Last Saturday evening we saw the brightest sunset I think we’ve ever seen in our lives. It almost blinded you. It was hard to look at, but it was even harder to NOT look at. I took this photo coming off the James Island Connector (Fred was driving, for those of you who are wondering). What you see is the flag pole for California Dreaming (on our way there to pick up a few salads!). Spectacular isn’t it?
For those of you who live in areas of the country who “participate” in “Daylight Savings Time… it begins today! So hopefully before you went to bed last night you set your clocks ahead one hour?! This is the dreaded “lose an hour of sleep” time that seems to take me a week or two to get over… hopefully this year will be different, ha ha… They also say now is a good time to change the batteries in your smoke alarms/Carbon Monoxide Detectors and anything else of importance!
Spring forward, at least in this part of the country… Tonight before you go to bed, set your clocks ahead one hour… also, now is a good time to change batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors!
I usually set one clock (microwave) ahead when I get up, then by evening I will notice that the microwave and the oven don’t match (pet peeve) and that will remind me to change the rest of the clocks…
Happy Saturday to you! Catch you back here tomorrow!
The French Quarter Art Walk is this evening in Charleston, SC from 5-8PM. Art galleries in the French Quarter will have a lot to offer. It’s been a rainy and cold few days, but tonight, the rain (should) be gone and although the temps will be cooler, that is nice for popping into one warm gallery after another! I think there will be a great turnout this evening!
Dewy Rose… plan SL1842 available at Southern Living House Plans – this house was designed by architect Mitchell Ginn from Newnan, GA. It’s a creative plan that is a good fit for many with a small lot. The house is approximately 2753 square feet. There are optional layouts, I’m just showing you one… click on the link to see others… This is a nice open floor plan with 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. I like that this house has both a front and back porch.
It’s nice that the master bedroom is downstairs, and that there is a PANTRY in the kitchen, woohoo! Nice to screen the back porch and then have the french doors that open into your bedroom and eating area wide open with no bugs, a definite plus!
So nice that the upstairs has attic storage! I would also use maybe the vaulted bonus room as a place for the treadmill and storage of anything that can take the heat (Christmas decorations we learned the hard way…) what are your thoughts on this plan?
I love the simplicity of this piece. There is a serenity to this despite the storm that’s about to break… very nice. The dark tree mass makes all the other colors stand out nicely.
Simplicity by Sherry Russ Levine
I love Sherri’s roses. Absolutely beautiful. Her still life work is amazing, and you just might be in luck! If you’re in the Nashville, TN area this weekend… there are just a few spots remaining in her weekend workshop “TWO DAY STILL LIFE WORKSHOP”! I would act quickly if you’re interested!
Two Day Still Life Workshop
Event Dates: 3/8/2014 – 3/9/2014
Loosen up and learn to paint expressively with a limited palette, big brushes and a palette knife! Sherrie will give a brief orientation & demo of the principles of painting in the “Alla Prima” method from life while explaining her planning process of composition, values, edges and color harmony.Later students will paint their first response to simplified shapes with confident brush strokes. The goal of this workshop is to understand the solid foundation of a painting and take your work to the next level!
Sherrie Russ Levine was born in Georgetown, South Carolina and attended Ringling School of Art & Design in Sarasota, Florida where she received her degree in graphic design and illustration. After graduating she worked in advertising agencies and corporate art departments in Atlanta, Georgia for 10 years before making Nashville, Tennessee her home. Since 1995 she has focused her energy on paintings in oil and has shown in galleries and juried shows throughout the United States.
Levine is an artist noted for her loose impressionist paintings filled with evocative light and color. Her works capture the mood or atmosphere of any subject with expressive brushwork and just enough details to invite you to take a closer look. She often travels to find new inspiration and paints en plein air when on location, or always from life in the studio.
Levine’s paintings are gaining national recognition in private collections and painting competitions. Her painting “Capitalizing on Sunshine” has become a part of the Tennessee State Museum’s Permanent Collection. She has continued her studies of painting under the tutelage of renowned artists Barbara Flowers, CW Mundy, Kim English, Lori Putnam and Scott Christensen whom are among the most influential in her work.
Oooh, what a few weeks we’ve had! This paint color thing is starting to make me crazy. The room started out “Kuba” a Ralph Lauren paint color from the Safari Collection which was fabulous. But… like all things fabulous, it was then discontinued. We had it color matched at Benjamin Moore, but it didn’t come out quite right, so we tweaked, and tweaked and tweaked (great guy who helped us)… and it ended up being BETTER than Kuba! So that is what most of the walls in the house are painted. With the exception of our guest room, bathroom and kitchen. It was time for the study to get a fresh coat of paint. I wrote a post about this and there were several great suggestions… one being a coral/tomato red color… Hmmm, that intrigued me, and I couldn’t get it off my mind. So instead of just going with the dark gray “we” (ha ha, I bet you can decide which of us wanted to try this color, ha ha) well… I found a color in the rug that was a pinky coral, I didn’t want another dark room (or so I thought…) the color on the card (AMARYLLIS by Sherwin Williams).. looked good, the guy mixed it exactly right… Now… let me just say this… a coral/tomato color could have been awesome HAD I PICKED THE RIGHT ONE! Sigh… but instead… I picked this corally pink that was in the rug… why? I have no idea. This is what it looks like on the wall (one coat) – S U N G L A S S A L E R T !:
**G A S P **!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hmmmm, I knew when I opened the sample can…
That this probably wasn’t going to work, but he did say it dried darker… I don’t think it could possibly dry that much darker, but lets give it a whirl… ahhh, N.O.!
I painted a section (and was horrified the entire time… so why did I keep going??) – I thought this would be a nice happy color. Ha… no, this color is irritating and causes anxiety, make my gums feel like they’re swelling and makes me feel like I need some Pepto ;) So back to the grey it is! With one caveat… Fred wanted to paint trim, ceiling and walls all the same color… if we go this dark, I need some white… So we will paint the crown molding and ceiling white… then it will be nice and sharp. Art will look fabulous on this color… (the grey NOT the pink… I couldn’t find a piece of art that looked good on that… not at all). Ok… who has thought on this?? Paint the crown molding, walls and ceiling (leaving the trim around windows and white? Or leave molding and ceiling white and paint ceiling KNIGHTS ARMOR? Or…????
Luckily we still had some paint in those sample cans! Got that pink (notice I didn’t say coral/tomato) covered up… and now… all is well ;) So in the end, it will look like this… but with white molding… (that brown molding color was a previous color that we tried… ) – actually if you look closely, this is two different colors… from the window sill down is a different (but very close color). We’re going with the top color.
So thank you to all who sent suggestions. You never know until you try a color. I LOVE how you can buy sample cans of paint!
Anyway, thanks so much for your suggestions! Let me know what you think about painting the crown molding… the ceiling… thoughts??
Taking a day to catch up! Normally, I try to write my posts a few days a week and schedule them to post daily… but it’s been a busy week and I am, ahh-hemmm, a tad behind!
The other night we took Charlie for a walk around the block and down the greenway… he likes to do that after dinner… you know, say hi to his friends (sniff sniff), check his Facebook page (sniff sniff wee sniff sniff wee), hey, its how he knows whats going on with all his friends)! We started walking and the sky got brighter and brighter. It ended in a deep pinky red that was so amazing it made me wish I lived on a prairie where I could actually see it (or ideally on the water!)… still made for many, many, many good photos!
Have a great day! Be on the lookout for the beautiful moments in life!
I took this photo last month on Second Sunday on King. A great time to get out in Charleston and walk around King Street with the streets blocked off. Read more about Paolo’s! He’s got a great story! Did you know he was a veterinary surgeon in Italy before taking time off to travel and coming to the United States to discover… no gelato! Tada! Paolo’s was born!
Second Sunday on King is a big time… check it out! If you’re on Facebook, check out Second Sunday on King, it gives you the latest!
Our sweet beast, Charlie! Just wanted to wish you a happy weekend! If you’re in Charleston, SC stop by Galerie on Broad this weekend. Rain or shine, warm or cool, the paintings always look spectacular! Look forward to seeing you…
Anton Pavlenko has some beautiful paintings on his website. Many are sold… and I do try to select work that is still available, which (as I write this) Pacific Reflections is available, but not sure for how long. I love the shadows and reflections in the water. Anton is not afraid to apply paint. I love the texture and the wonderful warmth that comes from this painting.
Read a blip about Anton from his website:
STATEMENT
When approaching a painting, I always strive to work from a state of flow; where every stroke is swift and effortless. This usually happens when I’m genuinely captivated by a scene and give a quick and intuitive response. For this reason, I work from direct observation and prefer to paint alone where I’m left with my thoughts, my paints and the landscape before me.
BIOGRAPHY
I was born in Ukraine in 1984 and have always felt artistically inclined since childhood. As a teenager, I took up oils and taught myself to paint by reproducing works of the old masters I admired. Though I was serious about my painting, I only considered becoming a full-time artist after a 7 year pursuit of a ‘real’ occupation after high school. Shortly after marrying the love of my life, Anna, the artist within me emerged once again. Today I live in Portland, OR and am inspired by the beautiful landscapes I see all throughout the world.
Anton has some events coming up for 2014, so be sure to check them out!
Thanks to artist Eric Bowman for listing “Friends and Inspirations” on his blog… a list of great website/blogs… it’s how I found Anton!
For those of you who enjoy a bit more space, I ran across this house plan from Southern Living House Plans. It’s the River House (SL-1829) and was created by the architects at Group 3 Design from the Hilton Head, SC area. This house plan is approximately 3086 square feet, has 2 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. It also boasts quite the garage for those of you who have a boat or an extra vehicle!
I love how the master bedroom is off to itself at the end of the house, then the fabulous open great room and kitchen. What a dream! A nice study tucked away for quiet reading or for working as well as a screened porch.
The bonus room would work well for us for storage, the treadmill, and if I would pick up a paint brush, could be a nice painting spot! So many possibilities! I think I would opt to have a half bath in the bonus room.
How would this plan work for you? What is it you like to see in a house plan? Modern, traditional, coastal, two story, one story, master up or down? So many options! Let me know and that can help me target future house plans!
What a sweet painting! So light and airy, with dreamy beautiful relaxing colors with the pops of orange and red really make this painting stand out. Fabulous color combination in this painting! I can see why it’s named Dreamscape… My eyes quickly went to this one. Love it!
Sunny Flowers by Gina Brown
Another striking painting! These sunflowers with their bright petals and abstract background. What a perfect combination! Very nice Gina!
Click HERE to read a blip about Gina from her blog, trust me, it’s worth the click! I think it’s so nice when artists tell us about their lives and what made them into the artists they are!
Gina is also in a gallery here in Charleston, Studio 151 Fine Arts, if you’re in the area, check them out and check out Gina’s work!
Have you heard of the blog REMODILISTA? If you love home, design, remodeling or anything to do with a home you will love this blog. It showcases the best of the best (not necessarily the most expensive!), everything has been researched beyond belief and their finding are amazing! Read more about them here! Not only is this book beautiful, it is chock full (do people still say “chock full” anymore??) of resources from everything you can imagine. Paint colors, kitchen, garden, furniture, you name it! It is a happening book and I’m quite sure you will love it as much as we do! Click HERE to read more about the Remodilista Book!
Page after beautiful page, full of great tips, DIY, the best faucets, sofa, scissors, you name it and they have checked it out!
This is one fabulous book (check out their blog as well, or sign up for their newsletter, what a treat)!!
I love, love, love paintings of interiors! It’s like going on a home tour without having to actually go! A peek into someone else’s life, their taste, their style. These paintings have been done by artist David Lloyd. His work is incredible. Check it out! I love these green walls, the sofa, that fabulous orange chair, the light streaming in the window so brightly. Very nice!
Painting by David Lloyd
This is another interior that caught my eye. I love the red rug (and the wonderful light on the rug), the chair, the bed. THE OPEN TRANSOM is so wonderful! The colors are all harmonious… and look at all those paintings within a painting… like buy one get some for free! Very nice work! David also has a fabulous blog full of wonderful paintings!
One more scenic walk in our neighborhood… what a treat! It’s especially nice to catch this view at high tide. I’ll take another photo of this area in a month or two and you’ll see how it changes with the seasons.
Speaking of change… Pipes dripping and ice one week, open windows the next! Charleston has some wildly varying temps, but I have to say I’m happy to see the sun and open windows to warm up the house! Have a great Sunday!
ARTFOODHOME.COM 