right side.

My future studio, current kid art space that I took over.

Steel door that leads to our bulkhead.  The best thing about this door is that it's magnetic.

Oooh, pretty magnets.

Table.  Piled high with stuff.  And more stuff.  My main studio work table will be here.

My current studio which will be turning into my studio warehouse of sorts.  Going to use leftover/mismatched shelving in here to store and (hopefully) organize all my creative goodies.

One of my current inspiration boards.  It's part of Ebby's crib with IKEA clips to hold display items.  I may spray paint it white...        

So there you have it.  Our basement: before.  I went ahead and embraced the packing/sorting mess because it will {hopefully} make the after pictures look even better ;-)

Now, anyone have any cardboard boxes for me??

Studio Storage: Pencil Cups

The creation of my Image & Inspiration book has rendered the dining room table, aka my current studio table, unusable for things like eating.

Hmmm.

Yep, it's a bit of a mess in there.

While I was sitting in there the other day, my eyes came to rest on some of my upcycled pencil cups.  Very happy making.

For many months, I was storing my pencils in a used crushed tomato can.  Finally, I got around to gussying it up.  I love the results and it only took about 15 minutes.

I used 3 different types of vintage paper I had lying around, ribbon from a gift I bought myself at Henri Bendel in NYC, some gauzy fabric scraps and a velvet leaf from a clearance poinsettia stem from Michaels. 

First I cut the papers and used glue stick to adhere them to the tin can.  I used gel medium to secure the edges.

Next, I hot glued the length of polka dot ribbon around the top. 

Then I stitched up the flower.  I cut a few circles (4-5) out of a fabric scrap.  I sort of gathered them together with my fingers, pinched and pulled through a few quick stitches.  The stitches helped with the twisty, funky shape. 

I hot glued the leaf on, and then the flower.

All done.

Except for the filling with colored pencils.

This pencil cup is now a happy resident of my art table lazy susan, and a wonderful neighbor to Ms. Upcycled Sheet Music paintbrush cup. 

They're a match made in heaven.  Well, the craft room anyway!

My New Studio

One of the reasons we moved back from North Carolina to Massachusetts was to have more land (because at 40 degrees and windy on March 24, it surely wasn't the weather--but talk to me again in July!).  While our old house had more square footage, the lot it was built on was about 1/10 the size of our current lot.  In NC, I looked out the window while blogging and could see 5 of my neighbors houses, practically in their windows.  Here I can barely see one other house from my desk, it's pretty far back and in a few months it will be pleasantly obscured with foliage and flowering trees.
Of course we have about 10 times the yard work that we did before as well ; ).
One of the hidden gems on our 'acreage', is an old chicken coop.
At one time, my neighbor's house was the so-called manor house of a 100 acre working farm with apple orchards, migrant workers from Italy, horses and of course, chickens.  The current property line runs through the chicken coop (faulty surveying tools from 50 years ago??), with most of it on our side.
Right now, the chicken coop is very, um, rustic looking...
In fact, some people might just have at it with a sledgehammer and a dumpster and be done with it.
Not me.
I want a studio out there.
Jen Bowles Design at the Coop.
There are 3 full rooms that could be renovated--and they're big rooms, about 20'x15'.  There's quite a bit of work to be done--the space currently lacks a roof, electricity, running water, a heat source, a floor and windows. Details.
But the dream is there.
It could be such a cool space with just a bit of vision and a lot of hard work and of course a small pile of $$.
Ebby thinks it should be a clubhouse.
A clubhouse for artists, maybe.    
Perhaps in a few years...

Or if I win the lottery. 

Until then I'll just keep looking out the window and dreaming.

And cutting back brush on the weekends : )

Bamboo Fun

Spent a bit of time playing around on my Bamboo Fun tablet & Photoshop this afternoon.
I am sooo clueless.

But I'm trying.  In fact, I think my scribbling is getting better already.

Button Bliss

I got myself a new container of buttons the other night.
Just a plastic deli looking container with a colorful assortment of buttons at AC Moore.
$3.24 with my coupon.
Yesterday I decided to sort them out by color.
I added a few other buttons I already had and this is the result:

Yummy little buttons, how lovely you look...

Monday, Monday

Here it is, the last week in November--already.
Hard to believe December 1st is just 7 days away.
I've been collecting a few photos of things I'd like to share so now I guess it's potpourri time : )

• Paper lanterns    Bubbe came over one night  last week and stayed with the kids while I went solo to puppy kindergarten (BGD was in NYC, very busy being upgraded to a suite at the Waldorf-Astoria..Maisy was at home because week 1 is people only).  Anyway, she brought a bag of scrapbooking paper and fresh working knowledge of paper lantern making.  I hooked them up with a few supplies from my stash and they went to work.  The evening's work produced 6 fun lanterns that are now hanging from the ceiling in Ebby's room.
• Cupcake punch  My lastest Martha Stewart punch from Michaels--and this week I was able to use a 40% off coupon.  Isn't it sweet?
• Air dry clay  I haven't made those Cloth Paper Scissors snowmen yet but when I was at AC Moore last week, I came upon this stuff.  Who knew?? 
• Merry making  I posted another banner in my etsy shop this afternoon.  At first I wasn't sure if I was going to like this one, it was hard for me to use traditional green (as opposed to apple green).  When I added the stripes and polka dots I won myself over though ; )    

Have a good (if short) week!