A transformational tale of the pitiful pine table

Everybody loves a love story, especially tales of transformation. Think the Ugly Duckling, Beauty and the Beast, Pretty Woman. Now while I have officially given up on men as "projects" and highly discourage it far and wide, my obsession with all other kinds of tranformation remains the key guiding force in my groovy life.

With that in mind, I want to help everybody get some vision and see past the ugly ducklings in your own lives: garage sale furniture, parental hand-me-downs, and maybe even your house you've given up on. All of these just may need some paint and inspiration!


OK, it's not so bad. But it's really not inspired either, is it?


My really cool client Susan had a feeling something could be done with this table. She really needed an outdoor dining table. Enter the transformation-obsessed person who wants to paint everything that isn't moving. Years earlier, I had painted a brand-new potting bench to look old and crusty for her powder room. She's so clever she used a bucket for the sink. I sure wish my computer guy would backup my old laptop that died so I could show you a picture of it. You'll just have to take my word for it. It's super cute.

Anyway, after putting our heads together, we came up with a hammered copper top and painted legs, with some stenciling. I saw this design somewhere and had to make the stencil but it wasn't hard. All you have to do is go to Hobby Lobby and get the clear sheet of stencil plastic. Trace your design using a Sharpie and then cut it out with an X-Acto knife. 


These candlesticks were an inspiration.

And, I had just finished working in this bank.
That's hammered copper wrapped around the bottom.

So anyway, this is how the table turned out. When Susan emailed me a picture last night, if I had had on a skirt, it would have not just blown up, it would have blown off. I delivered it in the dark and never got a chance to see it on her patio, in good light. I think it's even prettier at her house than it was at mine while I was painting it.



It's my new favorite thing.

 Now I am seriously on the prowl for an old pitiful table to paint for myself. You can so do this. And if you have any questions, just ask!!

Mondays are not all bad

After an inspiring weekend day trip seeing beautiful things with the beautiful people in the beautiful Hill Country, and after an awful back-to-reality Monday morning, I prayed my way through my day well enough to put together this metallic plaster ceiling.  Maintaining the creative groove isn't always easy when the realities of life like dirty dishes and crabby kids crash into my chi. 

Thank God for my work!!! Yes, my scaffold gave me fits, but made the job much easier than moving a ladder around, at least once I adjusted it to the right height. That isn't real easy when you're working alone. There were a few times when I was tempted to say screw-it and go get my ladder.

But the end result made me really, really happy. It was exactly what this dining room needed, just as I suspected (and suggested). I love it when people are open to my big ideas and then I get to put them into action. It happens just every so often ... not near enough, but just enough to keep me going.

If only I could implement some of these big ideas at my house ....

Ahhhh romance … with a faux flair of course!

Ahhhh, Valentine's Day. That day we remember our lives are supposed to be infused with peace and love, and mostly aren't. With kids and work and the everyday hectic pace of life, some of us forget to surround ourselves with romantic touches that can comfort our souls and make our hearts feel good, regardless of whether we have anyone to romance. As a decorative painter and faux finisher, much of the romance I create is, alas, for other people.

Here's a look at some beautiful interiors I've just come across on the web. These beautiful images are courtesy of House Beautiful for MSN Lifestyle. I picked my favorites, let me know what you think! 

 We all spend so much time in the kitchen, why not make it the most romantic room in your house? Here, artist Michael Duté uses a blue-and-white design to create a light-hearted, almost whimsical sophistication to a kitchen. A much-coveted farmhouse sink, below casement windows and marble counters make it justcountry enough, but not too much. Although it might take me a while to find my way, I think I could get used to hidden appliances like the Sub-Zero drawer refrigerator, which lets the super sexy stove and decorative walls get all the attention.

The blue on the walls reminds me of a beautiful French blue glaze I applied over StucoLux in a teeny tiny powder room. It was gorgeous (and the client's idea!) I have the smartest clients.



 In this fancy French-inspired living room, what gets me excited are the faux finishes! Now I can't be certain, but I'm almost 100% that the fireplace is a faux limestone. It just doesn't look real enough to me. And though it's certainly excellent work, the grout lines seem a bit too neat and flat. Of course, it could be real, who knows? I would mess it up a little and make it more "real."


Antiqued cabinetry is another favorite of mine. See the doors to the left of the fireplace? I bet they hide entertainment components. And this could be done to any old armoire. Right up front, I love how the gold makes the lamp so much more fabulous. According to the article, designer Erin Martin had the sofa is upholstered in Provence Hay, a Dintiman Design Associates hand-painted linen. I love it, especially with the furry pillow. Relaxed romance is always best, if you ask me. 

While on the subject of romance, where's a bedroom we can all dream of? 

Ok,this one may be a little too fussy and orderly for me, but I'm including it for the dreamy walls! Think shimmery custom-mixed Lusterstone, or a gorgeous Venetian plaster in blue. Even a lime-washed treatment would be fabulous – and romantic.

Here again, designer Erin Martin used a hand-stitched French needlepoint headboard from a French flea market and combined it with a new canopy bed from Ironies. I especially love the wood finish on the settee. So doable.

After a night in this dreamy bedroom, it's only right to have breakfast here:

 

I selected this picture because I love the subtle tones in what I'm pretty sure is gorgeous pricey wallpaper. I would propose a similar color scheme, but with a stencil design. The pattern could be raised, or subtly obscured with plaster. And with a stencil and paint, there's hardly the commitment to love it for the rest of your life (after it goes out of style) based on what it cost you. Once you're ready to move on, all I would need to do is paint over it with whatever has become your new favorite faux inspiration! J

 To read the entire article, and see many more images from the online article, click here:

Change is good! Or, one transformation leads to another ...

Change is good, for people and our spaces. In this particular case, my client (and friend) wanted her living room to feel warm and comfortable. She wanted people to want to come into her already beautiful home, sit down and stay awhile. A previous remodel had improved upon "builder white" flat walls with a three-color glaze. Everyday sheetrocked columns had been covered in tumbled marble tile.

Ten years later, my client wanted to warm it up. She had purchased new, comfy furniture, and built-in shelves on either side of the fireplace had been replaced. There was a new mantel and a generously sized TV over the fireplace. Yet, the frosty walls and cool gray tones of the columns were killing the comfy vibe.



New oversized furniture and rustic lamp
with a linen shade are much more casual.






















To begin the transformation, I suggested we bring down the 12-foot ceiling with a warm-toned metallic plaster. A new scaffold I bought myself for Christmas amazingly straddled this enormous sofa so I was able to work on the ceiling without moving the furniture out.

New ceiling is Antique Parchment Lusterstone,
a product from Faux Effects.



But as you might imagine, one project leads to another. And for me, that's not a bad thing. The ceiling turned out so warm and wonderful that my client wondered whether the walls were crying out for a warmer paint color. No problem. We needed to work with the new sofa, and the new ceiling. I didn't even flinch when I painted over my original 10-year-old glaze job with plain old vanilla paint in an eggshell finish. It's Sherwin Williams Basket Beige, to be exact. It blends beautifully with the Antique Parchment Lusterstone, and the sofa, but isn't matchy-matchy. Beautiful white crown moulding defines both perfectly.

After all this beautiful toasty transformation, the columns that had been wrapped in tumbled marble tile stuck out like ... well let's just say they needed a little help, in the form of a wash.

The columns before. Nice, but too cool.







A tinted Lime Wash solved the problem.
It dries lighter.  





The columns now blend in beautifully. And yes,
the white ceiling fan is on its way out. 

  

The change has been amazing and provides a perfect example of what I love most about what I do ... a completely transformed space and a finite sense of accomplishment. Although, from what I understand, the blue walls in the kitchen are now screaming for something warmer ...

(to be continued) 

In praise of new beginnings (and get the party started already!)

Is it just me or is everyone just a little bit excited about the start of this new year?

I can't remember a time when I have felt this eager to get going, reach new heights, make lists, clean and throw away, start new projects. In fact, for the first time ever, the day after Christmas I was ready for all the Christmas decorations to GO! And as I took them all down and disassembled the tree, I reduced the bins and boxes by one HUGE bin! Yay. Did that ever feel good. So now it's on to real jobs, the paying kind  ...

I was discussing new directions with one of bestest friends today and she said maybe our newfound optimism comes from just being glad 2010 is OVER. That is how I felt about 2009, the year we were forced to come to terms with the fact that the gravy train was slowing down. My friend likened 2010 to a bad hangover.

Come to think of it, last year did feel a little bit like dehydration (monetary) and a pounding headache (fretful indecisive immobility) at times. Like hangovers, those bad feelings came to an end. We just put our noses to the grindstone and worked (drank) our way out of it. No whining allowed. Who promised the gravy train would chug on forever? We just have to be better and smarter now. I know I learned a lot last year and I'm ready to put that newfound knowledge to work!

Today, I found some pictures today of a little job I did in New Braunfels a while back and thought I'd share them. This is the kind of thing that blows my skirt up and makes me really, really happy:

Crystal and plaster and antique mirrors! Can I get an amen? Let me just say, this massive mirror is to die for. That's what makes this teeny tiny bathroom so fabulous: The mirror is enormously out of scale and some snooty designer type might snort that it's too large for the space. Someone else might say the chandelier is going to clonk someone tall right smack in the forehead. I sayWHO CARES??? I say the chandelier is rich and drippy crystal fabulous and the enormo mirror enlarges the space and distributes good energy all over the room!

If you can have this chandelier and this mirror and me to create warm and yummy champagne-colored plaster walls, why the heck not? Life is too short to live with mediocrity and it's really waaaaaay too short to worry about all the rules of convention!

Here's a close-up of the wall, the corner of the mirror, and the bead board below. I painted the bead board and trim a gorgeous warm cream from Benjamin Moore. It had been a cold, stark white with no soul.

What's worse: Above the bead board, where you now see the beautiful champagne plaster, was blue and white striped wallpaper. It was lovely and cheerful in the 90s, but we've all grown up since then, haven't we?

Love it!

How to find heaven while still on earth ...

Have you ever thought about what heaven will look like? We decided last week it looks like this niche. This is the kind of thing that makes me happy. It blows my skirt up and floods me with thankfulness because I am so blessed to be able to work and make money doing something that beautifies the world.

While beautification and transformation are the underlying principles in practically everything I think about, it's not that way for everyone. Sometimes we get clients who just want faux finishes because the people down the street have them, or because they saw them at the Parade of Homes. We do the amazing job and they're happy, but not in a profound way. It's more like: "Okay, I can check that off my list."

But other times, we suggest color changes and make improvements that change the way our clients actually "feel" when they are in their homes. In this house with the heavenly niche, our client was absolutely ecstatic about the glorious changes we were making in her home. She thanked us profusely, and meant it. She was the most joyful person: funny, genuine, thankful. She was a blessing to us!

Back to the heavenly niche: You must know it was a collaborative effort. My very talented angel painter friend Mary Hulin started it by skimming out the monterrey drag texture (blek!). Monterrey is just hell on fine faux finishes, but Mary made this niche as smooth as a baby's bottom. Then, a day or so later, with my neck in a permanent right-cranked cramp from the dining room ceiling, I begged to do the plaster. A straight-ahead niche was a welcome break.

It has become our new favorite finish.

Across the way, this is the dining room ceiling that right-cranked my neck and later wiped Mary out. Here's the before:

Poor little boring thing is just begging for something to be done so it can stand out and shine! You know this upgrade feature wasn't cheap and so far wasn't living up to its potential!

And after! So pretty and elegant. And worth all the paint, plaster and aggravation.

If there's a moral to the story here (and isn't there always a moral to my stories?) it has to be this: Please go find your special purpose. Whatever blows your skirt up. It may take you the rest of your life, and it isn't going to be easy, filled with nothing but peace and love and puppies. But I promise that if you look and listen you will find it.

Next up: a dreary little bathroom that has become an embarrassment.

It's not easy being me

Oh ... I was going to do something really fabulous today, but instead I am killing time blogging because I read too fast for the stupid online defensive driving class. This proves, once again, that if something is designed for the masses, it will cater to the lowest common denominator.

Paige said the average person reads somewhere around a fifth grade level. I think I would agree, I suppose. I could have taken this class in half the time.

I don't do anything slow, I don't think. I walk fast. I talk fast. You should see me typing right now. It's fast. OK maybe I don't run fast. But I would if I actually wanted to run. But here's the deal: there is a story behind why I read so fast, despite my public school education designed for the masses.

It all can be traced back to good old Alpine Junior High School, where all my smart friends and I managed to learn something in spite of roaches and bats in the hallways and coaches for teachers. (ha! sorry if any of you read my blog!) Anyway, back in eighth grade reading, the students were divided into groups that rotated from station to station. One of the stations was a film projector contraption that flashed sentences onto the wall. The goal was to gradually increase your reading speed. Except that my group, a bunch of smart-alecs to be sure, would turn the machine up as fast as it would go. We were just challenging ourselves, and somehow we got away with this really bad behavior. We did end up being tested on our comprehension, so you couldn't go so fast that you couldn't read it. We did all want to make As, you know, even though we were above-average juvenile delinquents.

The moral of the story? Or, where am I going with this? This is at least one very good example of how goofing off in school pays off. I am a super-quick reader now all because of the silliness of me, my best friend Kim Elliott, Jeff Stump, Mark Poteet and I think maybe Jimmy Kim.

All of which brings me back to my online defensive driving course that is keeping me from my super-exciting StucoLux installation. I do still have a decorative painting business. But today, it was forced to take a backseat to me trying to avoid a warrant for my arrest due to the ticket I got for allegedly speeding in Del Rio. And if I can't drive without getting thrown in jail, I can't very well run a business that requires me to drive.

Tomorrow ... back to my StucoLux brilliance. Wish me luck.

Thursday was my drop-dead date to deliver some cabinet doors I was painting for my friend Wendy. She started out as my client at least eight years ago, but we soon realized that we had to be friends. We had too many issues in common, apparently. Wendy and her husband own a nursing home in Seguin. Let me rephrase that. It is Nesbit Living & Recovery Center.

The reason I'm being asked to paint stuff for her nursing home is because Nesbit LRC is in the midst of a huge renovation that I must say has actually impressed me. And I'm a tough customer because I've had an aversion to nursing homes going waaaay back. Am I alone in this? By this point I'm sure you're wondering where is she going with this rambling blog (or perhaps you're used to it). On Thursday I decided it would be smart to deliver the doors, have them installed on the entertainment cabinet, and then put the final antiquing stain on them while they were hanging. Much easier for me, and much less likely that I would screw them up in transit.

Sounds like a pretty boring story, huh? Well, actually no. Wendy and I decided to go to lunch first. This required me to dress presentably for the first time in weeks, so I wore my trusty uniform CAbi skirt in a jungle print. For my top I wore a faded, brown Old Navy t-shirt, thinking it wouldn't be any big deal if I got stain on it. So I'm walking down the hallway to the Recreation Room where my cabinet was. I zipped by a poor older resident once or twice, walking fast and erratic like I alwasy do. All the while this poor little lady (or so I would assume, not knowing) is oonching herself down the hallway in her wheel chair because, heck, she doesn't have anything better to do. And I SWEAR TO YOU she mumbled under her breath that my skirt was TOO SHORT!

Except you know how older women never mumbled anything. You can always hear it just fine. I have to admit, it is too short. I mean really, I am almost 44. My grandmother would have said the same thing. It was hilarious. And I smiled. It made me think of my Mama.

Ok, as if that's not enough to have made my day, that's only the first thing. I started staining and antiquing and this precious woman came in for what I learned were scheduled domino games. She watched me for a long time and then walked over to me. "This is your calling," she said, as a statement of fact. Wow! I immediately recognized her as a messenger. "Yes, ma'am," I said. "It is. And it doesn't even feel like work." She just smiled, knowingly, and went to find her seat.

Another lady was sitting at a domino table, just waiting for some other players to come join her. She told me she was a pretty fierce player. I asked her if she takes all their money. She said "oh they don't let me have any money." I thought that was too bad. She would probably be able to really supplement her Social Security income if they'd let her gamble every now and again.

So I kept on and the games got going. The entire room filled up. Two ladies, one of which was a little combative, got a little testy, and was told she'd have to leave. It reminded me of someone who got kicked out of a bar one time in Mexico. I wondered if I'll get kicked out of the domino games when I'm an old lady.

All the while, I was pondering that maybe getting old and going to the nursing home is only the worst thing that can happen to you if that's what you think is the worst thing that can happen to you. Like every other aspect of life, it's all how you look at it. I got to thinking about my grandmother, who was a social butterfly and wasn't ever overjoyed to be a housewife way out on a farm in the country. We thought she lived in paradise and led the perfect life, but I think she found it unglamorous and lonely. She loved to go to town, shop, and go with her friend Bonnie for a "cup of coffee and piece of pie." I think she might have liked the nursing home if she had lived long enough to go there.

Well if that wasn't enough, then a group of kids from Vacation Bible School at Faith Lutheran Church came in to sing some songs about God. I was thinking: "what more can happen to make this a wonderful day?" And I had been hoping to sneak in, do my thing, and get out of there as fast as possible. Ha!

Back to what Wendy and her husband David are doing at Nesbit LRC. This is one of the room numbers. Wendy has really gone above and beyond to make it homey and beautiful, transforming what had been institutional and sterile in 1990s pinks and mauves. If a nursing home can look more like a resort, this one is well on its way, with warm, earthy colors and beautiful artwork. All I'm saying is if I have to go one day, just take me there. But I may just have to sneak in some money for the domino and card games...

Yesterday I was blessed to spend the afternoon in a house where I've done quite a bit of decorative painting. The original purpose of my visit was to discuss colors for our next project in the master bath. But of course when I enter this house I never want to leave, so I lingered and my client and I had a really nice visit. A continuing lesson for me is this: When you slow down and listen, and take time to engage, wow you can learn some stuff. I might not get as much done, but I think it's making me a better person.

In our most recent project, the client had the walls wallpapered, and I transformed the regular old sheetrock columns to complement the wallpaper (but not match exactly) using FE Metallic Bronze Setcoat & Brown Suede Lusterstone. The baseboards and windowsills were also painted with FE MetalGlow in New Penny Gold.

Decorative painting makes me a decent amount of money, but that pales in comparison to the friends and mentors the business has brought to me. That's the blessing part of it. I hope somewhere out there in all my jobs there will be a person that needs something I have so I can return the favor.

This Lusterstone powder room was one of the first jobs I took after recovering

from twin birth ... This is Lusterstone in Tequila Sunrise, Cantaloupe & Green Onyx.

When I first met the really smart woman of this house probably eight or nine years ago, I was told by the interior designer who hired me that the homeowner was "the sweetest woman you'll ever meet." Sweet? I don't know that I would use that word now that I have known her all these years. She is kind, and gentle and very, very wise. But I'm not into sugar these days and neither is she. She's much more than sweet.

My first job in this house was this kitchen remodel.

So anyway, I spent the afternoon doing what I once would have thought was frittering. Now I know it was time well-spent. What's really exciting is our next adventure, which will involve freeing my client from flowery wallpaper and transforming the walls in the master bath with a rich combination of Lusterstone in Bordeaux (a pinky red) and maybe Champagne Mist all mixed together. It's going to be fabulous. And I promise to show pictures just as soon as we're finished.

A glimpse into my inner turmoil and/or twisted idiocy

Anyone who's had the misfortune of being withing talking distance of me in the last few weeks knows my cloud job totally traumatized me. It was an awesome opportunity, really overwhelming, and just a big damn job.

This scissor lift saved my life

In preparation, I even took a class with Nicola Vigini to refresh and refine my skills, and make sure I did the job justice. And also, I needed to figure out the most efficient way to accomplish this job on a really tight schedule. Let's just say Nicola makes it look easy. It was waaaaay harder than I expected. Still, I finished the job and got paid. So why am I still freaking out about it? How many times can I use I in that paragraph for God's sake?

It did not turn out the way I imagined it in my mind. At least to me. The client was happy. The builder was practically sweeping me out the door and loading my truck for me. Now, everywhere I go there are clouds. You know, like in the sky. But that's not all: I see them on every TV show, pieces of junk mail, in the grocery store. They're everywhere, damn clouds. And I'll never get away from them. They're pretty much part of my atmosphere. Yours too, probably.

They didn't photograph exactly great either.

Being an artist is not all fun and games. You have a vision of what you want to accomplish, and sometimes you don't get it to turn out just the way it looked in your head. Sometimes the builder says you have to finish today so the lighting can be installed and the floor can be grouted. Stupid details like that. I would have farted around perfecting that damn entry way for another week. I might even have screwed it up somehow. But still, I wanted it to be perfect.


My smart friend Wendy says I'm just suffering from my own unreasonable expectations. I met the client's expectations, so get over it and move on. Easy for her to say. She's my friend that forced me to knit. She taught me to knit left handed, like her. I'm right handed. She knits all sorts of pretty scarfs and baby blankets. At our last Knit Night at Chiro Java, after I had been working on the same sofa throw for at least one and a half years, I tore out every stitch of it and rolled up all that fabulous baby alpaca yarn into balls. It was just too hideous.



In this case, there's really no arguing with me that this was one hideous throw. It's a pretty damn hideous picture of me, too, come to think of it. All the other knitters at the table were about to wet their pants laughing at me and my hideous creation.


So I guess the lesson I'm supposed to be working on has something to do with perfection. And until I figure out what the lesson is and conquer this obstacle, I will not be satisfied, dammit.

They don't teach common sense in college...

So I got this big job painting clouds in the entry of a "destination gas station," which promises to be the Buckees for the Corpus bound. Basically the jobsite included me, some electricians and about 30 guys we'll presume are Newcomers from South of the Border all busy pouring concrete, setting tile & installing rock on some pretty serious deadlines, all taking our turn at the porta-potties and water-hose wash station.

For the first three days of the job, I wondered to myself, what am I going to pack for lunch? Here's how my inner conversation with myself went, as I stood in front of the refrigerator each morning: "What can I take for lunch? These yummy beans? They're my favorite meal, afer all. This Lean Cuisine? No, I can't take that, they need to be heated. Where would I heat it up? The competitors next door aren't going to let me use their microwave. There's no love lost there, especially since their sign says they're 'American-owned' just because the owner of my station was from some other country at some point. Whatever. I suppose I could drive across the freeway and use the micro at the owner's other station across the way. That's a hassle. ... Oh screw it, I'll take a sandwich."

So day after day, I ate a cold sandwich. It was tasty: on my fancy Ezekial bread, turkey, lettuce, mayo, mustard and horseradish. And then one day, while I was eating my ok, but not mind-blowing cold sandwich purely for sustenance and not enjoyment, one of the Newcomers on my jobsite came walking up carrying something large and white. I initially thought it was a box.

No, it was a microwave.

What the hell! The Newcomer carrying the microwave unplugged something important they were using like a drill and plugged in the microwave! And then he and all his Newcomer friends proceeded to gather round and heat up tasty lunches of carne guisada and tacos. All while I sat there eating a cold sandwich, wishing I had my beans.

In case you're wondering, the moral of the story is yet to come. And here it is: Any time you or anyone you know feels compelled to think you are smarter than a Newcomer just because you can speak English and you were fortunate enough to be born on the right side of the Rio Grande, please take a moment to recall Miss Smarty Pants Sami with the college education, sitting there in her high-dollar SUV, wasting gas with the air conditioner on, eating a cold sandwich while the Newcomers ate tasty warm lunches they heated up in their portable microwave.

And that's all I have to say about that.

When you first get one of these awards, it's real exciting because you feel someone finally noticed. And then comes the pressure. It's akin to receiving one of those chain letter emails that suggests if you don't forward it on to at least 29 people you do not love the Lord. I hate those. At first I sent them and then I decided the Lord knows me and he won't mind if I don't play along. He did make me a non-conformist, after all.

But Honest Scrap? This one is fun. Here are the rules: First, choose a minimum of seven blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Secondly, show the seven winners' names and links on your blog, and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Scrap." Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. Lastly, list at least ten honest things about yourself.

I don't know if I have discovered a minimum of seven brilliant blogs yet but I'll nominate the blogs I like and hopefully if they've already been awarded and/or think these awards are stupid, they'll just ignore them. I do think they are useful for drawing blog readers to your blog if that's your intent.

Brilliant Blogs

1. Lucchese to Louis Vuitton. Honest woman that Meg. And she always plays a song on there that makes me go back in the day and get all misty-eyed. Her latest series on divorce has killed me. And she's also a West Texas girl which is all I have to say about that.

2. Hill Country House. Don't know her at all but whenever I check out her blog she always has something on there design-related that interests me. Special note: she is based in the Hill Country (duh!) so she's kind of local and the places she writes about are do-able.

3. Laura U Blog. She's way to busy to respond to this award, but Laura U of Laura U Collection always has something interesting to say on her blog and something interesting to buy in her store.

4. Design-Block. I'm always looking for a new post from Miss Design-Block and we really do need to have lunch because I have a lot of questions I want to pick out of her brain that are design-related. We go way back ... and yes, she's another West Texas girl.

OK, that's all I can muster. I have other blogs I follow when I can, but these are my top four that I think even need mentioning. Some of the others, like Cote de Texas are just too world famous, so I'm not even going to bother. And Lavenderchick nominated me for this award so she's already gotten it.

OK now for the hard part. 10 Honest Things about Me. Yikes.

1. I am fiercely conservative and crazy-liberal, all at the same time.

2. My zone of personal space is extremely wide and deep.

3. Which brings me to the fact that I cannot allow anyone breathing my air. Space issues.

4. I have a thing for chihuahuas. Don't ask me why.

5. I don't like interruptions. I like to get in a groove and go with it. Now you know why I'm so frustrated.

6. In high school I had a spiky mullet. I was trying to be all rock n roll, hard core. It was the 80s, what can I say?

7. The test you take in high school that tells you what you should be when you grow up suggested that I should be a plumber. At the time I thought that was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard, but now that I am a decorative painter and realize I like to work alone, in my painted groove, of course, I completely understand. It only took me 25 years to get to this place...

8. I was artistically frustrated for most of my life. And that's why I am a fierce proponent of arts education for ALL children and why the public school system makes me insane.

9. I wish I could eat sushi every day.

10. I take note of the artwork in construction jobsite port-a-potties. In fact, I am going to start chronicling this for all the world to see because it's fascinating. So don't steal my idea.

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.

I miss my girls

I'm away from home again this week, being a rock star faux painter and missing my girls at home. This job entails texturing over old wallpaper, new base coat, and then two coats of Faux Effects' Lusterstone in Brown Suede and Champagne Mist in a master bath. The base coat is SW Nomadic Desert so it's all real neutral and peaceful and warm. And then there's a water closet upstairs that's going to get some new texture, a fix for the sheetrock and then some faux glazing over the top.

Before you think this all sounds real glamorous, let me stress my life on the road is far from fabulous. I don't set out to work all over the state, it just happened that I have some out-of-town assignments all jumbled up on top of each other. Last week I was out on a ranch in Dilley. This week it's Houston. I'm so tired I feel more like the traveling roofers that are sharing this less-than-glamorous Comfort Inn with me. Boy have I become spoiled. This hotel is just not doing it for me. I much prefer the Omni but their weekday rate is $359 "for business travelers." That rate must be for "business travelers" who aren't "in business" for themselves.

Anyway, I thought I would share some pictures of my gorgeous girls that I am missing so much. Here's a picture of Mary. She is 13 and loves taking pictures of herself. She's the light of my life on every day except those days when she's really living out that she's 13 and I'm whining that "she used to be the light of my life."

She can take some artsy photos, don't you think?

Here's a picture of Caroline. She's four years old. My sister-in-law Sallie took this picture at the Guadalupe County Fair & Rodeo when I was out of town retreating in West Texas. Notice the Flashdance, off-the-shoulder t-shirt she's wearing, along with her famous attitude. I did say I was out of town, so you can attribute this outfit to Daddy.

When I've been out of town for a few days, I even miss that attitude.

And finally, here's my little Catherine. These are older pictures, but they're my favorites because they totally "capture" her thoughtful side. I love her deep-thinking nature, and that she'll wear pearls and take her poodle to church.


Could our twins be any more different? Catherine is so girly girl. I took the picture below at her second birthday party. That's just about the time her hair really began to grow.

Everyone marvels over Caroline's blue eyes, but I think Catherine's are exceptional.

I took this picture below on the first day of dance this year. They just started their second year of Hermann Sons Dance and this year they love it. Don't they look like big girls?

This photo marks the first day Caroline agreed to let me put her hair up without a fight. I just love this picture because you can see that Catherine is so take-charge and has such a sassy walk.

I can't wait to get home tomorrow and snuggle them up.

The bathroom wall I'm currently in love with

My most favorite recent faux application -- lucky for me -- is in my very own bathroom. Philosophically, I'm really not into making something look like something else, which I guess what faux painting is supposed to be, after all. For some reason it makes me think of something my grandmother used to say: "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear."

While Mama was referring to "common" people without breeding or good manners, she hadn't yet seen some of things we can do nowadays with good painting materials and plain old sheetrock walls. Please let me whisper that our family can only claim manners, alas. And some of us don't do so well with those either.

Anyway, back to my favorite wall. Its basecoat is Sherwin Williams Blonde, which is a pretty great color in a light-filled house. I can be a little muddy in a dark little room without much natural light. Then, I used Faux Effects Lusterstone colors Antique Parchment, Silver Moss and Charred Gold. But my favorite part is the white, which is Faux Effects Fauxstone Pull-Off. That's my favorite product ever.

Sorry. This photo is a little blurry because I was trying to take the photo without a flash, in natural light. Still, you can get the idea.

I really love how how the Antique Parchment catches the light and looks gold. I did a similar application in a house on Treasure Island, in the middle of Lake McQueeney. Remember this?

This is the house with the sexy sink. I didn't do a very good job taking this photo and it looks a little blotchy, which it didn't in real life.

Now I need to go see about being a faux mother and cooking some real dinner.