I'm here singing in the rain

We are getting a precious lot of rain here in Central Texas.

I don't believe I remember in all my days getting a constant daily flow of rain like this in my part of the world.

We are grateful and take it as it comes.

However, our prayers are with those who are lost and have lost property.

In the meantime, I have almost finished a Garden Palace project that I am so excited about. 

My table project is almost finished.

It came to me in parts so getting the legs bolted onto the top Sunday gave me the most joyous feeling. 

When I received the table, the veener was all peeled off. 

All that remained was little bits still stuck with the veener glue. 

Before attaching the legs, I painted them with chalk paint and used a dark wax. 

I am painting the top and will share again when I finish. 

I must say I do like it just as it is but I'm sticking with my original plan to paint it. 

I'm sure I will like that too.

Parting Shot

And here is a parting shot through the glass of the back door.

I just love these reflections of the trees on the wall and the wildflowers around the rug. 

♥

I call her Day Dreamer

This is about this little Sculpey doll, Day Dreamer

First, Jenny and I painted funky faces on a little wood panel.

We had intentions from the beginning to paint a face and then use Sculpey to form her likeness. 

Jenny brought the Sculpey with her for us to play with because I didn't have any and haven't played with Sculpey in so many years. So many years that I forgot the one thing I did not like about Sculpey.

First, I guess you need to know that I have a compulsive need to put a final finish on any and all of my art. And that is where Sculpey and I do not get along.

The problem is it gets sticky and I don't remember ever getting past that and so I stopped playing with it years ago.

I painted the face while Jenny was here and when I realized it was STICKY, I put it down.

After Jenny was gone for a week, I decided that I had to finish her and conquer this STICKY situation. 

So, I gessoed the unpainted body and then painted it with my Golden acrylics. 

I started experimenting.

Gesso = not sticky

Golden matte medium = not sticky

Other Golden mediums = sticky

Lascaux acrylic Fixative = sticky

Finally, I thought to try Golden Polymer Varnish (gloss) = NOT STICKY!

I gessoed over the face that I already painted for a second time while Jenny was here and repainted it. Then I used the Golden Varnish and it is amazing how lovely she feels. 

One other thing that I remember, I love Sculpey or any kind of clay.  I get totally lost and in the zone with the soft malleable earthy stuff in my hands.

Thank you Jenny for coming and bringing your Sculpey and convincing the security guy at the airport that it was harmless!

♥

A Story about Jenny and the Bobcat

A True Story about Jenny and the Bobcat

We had no idea about this until Saturday while Jenny was still here. 

My Mister usually collects his game camera cards and takes a look on the weekends. 

We were pretty shocked when we saw and realized how close in time our paths crossed with the bobcat.

We see all sorts of wild game probably because they are coming to a watering hole, our stock tank.  

Had ta show.

♥