Hello Sunshine

A Work in Progress!

Come on in to the studio.  Watch your step!

When a painting is in progress the room seems to get messy very quickly.

Today I am working on a painting of sunflowers.  I'm still playing around with trying to capture these beauties in different ways.

I'll be using acrylic paints.  First, the canvas is stretched and the background is prepared.  After doing the math, squares of acid free paper are glued to the canvas.  When the paper has dried, a textured paint is applied.  Now I am ready to draw.  I have played around with the design already, so I am ready to take a pencil and do a light sketch on the painted canvas......then the real fun begins!  Stay tuned.

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

Am happy to say Tropical Storm Fay passed us by without any rain or wind.  We put up the hurricane shutters and dragged in all the plants and anything that could become a projectile.  What a job!  Now to undo it all and get back to business. The sun will shine again tomorrow.

Schools have reopened and granddaughter Selby(4yrs.) was greeted
in her new classroom with some happy sunflowers!

There is an entire collection of new "dress -up clothes" for her to try at The Stage Door School.  The school's name says it all - and Selby will really fit in there. Here she is dressing up with her typical flair.

Grandson Ethan(6yrs.),with his new backpack loaded, leaves for a first ride on the school bus.

He's been Indiana Jones all summer.  An "authentic" costume was gathered up by his mom Dianne and a play whip from Target completed the look.  Ethan and I had great fun doing a photo shoot in the backyard.

Don't you think I'm ready for Esquire  with this photography?*!

Tomorrow, it's back to the painting studio. Yea.  Marcy

Sunflower Mania!

Let me share with you how my sunflower mania began.  Last winter (not exactly a term to take too seriously here on Florida's Gulf Coast) I began an earnest attempt at "living green." One of the first steps I took, after buying cloth grocery recycle bags, was to start a compost bin. My household consumes lots of organic veggies and fruits and I frequently buy bunches of flowers for arrangements at our farmers' market.  So, the bin of kitchen trimmings filled up fast and our abundant sunshine "cooked " the mix right up. 

With the arrival of spring I topped off some borders in the yard with the "organic" brew from the bin.  Shortly thereafter the fun started.  Mystery plants popped up everywhere.  We couldn't tell what they were in the beginning, so they just grew for a while, anonymously.  Bit by bit their identity became  apparent and along with eggplant, butternut squash and tomatoes the sunflowers began to shoot up like something from Jack in the Beanstalk. By the time they reached eight feet and their magnificent heavy heads began to tip down towards me a little bit, I was smitten-----the paint brushes came out!

Now, with my volunteer crop going to seed ( I need more painting models), I have started a batch from purchased seed.

The seeds were soaked in warm water overnight and then popped into some Miracle Grow soil.  Wow!  Just a few days later some new beauties are on the way.  In the meantime, my flower garden table arrangement will  include a sunflower stand-in, a charming teacup and saucer from daughter, Elizabeth.