Room Redo for my "Mudroom", will it be my new studio?

I'm knee deep in paint rollers, furniture, and trouble right now. I wrote a long post to my bloggie friends, but it got lost in blog-this land. So, here I go again, but much shorter since I have to get back to work. Here's the summary...

I have a mudroom I've wanted to paint for years.

I helped a friend paint her living room yesterday.
When I got home, my daughter said, why don't we paint the mudroom.
I said OK!
Now my husband is out of town.
Lucy is going to be in trouble when ricky get's home!
I'm painting it white.
I had the paint already.
I have ALOT of paint from past projects.
Will this be my "studio", I dunno yet.
It's kind of a "throughway" in our home with 3 entrances/exits.
I was painting last night for 3 hours.
I'm finishing up this morning.
while I'm painting, I'm thinking, "I can't believe I'm doing this right now." My daughter is graduating from high school tomorrow. Is this like "reverse" nesting intinct I got before the babies were born and I was painting and re-doing everything.
Seriously, this is the only room left to do on my first floor. It's blue, the rest of my stuff is creme, etc.
Will I be done before "bruno" get's home?
Stay tuned.

Warning: Do not try this at home.

Yes, I am a nut-case, but you all love me anyway, right?????

xxoo Lia

"The Road to a Friends house..." Collage by artjunkgrl

is never long!
~Danish Proverb

(click on photo to make larger)
To my dear blog friends and new friends~

The road to a friend's "blog" is CERTAINLY not long! Thanks for all your friendships, visits to my blog, and comments! You always make my day. I love sharing my art and my heart with you.

~Lia

p.s. done on one of my "junk mail" backgrounds.
image free from one of my fave places, Art-e-Zine.

Summer's Coming!

Beach: "One step closer" by artjunkgrl
Originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

I just can't wait for summer.

It's in the midst!

We had a wicked thunderstorm last night, but it was so nice to know that everything parched got a drink and things cooled down a bit.

I really love the rain, but I also love the sunshine! I get all excited when I think about summer...being with the kids, no schedule, just playtime, watching them bob up and down in the pool and play with their friends. all free and happy.

my youngest, JJ, loves to skip. she's a "young" 8 year old. everything is exciting to her. it's so much fun to see things through her eyes.

well, hope you all are excited about summer.

oops...almost forgot....I need a good "beach" read. another fun. I'm on the lookout, haven't indulged in a good book in I don't know how long! any good recommendations?

"uh-oh"..Don't miss this heartwarming blog link.....

Dear Friends and Visitors:

Today I woke up feeling like I got beat up from head to toe last nite. Well, that did not happen. YOu see, I suffer from both arthritis and bouts of chronic fatigue. I never know when it's going to hit. sometimes it's the barometric pressure, sometimes it's from being run down and on the go, sometimes it's from stress about a situation that manifests in my body. I'm currently quite sad about a personal situation in my family so that doesn't help it. My husband is out of town and returns today. I sit here this morning, with my coffee, checking on email, making my list, and trying to pin down which things to tend to for my daughters upcoming grad. events. As always, I thought I'd go check my "flickr" account "real quick" (I'm a bit addicted to flickr lately) before getting on with the day. I saw a picture of Nancy's "uh oh" doll, with a reference to read about it on her blog. I had to go see what Nancy said about this little hand made "uh oh" doll (I know nancy for often having funny names for things, but also for her positive attitude). Well, Nancy's Post left me in puddles. Again, she had another great message to share. I was shocked to see that she suffers from chronic pain. You would never know with her attitude! Her positive attitude helped me so much in the past, so I wanted to share this cute story of her's with you. So if you don't have a lot of time today, or if you are feeling kind of "uh 0h" about anything, go read the story of Nancy's Uh Oh doll, I'm sure it will put a smile to your face, it did mine. I'm ready to seize the day. pain and all. thank you, Nancy!!!!!!!! Love,Lia

"land of dreams" by artjunkgrl

"land of dreams" by artjunkgrl, originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

from a background I painted this weekend.

Today is my wedding anniversary and it coincides with my oldest daughters last day of High school.

"welcome to the real world"....John Mayer.

I am sad and happy too.

I've thrown myself into a good clean up of my home.

prom is tomorrow.

want to make the house look pretty for the joy that lies in the days ahead.

--Lia

"just imagine.." by artjunkgrl

"just imagine.." by artjunkgrl, originally uploaded by artjunkgrl.

more collage on painted paper...this is fun! I love the freestyle thing! :)Lia

journaljunk entry: Art Brain Overload!

I love art and feel blessed to see life in a creative way, but the bad part of it is that I often lack focus. There are SO many fun things to learn through art sites, memes, etc., not to mention great inspiration on flickr, but sometimes my brain goes on overload! I need to slow down and focus a bit. It's hard to do b/c it all looks so fun! Do you ever feel like this? If so, how do you focus your artwork?
I also want to say thankyou to those artists who responded before on how they approach their artwork: plan vs. no plan. It was SO helpful and VERY interesting to read/hear your responses. I also gathered that it is a common thing for artists to keep an "idea"/inspiration book. I will start to do so, I think this will really help! thank you SO much! --Lia

This is your mind on art....any questions?

here's what I made this weekend during our home, "painting fest". I love doing this a few times a month! My daughter JJ made a few beautiful pieces as well, check my flickr pics by clicking on photo above so you can see all my notes...I highly recommend just letting go and getting free with art, this is all the fun to me! :) Lia

Inspire Me Thursday~Abstract Art Challenge

I spent some time this weekend getting out the paints and randomly painting some backgrounds for collaging as well as making a few abstract pieces for the current Inspire Me Thursday challenge: Abstract Art. I was so excited to see this as this week's topic because it's the type of art I like to look at and dabble in most! I think it's because it often includes LOTs of color and it's just really the way my brain sees things. As a child I was very drawn to Picasso paintings when learning about him at school. This type of art comes most easiest to me. The Inspire Me Thursday site has some awesome links on abstract art. I learned so much. One of the things I've learned since participating in these meme's is my art style. I feel this is so important because it shows me where I need to grow. One of the things that currently bothers me is that I normally don't have a plan. I sounded very similar to the beginner person described in the "how to paint abstract art" on the IMT link. I often don't sketch first. I'm often quite random. I have gotten better about walking away and not finishing the piece, but I do often lack a plan. I don't paint often, and when I do, I just go with the flow. That is probably why I love abstract art so much...anything goes and that is right up my alley!! One of my goals, however, in growing as an artist would be to have a somewhat of a plan or theme before I start. I really think this would help me get out what I want to when I'm making a piece. Anyway, the above little "abstract painting", painted on the back of a piece of a magazine advertisment (lol) is one that I painted, then outlined. I also painted lots of backgrounds to collage on, which hopefully I will get to this week! I would love to hear how others create and if they have a plan or not. (aside from the original idea). Also, if you do one type of art, do you get bored with it? Drop me an email or comment and let me know. I really want to learn and learning from other artists helps me most! Hope to 'catch' you this week on the blog! :) :) Lia

Try it Tuesdays, finished piece for my BOD

I finally got around to some coveted time with my Book of Dreams! I worked on the transparency I had decided on: a personal wedding photo printed on fabric paper. Well, I put in in the collage and worked with it over and over and it just didn't look right to me. I didn't like it at all! So, off it went and I went to plan "B" and put these cute little girls in and painted over the ripped out piece, then stamped the word "Dream" on that part. Now I'm happy with it. I just have a hard time trying to make something work. I have really learned what type of art person I am from working on these memes! I am totally random. I like to just throw a bunch of stuff together until I'm happy with it. I get lost in the process of it all. I love LOTs of color. I have also learned that I have a hard time putting my own personal pics in my collages. I don't know why. I love when I see artists using photos of their kids and wish I could do the same. Maybe I have trouble with it because I am experimenting alot and I rip stuff out, or perhaps because I want to be detached from the pieces I'm creating with and get lost in "making up a story" of it's own. I just love old photos, especially "rescuing" them as ArtsyMama mentioned in her tutorial in week 3. Anyway, I am going on and on and I need to go to bed! I have another big day ahead tomorrow in mommy-land. Things are going to be really crazy for a few weeks til my daughter graduates. I can't wait til summer! It will be awesome to have a break from our crazy schedules and do lots and lots of ART! Last summer, my younger daughters and I worked on altered books. They still have them tucked away and I'm bringing them out again! Well, have a great weekend everyone, and I hope to be posting some more stuff soon. I'm trying to get back into the "groove" again! :) Lia
p.s. for more info on making your own "Book of Dreams", visit ArtsyMama's Blog.