Old and New...

Making a move forces you to leave the old 'things' behind. Old unused stuff, old routines, and familiar faces, and unfortunately old friends. But the good thing today is, those old friends are just a phone call or text away! Sometimes it seems like your old friend is just a few blocks away!

“It takes a long time to grow an old friend.”

"Old Friends"
Made by me for my old friend Teresa.

We have been in our new home for 6 weeks now. We still have a few random boxes and a few stacks of things that have not found a place to go yet, but overall, we are mostly settled in.  I have some art that still hasn't been hung on the wall yet. I'm trying to imagine where those pieces will look the best. I don't want to put too many holes in the walls, so I'm taking that slow.

My studio is mostly organized and ready for me to work.  I have started working on both drawings and clay pieces...mostly custom work.  I have to catch up after being in the moving phase of life for two months. I am certainly glad that is over! Not being able to go into the studio and just think and create is very difficult for this 'introvert'.  That is my peaceful, relaxing time that I look forward to every day.  I get a little down when I have to be away from home/studio for anything....even if it is a fun outing.  But since we moved to a new part of the state, I want to make the effort to get out and meet people and do things that are unique to this part of Arkansas.  I have to get out of my comfort zone to do this.

So, moving also forces you to make new friends and routines. I have been able to re-connect with some old friends and connect with new friends!  Both are nice to have, since I did have to leave some longtime friends behind.  So, I look forward to doing things with my old and new friends here and creating new routines.

We ran into someone from Blytheville Saturday! We stopped to get some sandwiches to take home for lunch and across the room was one of my former students/co-workers from BHS!  (Yes, he was one of my OLD students in the 7th grade AND I worked with him at BHS too. )  It was nice to run into a familiar face for a change. That was a normal thing back in Blytheville, but that does not happen much when you are new to a much larger community.

“Since there is nothing so well worth having as friends, never lose a chance to make them.”          ~Francesco Guicciardini

Beth♥

Enjoying Northwest Arkansas

Since we moved, we have been busy unpacking and taking care of moving details that take so much time. But last weekend we were able to get out and enjoy some activities.  We moved from a small town, so there are many opportunities for different types of entertainment and dining in this part of the state.  I am trying to take in and experience a variety of things.

The weather was beautiful this past weekend, so it was a good weekend to be outside.  Friday evening and Sunday afternoon, we were able to enjoy great seats at the Razorback baseball games in Fayetteville at Baum Stadium.  The Razorbacks won both of the games we attended.   In the photo above, the Razorbacks were celebrating a homerun.

Saturday, my daughter and I had some shopping to do, but we wanted to enjoy lunch on a patio before we did that. We decided to head to downtown Fayetteville to have a sandwich on the patio at Common Grounds.  I decided to order their Almond Chicken Salad on a Croissant and I was not disappointed! It was very good! And because we were on the patio, I got a good dose of Vitamin D...which I could use more of, after being indoors so much over the past several months.

After lunch, we wandered down Dickson Street to see what the Fayetteville SpringFest was all about. We found a live band playing on the stage, and belly dancers performing in front of the Walton Arts Center! I wasn't expecting that! Both the band and the dancers were talented and interesting to watch.

After our walk down Dickson, we went on to finish our shopping so we could get home to cook dinner and watch a movie.

Sunday, we went back to Baum Stadium for the last ball game of the weekend. The Razorbacks won 2 out of 3 games for the weekend. In the photo below, you can see the teams congratulating each other in the end of game series ritual.

I enjoyed getting out of the house and taking in a few of the sights and activities of Fayetteville. Although we've been living here for a month, I still feel like I'm here to visit.  Hopefully that feeling will go away as I learn more about places to go eat, shop, and get involved in activities.

 Until next time...

Beth♥

On THE Move

Putting the Sign in the Yard!

I've been talking about wanting to sell our house and move closer to my family for several years now. Although I've been wanting to move for awhile, the timing wasn't quite right...until now! We put our house up for sale in January, in the middle of a rough winter, for us anyway, thinking that I would have several months to get ready for THE Move.

Packing the art supplies! 

At first, things were slow and I thought it may not happen now either. But after one month of being on the market, the right people came along and wanted to buy our house! Yay! Great, but they had to sell their house first. Okay, that gives us a little more time to get ready, start planning and packing. But less than 2 weeks later, they had sold their house and were wanting to close on ours by the end of March! Oh my! That was fast! So...fast forward to the end of March...we have moved across the State, to Northwest Arkansas, and closed on our home of 18 years. It has been a hectic month! We have been unpacking for over a week now and still have a lot of boxes to go through, but it is beginning to look and feel more like home everyday. So, I feel like this was one of those life changes that happened when it was supposed to happen. So I'm looking forward to seeing where this Chapter in our lives takes us.

My goal this week is to unpack and organize the rest of my studio.

Packing the truck!

Unpacking the art supplies!

Ready for Spring in the South too!

Like everyone else, I am ready for Spring. I love to have some snow during the winter, but we have had more than our share of ice and sleet this year. The latest was a little more than anyone could expect.  We had another ice storm, but this time it was sleet. I've never seen so much sleet piled up! I've seen snow pile up, freezing rain bend trees, but not this much sleet.  This March came in like a lion with a winter storm!  It sleeted buckets 6 days ago and my yard is still covered in the frozen stuff as you can see in the first photo.  The second photo is from the front after 2 days, with no melting.
My daffodils are peaking out from under the ice so I'm hoping that the next few weeks bring in plenty of beautiful spring weather our way!  It's going to be a busy Spring!


Spring is the time for plans and projects.” 
~Leo Tolstoy

Beth♥

Whimsical and Custom Clay Tiles

I've been making clay tiles for about 6 years now. The first ones that I made had fish themes. Then I decided to make a whimsical house on a tile, which led to custom house tiles and my little mini clay houses.  I gave a whimsical tile to a friend of mine for her birthday several years ago. Then she bought another one from me. Then she decided she wanted to have a set of 3.  So I recently completed the final one to go with her set this week.  

New Whimsical Tile

Pictured is the final one, then the set of 3.  She plans to hang them on the wall.  Some people put them up on an easel.  

I also just finished a custom tile of a customer's house.  After remaking it once (because of cracks that developed), it finally is finished.  

The very first custom tile I created can be seen in a post (here), way back in 2008! 

So now it's back to the drawing board! Have a nice weekend! 

Beth♥

Set of 3 Whimsical Clay Tiles

Custom House Tile

Travel and Colds do not mix!

My To Do List keeps getting longer and longer and to keep up I must work everyday.  So what would keep me from playing with paint or clay or drawing? Why...of course...I come down with a cold!  I had planned a trip to visit my sister and I even packed my paint and supplies to work on a painting (for her) while she was at work. I got there and we had a good visit the first day, even though I had this tickle in my throat. No problem, I figured it was my sinuses. The next day I wake up coughing and not feeling so great. No problem, I'll just stay in and work on the painting all day.  That night I began to feel achy and still coughing and felt like I had a fever. Not good.  Not only did I not want to spread my germs to everyone, I like to be home when I'm sick. So I packed up and came home. So now I'm looking at my unfinished painting and my To Do List and still coughing.  Wishing that I could have stayed for my entire planned visit, which was going to include dinner with friends.  Wish I could be there!  But I'm sure they wouldn't appreciate it if I gave them my lovely cold.

Now to find my positive self and to work on my to do list..cough cough.

Background for Painting
on Canvas

 More pictures to come on the painting. I did this before I left on the trip and worked on it more while there. But I don't want to reveal it until I'm finished!

Beth♥

Painting...the walls

In between working on some art projects, this is what I have been painting for the past week! I have painted many, many rooms over the years.  It usually takes me a day or two to finish. This time, I had to take time off to finish other projects and to recover. I think that I have a pinched nerve in my lower back, so bending over to tape, paint, pour paint, climb the ladder and all the other work that it takes to complete this DYI project is wreaking havoc on my back!
The 'sports theme' room had a wallpaper border at the top. I tried to remove it, but it didn't want to come off very easily. After soaking, scraping and scraping and resting and scraping some more, I removed about 8 feet in the corner and 4 hours later...I decided I would try to paint over it.  After 3 coats of paint, it looked just fine. So I didn't hesitate to continue to paint over it. You can see, in the photo collage, where I started painting over the border.

This room has seen some wear and tear over the years! It was my son's bedroom for 17 years. It has had a sports theme border on the wall most of those 17 years.  I believe there were many sports played in this room! It was rough!  It doesn't look like the same room anymore.  It has a fresh coat of paint and curtains on the window.
I still have some trim to paint, but that will have to wait until my back feels a little better.  I'm glad to have it cleaned up and put back together. Hopefully it will help to sell the house soon.
Now back to the fun painting!

Beth♥