Wall paint is like butter cream frosting- the kind that kids make

    As kids, my sister and I would bake constantly. It was considered one of the funnest things that we could do together in the afternoon after school was over. We would concoct some of the most extremely decadent treats and plaster them with an intensely sugar filled coating. . .  runny butter cream frosting.
   I was reminded of this after driving home from the Grotte's this evening. It always seemed like Tab and I had to store our freshly baked goods in the fridge because our frosting couldn't hold it's own in the warm MN temperatures. It never failed by running off of the tall double layer cakes and onto the counter in small puddles, calmly making a huge mess. But what the heck! Did we care? It was sugar!

    I am comparing wall paint to this kind of frosting. And I am always a little let down when find that I simply cannot mold and form this kind of material, no matter how hard I try.  I want thick butter cream frosting that I can work with! The kind that grown people make. The kind that stands with peaks when you whip it in the bowl. And when I do, let the world stand back in wonder.



    Being that I will have no time in the next few days to work on anything I decided to blog again this evening. Off to my sisters and then off to Memphis. I was very sad packing my junk up in Dad's basement tonight. I'm excited to go back, but terribly sad to leave, again. OH LIFE!


This was a mural I did last summer. I thought I would post it along with the new one.

I have found my new love.  Just think of all the cool things I could coat with this!

This is of my favorite pieces ever made. Not because of it's intensely great looks, but because it was made during a time when it needed to constructed. It was therapy. Sadly only about two thirds of the family is sewn together, but I have left the needles in tack when I come back this summer to finish it up. 

Bread and Transfers

    So I haven't eaten real bread for nearly over six months. And I have found myself longing to indulge in this food staple that I used to take for granted.

   I decided a couple days ago to attempt making it again. I was mentally out of sorts and in odd disrepair, right from the start, and my creation started to show my mood prior to my facial expressions. Funny how this works huh?

     The recipe called for eight cups of flour, but I found out that using ground oatmeal as a substitute  required more then that in order for things to shape up. The dough started to look like a mass of mars soil before it even had enough power to be handle as a single entity. I nearly snapped. I used to be good at making bread! And now look! . . shit.
    Grandma was sitting at the dining table when she realized what was happening, and quickly got up and stood beside me. "I've handled bread dough just like this. We need to oil our hands".  (well I knew that... but I was not in the mood) I let go of my pride and Grandma came to the rescue washing and oiling her hands and dumping my mess onto the counter so that she could handle it better. Starting to punch and kneed it,  she began to sing a song, thanking God for all that He had given. She smiled and laughed at me.

     And the bread turned out very well! A little flat yes, but it had elasticity and bond.  Dear Grandma.

     The mural work continues. Today, I managed to apply the photos, and hopefully tomorrow I will be working on the tree. There are so many creative ideas coming from this project. And bad ones too of course.  I have learned never to mix acrylic project paint with interior wall paint. The result is a very a fragile skin like tissue that is very damage prone. I'm hoping to shellac it tomorrow in order to seal it up somehow. It's not a disaster, as I figured a way to utilize my blooper,  it's just a lesson learned. 

    I made sure to only use wall paint for the transfers and they worked out pretty well! Thanks to Katy Grotte, and her innate photo skills, we have some nice family shots on the wall.

    But I'm running out of time. Memphis calls. So we'll see how far tomorrow gets us.

It's a little quiet, but it's also a little gorgeous.

 It appears that today, my grandparents farm was screaming for the pauperize. I complied happily. 

Josie is the sweetest dog. She grovels and flops on her belly the moment she hears a dissonant tone in my voice.

 

                                    

                                        

                                 

It's very quiet here. We need to get some noise happening pronto. Photos look like they might be a little off kilter. If I were more savvy, I would know how to fix this conundrum up. But what the hey. 

... "Birdie Num, Nums" - Peter Sellers

    It's been an extremely hard week. But I have been blessed with opportunities to keep busy and this keeps me chugging away. (And also watching clips of Peter Seller films, and drinking tons of coffee!)

    Here are the beginnings of the wall mural I was talking about a few days ago. It's always interesting to find out how a idea comes to life.  It should be really fun to start apply the transfers, and later on the tree.

    We were playing around and having lots of fun figuring out period family photos for the mural! Here are a few fun ones of my dear friend Jasmine.

    My family is nuts. So I am sewing them back together. . . quite literally.

"Well you better go to bed now, cause there's going to be a lot of visiting tomorrow, and we all know how fun that is."

    Yes, within the first hour of meeting my little brothers new girlfriend this evening,  these grace filled words had escaped from my mouth.

    There is nothing glamorous about me, and I think that this incident really reveals just a glimpse of a deep darkness that lies within my petrified soul. Amanda is nice! But quiet and nice clashes so oddly with my own self. I come from a line of tall Finnish people. People who say what they want to say, without any flowers or chocolates involved. But that is no excuse for me. Perhaps that is why I am so in love with the sadly deceased, Peter Sellers.


    I'm experimenting with the new set of photos taken last week, seeing how they can take being transferred with paint. I'm not fully pleased nor displeased. I think that means I need to keep working... And I think I need to keep their color. I'm a little bored with black/white prints.

 Doodling

    So who gets lucky enough to play around with wall murals!! Attentions! Ahemms!
:)  If you turn your computer screen around, you will be able to tell better what I plan on doing to a 8x5 ft. piece of wall in a couple days. I want to create a family tree and utilize photo transfers into it. Thus the numbering. I think its going to be a fun week coming up here!

The Lord Sustained Me

     Today as I was running, I was thinking about how perfect it is that I am becoming addicted to blogging. As I've stated before, it all started when a friend from school wondered if I had a website or blog that she could look into. It has now turned into more then that. It's not only an avenue of escape for me, it's also way to keep track of what I am doing with this life. When I have aged and become wise (harhah) I want to document things in a more legit and serious manner. This blog is a sort of journal for me to be able to later on reference back to! I don't have to worry about remembering dates and all that if I simply blog about my day. Perhaps one day it will mean something to someone besides me, but until then, it's a daily/weekly therapy session.

     And so today was difficult. I love Christmas, but I have a very hard time staying in one place for days on end, and being around people all the time. Most of my life is spent alone, with touches of interaction, and so fully blown 24/7 family doesn't always fit the bill of mind. This may sound selfish, and it certainly is. I have been blessed with the ability to concentrate my life persuits these past few years head on and running, without having to give of myself too much.  And I take personal time for granted. Shame, shame.



    It helps to write about the good things of the day for me. Let the bad remain as it is, and focus on what blessings there are in the day.


    So little Zach came home this morning! Love that kid. I had him sit in the chair of honor this evening.

    I also spent a good deal of time dying card stock (gift from Grandma) with coffee. I was going to use it as the paper for Xylene transfers, but I found out this evening that the material was too dense! The ink could simply not penetrate the material. Well, that is my diagnosis until I find out the truth of the matter. Disappointing after so looking forward to it. Try again,... eh. I don't suppose working in 2 degrees helps the process either. :)

     This framed deal is done with Acetone, and it looks better then the almighty Xylene.

    "I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me all around." 

    I always took that reference of soldiers and referred it to the wars of my mind. Of course David was running from his son who was after Dad with intentions to kill. And I complain?