trying new things | my90acres

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More glam cats

Posted on June 18, 2023 | 1 comment

June has been a hectic month so far. Gardening and property maintenance has taken a huge bite of my time. With spring rains and warm weather, all the vegetation has had explosive growth. Everything needs to be weeded, watered (if no rain), planted, trimmed, etc. The drive alone is a third of a mile long and requires whacking back all the brush and briars. When I do it, it usually takes three days; even then it still takes two people to do the overhead branches as I’m certainly not getting any taller.

Then there are all the other things to do around here. Library programs. Grandkids. Driving people for appointments. Welcome house guests. Not much free time for R & R.

But…I have still been pursuing my newest painting direction which includes more cat paintings with touches of real gold and silver. My “Glam Cats.” Why? Because it amuses me. That is what keeps artists and creative types going.

This is a painting of Pria, the pretty white cat from the animal shelter. First I painted her with just a blue background. I’m putting the cats on oriental carpets for an added bit of class. Then I add the gold and /or silver. This is not paint. It is real sheets of 23K gold and real sterling silver. The sheets are so thin that I can’t have any air flow in the studio otherwise it’s impossible to control and it flies everywhere. I’ve also discovered that timing is everything. Putting on the adhesive where I want the metal to stick, then judging when it is the right amount of tackiness, then transferring the gold. After this step has dried for a few days, I then spray the whole painting with a coat of acrylic. This prevents damage to the thin layer of precious metal, and prevents the silver from tarnishing over time.

Ki before the gold and silver was added.

I’m not sure how much longer I’ll pursue this direction of painting but I’m having fun now. I’ve often wondered how some artists just keep doing the same type of subject and style their entire lives (thinking of Renoir or Wyeth) while others have long and successful careers by seeking new avenues (Picasso or Calder). I guess it’s just temperament in the end. No right way or wrong.

P.S. Pria was adopted from the shelter shortly after I painted this picture.

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Posted in animals, art

Tagged cats, gilt, glam cat, glamorous cats, gold leaf, new ideas, trying new things

New beginnings

Posted on April 9, 2023 | Comments Off

Raised Bed – Electricity – Baby Chainsaw

Our spring weather has been all over the place. Several weeks ago, we had exceedingly warm weather. Then some cold, frost, rain and storms. Finally, the beautiful weather rolled in and I could tackle some tasks that were waiting.

One thing was to assemble a raised bed kit. I received two for Christmas but haven’t had time to put them together. We decided to cut back on our huge garden this year so we’ll see how this goes. I’m usually pretty good at following directions so it wasn’t really difficult to assemble. The hardest part was bending, stooping and squatting to put all the nuts and bolts in. My knees paid for it the next day. And I have one more to assemble. I’ll file progress reports on how it works.

First raised bed assembled. Steel, 8′ x 4′ x 1′. Of course, it will need to be set in place and filled with mulch and dirt.

Then, I had a lamp switch go out a couple of weeks ago. This is my main reading lamp. Frankly, I’m a little skeptical about working on electricity but thought I’d give it a go. After watching four videos online, I thought, How hard can it be? It actually wasn’t. I decided to repair another lamp while I was at it and had both done in about twenty minutes. And they work!

Finally, I took the plunge with another Christmas gift. This is a mini-chainsaw! Yes, really! If you’ve followed this blog for awhile, then you know that we process a good bit of firewood here on the homestead so we’re not strangers to some big, noisy equipment. But I have never operated a chainsaw and didn’t want to learn. (They’re big, noisy, and pretty dangerous.) Anyway, I got tired of asking for someone to cut some brush and small branches for me. So I requested my own mini-chainsaw.

Of course, I read every word of the instruction book. Purchased some safety equipment. And gave it a try yesterday. My husband glanced at it (without laughing) and said, you do this and this and this and you’re good to go. Please repeat that, thank you very much.

But I had my first foray into trimming some brush and fruit trees. It worked great but my muscles were sure sore today. However, this ought to help when I trim the drive later this spring.

So, these were my adventures in new beginnings this week. There is so much to do around here in the spring that I’m sure I’ll have plenty more challenges. Don’t forget those helpful videos online if you want to try something new.