painting

Little Canvases

| Kelly Barrow @ Faithacre Studio
Photo by Mike Petrucci on Unsplash
Photo by RhondaK Native Florida Folk Artist on Unsplash

Last night I was avoiding cleaning my studio.

It’s been a cluttered mess lately and while a bit of untidiness may be the sign of a creative mind (or something like that), it does reach a point where enough is enough.

One avoidance technique was browsing through my entire blog history to see whether I was actually making any positive progress as I’ve professed to be attempting.

And I stumbled upon this picture and post from September of 2015.

little canvases

 

I’ve had these little canvases for a while.  I bought them for another project that hasn’t happened yet.  They were just sitting on my shelf and looked lonely.  I’ve started just painting them – and then repainting them – and then layering some more paint.  Now I’ve started sticking on the dried paint scrapings from my desk.  They are becoming quite heavy and textural.

Why?  I don’t know yet.  I suppose they’ll let me know when it is time…

 But sometimes, I’m not sure that I’m an artist at all.  But my middle daughter says that I am an artist and she should know.  She will be graduating with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in December.  That makes her for sure a “real artist”.

She tells me to make what I enjoy.  To do what I like to do and not to worry about it all so much.

I worry nonetheless.

And I procrastinate.

Guess what is now sitting on my desk again?

0330182303

Somehow (of their own accord) they hid themselves in a box on a shelf in the studio only to reappear as I contemplated a Spring decluttering session for the month of April.

I have made a decision.

It is time – whether those canvases are ready or not.

They shall be turned into some semblance of a creative project that may  even resemble art by the end of the weekend or they shall be gone from this house.

Maybe.

And just maybe, I will then dedicate the rest of April working on the rest of the half-started or half-finished projects (depending on how you look at it) hiding themselves in the dusty dark corners of the studio.

And that’s a definitive maybe.

But I really do believe it is time.

Probably…

 

 

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Weekend

| Kelly Barrow @ Faithacre Studio

We’re hustling and bustling around getting ready for a busy weekend.  Always so much to do on the weekends.

Hubby and son are working at their jobs and planning on some home improvement projects.  They are hoping to splash some paint on the walls of our main living area – a clean and bright white shade to lighten things up.   Plywood “flooring” has also been purchased.  It’s going to be installed in full sheets over the existing floor and coated with some shiny polyurethane. I’m hoping for a clean and simple “Scandinavian” look.   We’ve researched and pondered many different flooring types and decided that this is an affordable (and therefore, possible) option.  If we get rich later on in life (HA) we can just floor over the plywood.

This has been a good learning and growth experience for me.  I’ve had to think about what I need and what I want.  I’ve had to discern what I can be happy with and let go of what others might think of my choices and decisions.  It all comes down to what will make us happy when we walk in our front door. In my struggle to be “normal” and balance that desire with who I really am, I’m constantly comparing myself to others.  But, that’s changing.  Yea!

I’m happy with our new floor plan.  But, more importantly, I’m comfortable with it.  It’s a good decision for us.  I think it’s going to look great and suit our lifestyle.  Even better, it’s not going to cost a fortune.  We’ve saved up the cash to pay for it outright.  As we save more money, we can continue it throughout the rest of the house and not have to worry about matching the flooring. No debt.  No overextending ourselves.

While the family is slaving away here at the homestead, I will be off once again to Sherwood Forest Faire for another weekend of fun and merriment.  Well, mainly I’ll be slaving away in the kitchen while others are making merry.  Never fear, though.  I’ve managed to have a bit of fun myself. 

I don’t watch a lot of television. (I thought about not sharing this and fostering an image of an intellectual who reads the classics and eschews television in favor of more life-enriching experiences.)

But, the fact is, I freakin’ love Supernatural.  It’s just about the only show that I watch, other than British mysteries.  And I have an embarrassing infatuation with Dean Winchester.   And this happened last Sunday!  I always hoped that I’d be the mature individual who saw a celebrity and calmly walked past without becoming a flaming idiot.  Nope.  Didn’t happen.  I turned into a crazy, stalker-fan.  Sigh.  At least I haven’t printed it out and framed it…yet.  It would look great next to my life-sized cardboard cut-out of Jensen Ackles that currently lives in my studio.  For the record, I didn’t purchase said item.  It was a Christmas gift from my son.

Well, off to another adventure filled weekend in the Forest.  Wonder what will happen this weekend?

 

Hello Strangers

| Kelly Barrow @ Faithacre Studio

I’ve been away for a bit…a combination of struggles, achievements, good news, life decisions, family, and projects has been keeping me busy.  In other words – life.

Most of it’s not particularly interesting.  Some of it is possible opportunities that would require serious adjustments in our life and are still in the thinking stages.  My head is just full of “thinking” and I’m having trouble sifting through and putting much into words to share.

But, I’m still here and chugging along.  All my kiddos are at home right now which is fun (and busy).  I’ve been whittling down my “to do” project list.  This cabinet has been in my dining room unpainted for several years.

IMAG0930Ugly, I know.  I guess I just got used to it or kept seeing the potential instead of the reality.  It didn’t take all that long.  Don’t know why I waited, ’cause now it looks like this…

IMAG0938

What a big improvement!

Our family has also started working through the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover.  We’ve had a “sorta” budget for a while.  We mainly just tried to track our spending and keep our heads above water, but now we’re actually budgeting.  Baby steps!  I’m using YNAB (You Need A Budget).  I’m finding it to be very user friendly and accommodating for an inept numbers person like myself.

Then, this last week I’ve made a menu plan that we shopped for and are following.  I seriously cut the amount of money that we were spending on groceries in our new budget.  I chose meals that used a lot of what we already have on hand in the freezer and pantry so a lot of the “shopping” was done here at home.  I spent very little at the grocery store.  Hopefully, this we make meal time less stressful and healthier.  I try to cook at home and eliminate the convenience food and eating out, but we are balancing a lot of different schedules.  When I’ve done menu planning in the past, its been great.

Like I said, most of what’s going on around here is pretty boring.  I’m just trying to focus on becoming more organized and making life simpler in the process.

A lot of areas in my life seem out of control and that’s an unpleasant feeling.  I tend to be a perfectionist so I tend to avoid doing some things.  You know, waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect supplies, or knowing that the outcome will be as good as I’ve hoped.

Painting done imperfectly is better than an unfinished cabinet.  A “close enough” color, a few drips, and recycled knobs look pretty great.

Budgeting done imperfectly is better than uncontrolled spending.  Paying something to everyone is better than not making payments of any kind.  Progress may seem slow, but eventually we’ll get out of debt.

A meal plan (even if it isn’t followed exactly) is better than last minute junk food meals or take-out.

Things done imperfectly still are a blessing to my family.  It’s just hard to take baby steps when I want to fly.