What I've been up to....

While trying to get listings in my Etsy shop, I've been working on new Christmas ornaments.  I haven't made these for many years because of the intense amount of work involved.

They're loosely based on the old Petal Porcelain flowers.  I thought the concept was sort of neat and over the years evolved the way silk flowers were transformed into "porcelain" flowers.  I don't use Petal Porcelain, but a mixture of products I worked on over several years to give the hardest and most permanent coating.  They are dipped, dried, spray painted with flat white, and then each flower is meticulously hand painted.  I use marine grade sealer as the finishing touch.  The painting alone takes many weeks.

These are a few of the original ornaments

 

 

 
  This year I will be making many larger ornaments.  Assembly will hopefully start later today...


The work table...

Some of the new gorgeous trims. There is so much more available than 10 years ago...

I'm actully going to step out of my comfort zone and put in a link to my Etsy Store, Adrienne's Daylilies and Treasures.  I have only managed to put  in a few of my vintage listings, but as I am getting up to speed on the in's and out's of Etsy, there will lots more listed.

I have a tendency to procrastinate thinking things have to be perfect.  Well, guess what? Nothing is ever going to be "perfect."  Stop over to my shop and feel free to leave a comment here on what could be better (but please be gentle). I do plan on changing the banner but I think the listings are the most important thing to do now.

Have a wonderful and productive day...

Great Art

Timothy Jones
American Realist

I don't remember anymore how I came to stumble upon this wonderful artist but I'm certainly glad I did. Surrounding ourselves with beautiful images and learning to appreciate fine art is all a part of living a beautiful life.

I'm sure you've heard that old adage, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." But when it comes to music and art that is not true. While the beholder may think something is beautiful, it doesn't make it beautiful in the objective sense of the word. Beauty has objective standards and we must train our minds to recognize true beauty whenever it is encountered.

Just so you don't think I'm some kind of arty snob, I have my fair share of Big Lot prints. For $10.00 you can get a really fun large and well framed image that will brighten a corner of your house (or in my case the bathroom where I don't want to put my fine art).

Tim has some wonderful art at super reasonable prices. It's nice to invest in something you really, really love and there is nothing like fine art to make your home look special.

As always - click on picture to make it really, really big...


The above painting by Tim named Nymph Lake, is one of my favorites. You can visit Tim at his Etsy store or drop in on his blog, Old World Swine. Tim is also gracious enough to show us some his methods at the Daily Painting Blog.