Stripes and Feathers...

So, since i repainted my bedroom blue, i had to paint over the pink stripes on my bedside dresser, because they really just didn't look that good anymore in the room

But that's ok,

 Because there are millions of places to put stripes!

 and for some freaky reason, i like stripes... 

i don't even know what that's about

i really like buffalo gingham checks too

everytime i see them i love them

So anyway.... I just grabbed my Annie Sloan paint and walked myself right into the living room and commenced to putting stripes on the first thing i could find that was standing still, 

and that happened to be a little vintage chest innocently minding it's own business by the front door...

 

stripes are such an fun and easy way to make an impact 

when i look at these pictures, the stripes look like a little much, but in the context of the whole living room they add a great touch

and did you see those flowers in the first photo

the really soft pink one?

well, it is the most beautiful flower in the world ever

it's a dahlia and it's called 'Cafe Au Lait'

my photo doesn't even begin to do it justice... you should google it, it's an amazing flower and the color is like nothing in the world, peaches and creams and pinks... 

of course i got obsessed with it and tried to find some tubers, but every single place in the whole wide world is out of them...

i'm serious

you know how it is when you get obsessed about something and can't take no for an answer, and you start looking in places like Australia for them... 

that was me

this isn't 'Cafe Au Lait', it's another dahlia, still amazing, but not as completely perfect as the Cafe Au Lait

at least to me

but the pink is nice with the gray stripes isn't it! 

 in fact, ... why don't i have any dahlias in my garden?!

what's up with that!

*********

I want to show you a new painting i did today too...

It was so fun to paint

i find feathers here and there every once in a while,  and i  decided it was time to paint a feather!

They really are so pretty

and i always sort of think of them as a special little message from the universe when i find one

it's funnest of all to find a cardinal or bluebird feather

but i like them all

 i had a beat up paint spattered little canvas... and since it was too late in the day to start a painting

i sketched a feather just for fun

i had forgotten how therapeutic it is to just sketch with pencils

and then this weekend, 

I painted it!

So here it is

It's a big painting 24 x 36

and very simple

this shows the scale of the painting

and how minimalist it is

sorry it's a bad photo taken at night

see the doggie bed all smushed up behind the easel - my little dog daisy always gets the hell outta the way when i'm painting because canvases have dropped on her head more than once...
she has no fondness for canvases !

 

It's very simple

But that's what i like about it

often 'the simple things' are the best things of all

you should have seen me, who is messy as anything, trying to keep the canvas clean and white while using all those dark colors

of course i'd use my rag to clean a messy spot, and it would drag through another spot on the painting with wet paint and smear someplace else on the canvas, 

and so on...

it would be kinda cool to do a series of three feathers wouldn't it!

but back to work tomorrow...

so that's for another day

I was taking a break from painting cows!

I sent Marian "Miss Mustard Seed" , her new cow painting last week... so she'll probably show that to you guys soon

and i have another cow i've painted that I'll show you too

...and that's all for now my sweet friends ...

...the end...