Emily's purple round

When I was working on this last night, things didn't seem to be going as I'd planned. And so, when I was done, I thought I'd leave you with this pix, and be done with it:

Then, I thought, that that wasn't really 'honest' and maybe I'd add a second pix:

What do they both have in common? Both were taken from afar, and I'd not have to reckon with the details of my purple round.

And then I remembered the reason for this blog: to document my journey in one-stroke painting, and to not have it all here, even the 'warts' wouldn't be right.

So, here's the story: My friend Emily (who remains an imaginary friend, because we have not met IRL) sent me this cake-board via the office of the Alliance Francaise where I study French every Saturday.

After stripping off the silver paper, I found that the board wasn't of the best quality, so it needed to be gesso-ed, and even after that, it still looked pimple-y. SO: I gesso-ed it one more time, this time, leaving it with a textured feel, with raised swirls (it didn't come through in the pix) - which I hope helps hide the pimples.

I did the edge in the purple Emily wanted - it's here favourite colour, she says - and did a light cover on the gesso (not enough, it still sucked up my paint and foiled my flowers :(

Emily wants to make this into a clock. I don't know if it'll work, Em, but let me know if you succeed.

Here's a close-up of the flowers on top, on the bottom, and an 'honest' close-up of the whole round, flaws and all  ;)

Larnee's luggage

Here's what I was doing on Sunday morning:

Any whichaway her luggage is thrown out onto the carousel, she'll be able to see it from afar! Either by the ferns on the side, or by the round-thingy on the front.

I also did the round motif on her carry-on luggage. So that the two look like a set, which they aren't lah. And here they are, together, posing for a pix:

Here's a close-up of the scroll-work-in-a-round:

Her bags are black. And of textile, not the hard, clam-shell kind. So, I had to get paints for textile. She wanted something in silver, and that's what she got. It looks a lot softer in silver. White would have been to jarring on the eyes; too in-your-face.

I used Plaid paints. All I needed to do was let it dry for a bit, and heat-set it with a hair dryer :)

My dining table

This dining table has been with our family since Larnee was a baby. Over the years, it was used for everything from meals, to homework, to ironing (by a maid who didn't like using an ironing board), to a scratchpad for practising numbers and letters, and numerous other stuff.

So, it looked pretty battered: scratched, burnt, scoured, warped.

One day, Dan decided that it needed to be spruced up a bit, and painted it white.

On Saturday, I decided to dress it up a bit - and practised some flowers on it :)

It SO doesn't go with the rest of my home in KL, but those were the colours I had brought with me, so I bashed on.

Come Christmas, I'm thinking I'll do a red-and-green poinsettia thingy on it!

Luggage patch

If you're anything like everyone else out there, your luggage is black. All black. And when it comes out of the carousel at the airport, do you often wonder, "Is that my bag?"

Yes, I've seen the ribbons, and the stickers, and I've also seen two different hands reach for the same bag!

SO: I think it was Larnee who came up with this idea: for me to paint a patch on her bag, so she'll recognise it from afar, and can reach for it with confidence :)

But, what do I paint? I've toyed with ferns (failed) and she seems to like my scroll-work. So, this evening, I came up with a few patches, for her to look at, and maybe there's something here she likes.

I started out with the first one - in a rectangle and a circle; then I decided to do three longish-shapes; and as usual, because I always have extra paint in my palette, I doodled, and voila, the last one.

There is no way I'll be able to exactly reproduce what I've done here. Such is my 'talent' lah: the brush sorta takes itself all over the page, and I am but its servant! But, I can but try to replicate what you like lah  ;)

Scroll-work is something I simply love doing, and so, this was fun.

On my door: Patzplaze

SO: the spirit moved me yesterday, and from out of the blue, I got this idea to paint my name on my door.

A couple of days earlier, I'd watched Donna Dewberry paint ribbons on to something, and as usual, she did it like it was the simplest thing in the world. Which it's so NOT - but tell me what's new about that???!!!

Anyways, I decided that I would do just that: blue ribbons, with a pinky rose, and little flowers and rose-buds.

Here's how it turned out:

My view of my door from where I sit:

A closer shot of what it's all about:

And as always, my valuable assistants, who're with me every step of the way:

To date, this is my most ambitious project, and I'm quite happy with the results. The larger you paint, the more easily seen are the mistakes. But, it is also easier to do the strokes, and they do tend to do what they're told. The smaller pieces are more difficult for me: despite the smaller brushes, there is little room for movement, and the end result tends to look kinda lifeless. Maybe this won't always be so, and as I get better at this, even my small pieces will begin to look good :)