Patience!

It's day four...but I think I'm going to stop counting. 

The taping and mudding are all done...but it still needs to be sanded. I'm going to continue to be patient and good humored while we wait for Kyle, the carpenter that I've been working with, to be free to do the finish work. I would rather wait for him that get someone new in here. So hopefully Tuesday is the magic day...the plastic goes back up for sanding, fixing the floor, and the finish work. There are still issues with the wiring for the furnace...but they have figured it out and are going change all the wiring tomorrow.  The guy who flipped this house before we moved in took too many shortcuts and didn't rehab things he should have. One by one we will fix things.

So no fun new photos....but it's looking better now that it's taped and mudded.

Patience...that's the word of the day!  

Day Three...

....was spent mostly waiting around. The construction/rehab business is on fire here in South Portland so they are juggling a lot of jobs at the same time.  My little job gets squeezed in...and sometimes squeezed out. I'm very happy with my contractor Mike and his crew from Waterhouse Builders, so I'm just going to be patient.

The drywall guy finally came about 2:30 and got the first couple of coats on....but that's all that happened.  He's coming back tomorrow morning so hopefully things will keep moving along.  Oh yes...and there was a little drama with the furnace which is still not working so we have a space heater going so the mud will dry overnight.

I have tried to work on projects while I've been up here...but I am highly distracted with what's going on in the house. I'm even distracted while waiting for something to happen.  But I did sew some mobiles together to hang in my show and pieces and parts of a few other things.

And best of all....Paul came up mid afternoon and that was a good distraction!

And I spent a little time outside and discovered lots of crocus blooming in the back yard.  

Day Two: Electrical Day

Today it was all about electricity.....that needed to be done before they mud because the electrician had to drill access holes...which can be fixed when they mud.

Command Central....pardon the dust

But that also meant that the plastic had to come down so Jason could access the spaces. We'll see about drywall dust tomorrow...yikes.!  The whole first floor already has a layer of dust...so what's a little more.

I also did some planning with Kyle the carpenter for some small additions to the kitchen...and I think we landed in a really good spot.  I wish I took a picture of my mock up I had ready for him this morning...it involved three cereal boxes, pancake mix, and a few other props.  But he is a visual person too...so he appreciated my efforts. More on that soon.

Here's the tour at the end of day two:

This is coming into the room from the front door. The perspective is a little funny...because the opening is much bigger than it appears here.  I love the open feel.

There are two new can lights on each side of the fireplace.  We have been struggling with lighting for that blue chair...everyone's favorite spot. There's not room for a floor lamp except behind the chair because of the hearth and the radiator. Now there's a light right overhead for reading and stitching.

 The view from the kitchen.

The view from the favorite blue chair.  There is also a new can light over the peninsula...where there was nothing before.  It was a dark spot at night.  All three can lights are on dimmers.

So the bad news is that while moving the thermostat somehow it shorted and blew the transformer.  So no heat and no hot water until it's replaced.  If they can't find one in stock it may need to be ordered and could take a couple of days.  It could be a chilly day here tomorrow.  

Demo Day!

Today was demo day at our house in Maine.  Once we made the decision to hang onto our vacation house we decided to do a few improvements. If we stay long term....there will more demo days down the road.

But today is the first demo day!  (Sorry for repeating....but I don't get to say that very often and I kind of like it!) Most of the wall between the living room and the dining room came down....about to the corner of the couch. It will make the long narrow living room feel bigger and bring in much more light....or that's the hope.

The wall will also be opened up to the left of the doorway.

The wall came down as far as the cupboards on the left.

Our prep was clearing the area.

Their prep was creating a nice little plastic cave with a zipper....hopefully this will keep the rest of the house relatively clean.

It's gone! I'm taking this shot inside the little plastic cave. It will stay up until the drywall mudding and sanding are done....hopefully late tomorrow.  

Framing and support beam are up.

The drywall is done....the mudding will be tomorrow morning.  

I'm still taking these pictures inside the plastic cave....so I really don't know how it feels yet....but I think it's going to be great!

They're also doing a few things for me in the kitchen...as well as some much needed lighting.

More tomorrow!

Connie's Art Display

A while back I mentioned that my dear friend Connie had an art show in her retirement home. She has many talents including watercolor, oils, rug hooking, and basket making.  She recently moved into a smaller space in a different part of the the building and was once again asked to display her art in one of the community rooms. We collected a nice sampling of her work and put together this display for the month of March. I had saved her watercolor palette and I think it makes a nice backdrop.  Nicely done Connie!

To get a closer look at some of her work check out her last show here.

This is one of my favorites that we just uncovered in the move to the new space.

Gratitude

Hand dyed fabric from Cherrywood Fabrics.

Spalshes of Yellow

It was exciting to see some little splashes of yellow on a morning walk...a sure sign of spring!

Fine Line

Collage Experiment Part 3
Read about part 1 here.
Read about part 2 here.

There's a fine line between tweaking and obsessing....and I walked that line for a few days. Although I liked my Portland skyline collage..something about it was really bugging me.

What I did know was that I liked this photo view better than the one that was straight on.  What I came to realize is that the focal point that I created with the edge of the collage was smack dab in the middle....a design no no. This photo deemphasized that...which is why I liked it better.

I did a little reading on line about composition and horizon and I learned about the "rule of thirds."  Whether you're taking a photograph or designing a piece...you divide your frame into thirds and the horizon line should be near one of the two lines. In addition...if you divide your image into a 3 x 3 grid...your focal point should be near one of the intersecting lines. This was very helpful!

The horizon line of the actual photo was way at the top...but I think I created another horizon with the collage elements.  For placement I just used the bottom of the photograph as my guide...not paying attention to where it landed on the piece. I also wasn't happy with some of the embellishments and the rounded shapes.  So I scraped off what I didn't like and obsessed...I mean tweaked for a few days.

It may not be perfect...but I think it's improved. So once again....here's my photo collage experiment...part 3!

Gibberish

Clarke has been working on the code for my website....which she is building from scratch for her independent study. She's creating the HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and the CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) which to me, look and sound like a bunch of gibberish. It's quite an involved process...and it's been fascinating to watch.

This is a screen shot of Clarke's computer screen.

It's still a work in progress but so far so good. We tried all kinds of images for the background...and for now have landed on this photo of a piece of my fabric.  I like the stripes and how the colors relate to the paper tubes.

This is a screen shot of the draft of the homepage.  It will be a little while before it's an active site...we both have things we need to work on.

"Nice change"

It was a beautiful 70 degree day today.  I took a walk with Clarke ending at the Lexington Battle Green sitting on a bench enjoying the sunshine and scenery. And it was warm enough to have dinner on the back patio....it was a nice change.  

My friend Becky sent me a quote today from a novel she just finished called Where'd You Go Bernadette?

    We were quiet for a while, and then I said, "I think my favorite part of Antarctica is just looking out."
     "You know why?" Dad asked. "When your eyes are softly focused on the horizon for sustained periods, your brain releases endorphins. It's the same as a runner's high. These days, we all spend our lives staring at the screens twelve inches in front of us. It's a nice change."

I did spend some time "looking out" today....but I also spent some time looking down at my sewing machine focused on this horizon.

ART.COM

I have become a fan of Art.com. It's reasonable, fast, and they have a huge selections to choose from. Joan and are are s-l-o-w-l-y working on art for some of the newly renovated offices at Church. Can you still say "newly renovated" when it's been a full year? We are creating some handmade pieces....but we are also purchasing some. 

In this particular big box was a modern piece by John Butler called New Tonic II.




We loved the rich colors and simple geometric design! We had it mounted on wood and thought it would be the starting off point for one of the offices...but it landed in another spot.

The print fit perfectly in this spot right next to the new elevator....drawing your eye away from the ugly electrical panel right next door.  It also adds a nice pop of color. (The pictures do not do it justice.)

 

Much to our delight...it coordinates perfectly with the "welcome wall." The two modern pieces third from the left are also from ART.COM.  they are mounted on canvas...which is a little more expensive and nicer than on the wood.

We love all three pieces from Art.com!

Strips of Color

I've mentioned my velum mobiles before. I still love them so I knew I wanted to have some hanging in my little art show. I played around this last weekend and came up with the idea of adding the little circles that give a nod to the sun on the horizon....they also add some interest. I may do some in just sea and sky colors....again with the little sun on the horizon.

I can tell from this picture that the circles are too low....so I will move them up when I make more. It's funny....in person it didn't strike me as too low...but it's really clear when you see in on the screen.






I also played around sewing together a variety of overlapping circles and rings...but I need to work on the technique and placement a little more.

A Splash of Color

My niece Clarke is visiting for a few days...I stockpile my computer/blog questions for her visits because she can figure anything out.  She's a computer science major and is doing an independent study this semester on web design and I am her practice case.  

Clarke is creating a website for me...it's called "myjoyfulputtering.com." I was disappointed that "joyful puttering.com" was not available but someone else already owns rights to that domain name...although it's not an active site. So as of today my website exists...but it's just a splash of color...but it's coming soon. 

Beautiful Bloom

An incredible amaryllis I saw yesterday...it just glowed in the light.

Post Card Exchange

Ellen's post card arrived yesterday....kind of quilt like...and in my favorite log cabin pattern.  This was fun...I hope we do another exchange in the near future!  Shared art is a good thing! You can see the post card I sent to Ellen here.

And yes Ellen....I think everything is "figureoutable!" I'm certainly trying to figure some things out.

Experiment...Part 2

Well...here's where I ended with my Portland horizon collage experiment....or at least where I'm stopping for now. 

There are things about this I like...and things I would do differently.  I actually am anxious to try another one...I think there is potential for some fun and funky stuff! I do like the collage as an extension of the photo. Next time I will use more scraps from handmade papers....I like those elements the best.  I see collaged farm fields in my future!

Did you recognize the frame? In the collage world it's called a "support." I used the paint panel I had made up for the wool beach umbrella piece.  I think it needs something different...don't know what yet...but I'll figure it out.

I always intend to take more pictures of my process...but I get so wrapped up in the project that I forget.  

The last post shows a few beginning steps and I did take this picture when it was a little further along. Once I cropped the photo a bit...I adhered it to the panel with matte medium...including a top coat to knock down the gloss of the photo.  I made the bottom piece as a separate unit, trimmed it up and then adhered that. The swirls on the left are from a calendar...and they got a little wonky after I attached it...so I had to do some "cover up" with my embellishments. I definitely want to try this again and work on my technique!