Do you really want to know this?

It's been so long since I have blogged, I almost wonder whether to blog and why? Does anyone need to know what I'm doing? Does anyone care?

I originally thought I'd blog to promote my work. As an artist, it's difficult to mix in marketing and promotion. In my perfect world, I'd retreat into my garage and not come out until I had created the perfect faux ocelot masterpiece on a shabby little piece of furniture someone had sold at a garage sale -- and then watch as my transformed masterpiece magically sold itself so I could buy some new shoes. When I work, I bust my hump, mostly to suit myself (which is a really hard job). Somehow the client almost always loves it. When it seems like I'm just doing a job for money, and not personally doing my part at beautifying the world, it's no fun. Maybe blogging is self-analyzing. Hmmm.

After that fascinating peek into my twisted personality, here's a gallery of sorts of what I did last year. Depending on how many images make my cut, it will be my Top 6 or 5. (six or five is just funner to say than five or six). These are in no particular order, because it's just a hassle to move the pictures around.

Patty's powder room. It's just pretty and you want to be in Patty's house because of Patty. Base color is SW Nomadic Desert.

My shower wall. This has everything but the kitchen sink on it, but includes Fauxstone Pull-off and a couple of colors of Lusterstone over SW Blonde. It makes me happy everyday.

Who doesn't love lime green bar stools? The antiquing stain makes them a little edgy.

The client wanted leopard. I procrastinated and couldn't find a stencil locally. I didn't know how to do leopard. So maybe two days before the install, I sat down with a printout of leopard skin and made it happen with a cheapy paint brush from my daughters' watercolors. I was quite pleased. God was with me that day, for sure, because I had no idea what I was doing.

Gwynne's powder room. It was so hard and it looks so good. This is Topaz Venetian Gem & wax, and that's all I'm going to tell you. When you walk into the room, you just have to reach out and touch the wall to see what it is.

Though I wasn't in love with this tile, the paint color on these cabinets was such a rich red. The only problem was the painters had cut it so thin everytime you brushed past them they'd scuff. So I antiqued and sealed them and they were awesome. The growling, teeth-baring, massive barking dog on this job that the client told me was just "all bark" and would "eventually leave me alone" made me really glad to get the hell out of that house.

I really worked on my skins last year. This looks like yummy dark brown leather.

Anything I did in a powder bath with this fabulous light fixture is going on my top list. I just love it. And I love the client with the balls to pick it out. When I am a few years older, I want to be like her. Tough and confident and rich so I can be philanthropic.

And then there was my favorite blog, I mean rant, of the year. If you are curious, just click here.