Adventure Pets Strike Again!

Here they are again, that intrepid duo, no extreme pet sport too daunting for them...

Of course it's the CAT who notices they are flying too low.

Or is he just getting carried away trying to chase the string?The dog is having a blast, unconcerned. Either way, its a wild ride.

You can click on some of these pictures to see them larger.

I can hardly wait to see these made into pillows...what fun its been painting

them.

Final phases of floorcloth

Floorcloth finally finished! (A while ago!)

Here is a very belated update on the latest floorcloth, now finished and delivered.

Its not easy to blog all the time. I just never got around to it this project. Oh well!

Here you see the Machu Pichu section in progress...






And here is a view of the whole thing, all the areas completed at last! ''Switzerland'' turned out well!
The last detail was to paint in decorative scale lines like you would see in an Atlas or on a map, as borders between the sections.
When the piece is varnished, the gold and silver lines stand out nicely, as do the fish.




The map of Kilimanjaro is a nice touch....heavily protected with a special clear coat, and then lots of varnish. it should hold up just fine to foot traffic.


The final step is to trim the floorcloth and seal the edges.
I use a very sharp mat knife, and a long, metal, straight-edge ruler.
Then I seal the raw edge with a mixture of adhesive and a suitable colour paint. Here you can see the white unsealed part. Unfortunately the colour I chose looks like blood! Its not; its paint. Sorry for the bad choice for this photo essay!I find sealing the edges this way a better system that folding over and hemming or glueing the edges, as some makers do. The folded edge often wears on the thick part and looks bad.

Back in the studio....

Back in the studio, work needs to progress on the floorcloth!
Its been a couple of weeks of paperwork, promotion, art shows, not to mention some fun, holiday related, social life.....but it can be frustrating to take that time away from an on-going, and rather interesting, new project.



The new floorcloth has a very specific theme, which is based on the world travels of the recipients. It will include views of places they have visited together, representations of the four classical elements : fire, air, water and earth, plus the sun and moon, an actual hiking map of Kilimanjaro, (making this a mixed media floorcloth) and some other stuff if there is room!!!!






I have been able to get some work done on it, and now it is beginning to really take shape.




I am feeling frustrated that I haven't been able to spend more time on it- there is a wonderful sense of peace and satisfaction at spending many hours at a time working on a project, without interuption, lost in the process of creating something out of a blank. I listen to music, get wrapped up in my thoughts, and have so much fun making the paint do stuff.....I am eager to get back to real work. For some real hours!

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Here you can see some more mural work as it progressed....an idyllic Old Florida scene; sadly, no longer a frequent sight these days, outside in the real world.