Getting Rid of the Yuck Factor

Our kitchen had a formica back splash with aluminum trim. It was dreary looking and very stained behind the cook top. Jeff started to rip it off and as he suspected it was glued to the sheetrock wall. The formica removal took most of the paper from the sheetrock with it. 

In another life, long ago, Jeff hung sheetrock for a few years. He was able to make it all pretty and ready for paint. 

While he played in the mud, I stripped the wallpaper where the fridge goes. Behind it I found an icky, moldy mess. On the other side of this wall is the washer hook up. It must have leaked at one time, creating mold. Jeff cut the wall out on both sides to also find some rotten framing.

The framing is now replaced and last night Jeff hung the sheetrock.

I have started to tackle the pink bathroom. The wallpaper is gone. Now to scrub the glue off of the wall.

We hope to be in the house by this weekend. Everything won't be done, but the icky stuff will be gone!

Elbow Grease

I am spending all of my spare time doing work at the house. The wallpaper in the main bath is stripped. Tonight I will start prepping the walls for paint. I should have taken a before photo. The wallpaper was quite ugly. I think I have settled on a very light gray paint color. I really dislike this whole window in a shower thing. What were people thinking back then?! I was shocked at how well the window cleaned up. It was pretty gross.

Along with the bathroom work, I have been taking out screens, hosing them down outside, and washing all the windows and sills. The house had been empty for many years, so you can imagine the amount of spider webs and crud that had taken over.

Eventually we will replace these pain in the ass crank out windows. We have a few broken pains that will need replacing. I am hoping it won't be too difficult (or expensive) to find someone to do it.
Doesn't the "indirect" lighting in the master bedroom remind you of a hospital? And how 'bout those bedside wall lamps?!

When Jeff returns from his trip we will tackle the job of stripping the kitchen cabinets. Some years back latex paint was applied over the oil based paint... it's peeling off like crazy. This job I am not looking forward to!

The lawn was looking like it was ready to be hayed, so I hired someone to mow this week. Everything is looking so green and pretty! We are definitely going to have to buy a riding mower.

While I slave away working on the house, making pots, manning the gallery, Jeff sends me this picture at 7:15 am...

It was 8:15 pm in S. Korea and this is the evening hang out for the festival participants. The 7-11 is next to the hotel and there is outdoor seating. They can go in and buy beer or soju and drink it outside.
The timing of this trip was definitely not ideal. Jeff could have declined the invitation but would it have jeopardized future invites? Thankfully we don't have to be out of the log cabin by a certain date. I know that everything will fall into place... eventually.

Name your pig

 We unloaded the gas kiln in the late afternoon on Sunday. Most of the load was orders and it was a great firing... thank you kiln gods and Jeff, who stayed up all night to get this firing done before his trip.

These are few samples of the "personalized" piggy banks. I was relieved that "Anne" came out perfect. This was a re-do. I totally forgot to add the flowers to the first one, and didn't realize it until it was bisqued. If you know someone named Anne that needs a piggy bank without flowers, I have one ready and waiting for glaze! At least Anne is a common name. I am sure it will eventually sell.

 I had some fun with the underglaze on this piggy. It will be available in my Etsy shop tonight...

I took Jeff to the airport yesterday and he landed in Tokyo in the early morning (our time). He is staying with a potter friend in Naga and will visit Mashiko tomorrow. On Thursday he will fly to Seoul. It was a stressful week preparing for this trip. There was so much to do and we both came down with head colds at the beginning of last week. We felt like we were moving in slow motion. To save our sanity we took some things off of our "to do" list. We postponed the stripping and painting of the kitchen cabinets job. Better to focus on getting healthy. The cabinets can wait until Jeff returns.
I am certain they will still be there, in all of their peeling paint glory.

My consolation prize for staying behind was a shopping trip to IKEA! Since I was already in Charlotte, it was an easy decision. I didn't go crazy but did come home with new towels and shower curtain for the main bath, along with place mats and a runner for the dining table. I will actually NOT have a "photo taking set up" on our dining room table anymore! We have a good size office where we can keep it set up and out of the way. Now to see if we will actually eat at the table...

art journal part II

Here are photos I took of some of the 2009 art journals. A few are my contributions, others are by the other artists. The first two photos are from the "New Beginnings" journal.

 This book came in the spring when I had made the decision to move out of the apartment that JZ and I shared. Once he was gone I could only focus on the negatives of living there. The windows are filled with representations of those things. On the right was my new beginning. A little house on Bow Lake. The windows are filled with the promise of starting a new chapter in life.

The next three are from the "Self Portrait" journal...

"Dreams"

 Above is my two page spread, based on a very vivid dream. After that dream, I knew I was never going to not have my hands in clay!

"Fairies"

 The cover of fairies was both cool and creepy. It appeared to be a paper pulp sculpture built up on the cover.

 "Color"

I had just read a biography about Georgia O'Keefe, and had seen an exhibition of her and Ansel Adams work in Washington, DC. Obviously this watercolor was inspired by O'Keefe.

It looks like I have recruited 7 participants for the 2013 art journal project... I am looking for 5 more people to join in. If you missed the details go back and read the previous post. If you know someone who you think would like to do this have them leave a comment or send me an e-mail.

Happy Independence Day!

reflecting on the past, looking towards the future

i couldn't handle listening to or reading about all the media coverage of 9/11 this weekend. it was hard enough to live through and i am not interested in rehashing it for 24 hours. i turned the radio off in the studio and worked quietly. 

our pottery is across the street from a church and late Saturday afternoon i heard lots of happy sounding voices. i went out on the front porch of the gallery to see what was going on...

how sweet... a wedding. it made me smile. this young couple's anniversary is 9/10/11. it should be easy for all to remember. 

until 10 years ago i had difficulty remembering the date of my parents anniversary. now i never forget. 

it is 9/11/54. yesterday was their 57th wedding anniversary. 

the quiet in the studio did lend itself to new ideas...

flowers carved through slip... i have salt glazing in mind for these. i didn't go crazy making a lot, since i want to see some results first... who knows what direction they will lead me to.

closed and locked the door...ready for a new beginning.

the may art journal is completed at last...i am not sure how i feel about it. i like it better photographed than when i am holding it in my hands. the left hand page is the apartment i shared with john. it is a charming old building with lots of windows and sunlight. after john died i couldn't focus on the things i loved about the apartment that we called home. i dwelled on the negative...rude neighbors, the ceiling that needed repair, the stained fixtures from too much iron in the well water. inside the cut out windows are pictures of things that irritated me but also some that are symbolic to me as i travel this road through grief.

this is my new place...it is a lovely little home nestled on a wooded lot across the street from bow lake. the door and windows open up to photographs of thing i love about this new beginning. there are also some written words on the flaps of the door and windows...

above and below is someone else's spread in the journal. it depicts a tree throughout the seasons...of course sophie had to get in the picture.

the title of this post are the words that are written across the bottom of my spread in this journal.

...as difficult as this months journal was to complete...it arrived right on time.

a new beginning...

...is the art journal theme this month and it arrived right on time. i am in the middle of a move. not going very far, just a few miles down the road. i love my new place! it's quiet and spacious with lots of storage (yeah i have lots of stuff). many thanks to paul, harris and jeff for all their help in getting this disorganized girl moved.

...the move has put glazing, loading and firing the kiln on hold. hopefully i can get back to the studio next week.

i almost forgot the best part of my new digs.....washer and dryer hook ups :o) !no more coin laundry for this girl

...is there anything you need washed?