Work-In-Progress Wednesday, Our new addition!

While I have a few WIP going right now-the weather has been very conducive to painting outside on the deck, FINALLY!!!!-I thought I would digress and show everyone the pretty-much-finished plans for the new addition to our home that we hope to start in the next few weeks. A Work-in-Progress for the past 7 years!

The week after Lo was born in 2004, we broke ground and built our 2 car garage, detached and situated below the house-it's roof about 5 feet from the front door. It has served well as an AWESOME huge deck! The rest of the plans have been in the works ever since. Financial hold ups mostly. After starting the proceedings, we opted out of suing Huz's ex for the 30 grand she owed him in order to simply not invite that negativity back into our lives. It may seem foolish, but the piece of mind it has offered us has been well worth the wait. We knew our time would come...and it seems to be here. Although Huz remains screwed...we've come to this from our own hard work(Huz, mostly, cuz I've been the semi-stay-at-home-mommy) And, hey! Let's not forget about KARMA!!!! Works both ways.
Some of you may recall my 2008 post, "Future Dreaming" about the original designs that were drawn up by our neighbor's son, then a junior in high school finishing up a CAD internship. The plan was to add 2 more floors on top of the garage. Since then, Huz and I have decided to forgo the second floor master bedroom and bath in favor of saving the money for travel outside the US. Although it would be heavenly to have that huge bathtub and walk-in closet....seeing more of the world simply trumps the superficial stuff. We would rather DO then HAVE. But the 1st floor is a must. We need a pantry and a place to store seasonal clothes, blankets, outdoor gear, fish freezers, and the like. We need a proper place to eat. And our current family room will morph into the new dinning room. For the new 1st floor, I'm keeping the focus on socializing sans electronics. We'll have a sitting area and woodstove facing this beautiful view:

On the opposite wall will be the AV wall and computer area. The room isn't large enough to house to separate sofas and ottomans/coffee tables, so in order to watch a movie we'll have to do some sort of fancy switcheroo....like give the sofa a spin and a shove so that it's facing the TV! It's all good. This is Alaska. We do things WEIRD here.

I can't say the plans to finish the addition next month are etched in stone ...but we're close enough to be having a "Say GOODBYE to the DECK" party on June 5th!!!

EMERGENCIES!!! EVERYONE TO GO FROM STREET!!!! The 14 year old!!!! She DRIVES!!!!!!!!!

Happy 6th Birthday, my love!!!!

And Happy Mother's day to all you mommies!!!!

What better Mother's Day gift then a beautiful healthy 10 pound butterball baby, huh?!?!?!? Yep....6 years ago today I was a-squeezin' her out!!! How breathtakingly fast it all goes...from that not-so-tiny warm nursling to a T A L L, bright, precocious, creative kindergartner. Still tutu clad and hoping for an EXCAVATOR for her birthday. I acquiesced and went to the "regular" toy stores(let's face it, I don't think they make wood ones that work and last in a sandbox-but correct me if I'm wrong!) in search for one of those big metal Tonka Truck excavators that we got dirty with outside when we were kids. They don't make 'em anymore, Dear Readers. All you can find are small plastic construction vehicles that make all the sounds and movements FOR you. Un-friggin'-believable. I HATE mainstream toy stores, by crotchety, let me TELL you!!!!

So, I hope she will love her real bonafide ballet tutu, and the knit mohair kitten and prairie dress that I got yesterday at the Waldorf May Faire. Since yesterday we spent the day at the May Faire and today is Mother's Day, next weekend is her "kid" birthday party with her friends. We'll have games, and make hula hoops and get wild in yard...hoping for a warm and sunny day! For today, we'll celebrate Mommy and Lo just the 4 of us at home. (Here's a link to my adaptation of the Rainbow Bridge story that I made for Lo 2 years ago)

UPDATE: She wore the tutu and played with her kitty ALL DAY!!!! How wonderful that this simple little kitten can elicit such joy, love, and imagination!!!!

Never a dull moment on FaceBook! And FINISHED work Friday!

Swing Shift(click for detail)

Playing with color and "letting go". Just setting up the paints and various utensils....some loud Indie Techno to set the mood ...and just hitting the canvas RAW. Extempore, impetuous, Enfant Schizo!

Yesturday's FaceBook status:

RunninL8... Hates the pretentiousness of Americans who wax British with the idiom, "I'm going to University".


RM: really? do you also hate Americans who add the 'o u' to certain words, for example colour... if so, I am in really trouble with you.

Runninl8: not so much. And it's the pretense i hate....not the people.

CS: I hate those wankers, its bollocks I tell you!

LLS: Oh, Bloody 'ell.

CS: Fish and chips

RunninL8: RIGHT! Cor BLIMEY!!!! I just shat my Alan Whickers!!! No more gettin' blindo for me!!!!

RunninL8: LLS, you're a corking corker and I LOVE ya!

CS: Those cheeky buggers are fit. I might try to shag one of them now

RunninL8: it's a GAS!

RunninL8: Cory, give the ole undercarriage a bit of a 'how's your father' first!

CS: Oh that's pure codswallop

DLM: Marginally better than I'm going to the water closet.

DC: Quick wit and humor. Love it. You would be a fun neighbor. :)

Work in Progress Wednesday...on Thursday. Waddaya gonna do?

One of the pieces I 'm working on this week was derived from a technique that I learned from GARY REEF on his NING site, LOVIN' MIXED MEDIA. Gary is a fabulous Australian contemporary mixed media artist who lives in Norway. His amazing networking matrix consists of YouTube art technique tutorials, FaceBook updates on his latest works, an Etsy shop and the NING site- chock full of informative articles, groups, videos, forums, and tons of like-minded artists....a fecund land of creativity and inspiration.

The technique used on my above Buddha work is Gary's "Bubble Effect" technique. A wonderfully textural work made by using thick layers of house paint and a heat gun.

Take a minute to check out Gary's work on his website and then head on over to Lovin' Mixed Media.....an incendiary device for the imagination!

As far as my Buddha....I'm not sure where I'm going to take it. I may add some Sanskrit text next to him and call it good. Or maybe get crazy with some lotuses all around. Or both. Hmmmmmm....