the light...

what a glorious weekend! filled with happiness and light. the beautiful light of friendship and creativity and affirmation.

i woke up friday morning to a surprise deluge of comments and new followers... so FUN....it turns out i was featured on Miss Mustard Seed's Blog, seen here, and this sent new friends and new affirmation my way!! welcome! and thank you so very much! i worked hard on my newish dining room and how wonderful to be able to share it! when i blogged about my dining room, i hadn't yet figured out what to do with the 1970's brass light fixture (which i had painted black years ago), so i painted one coat of white craft paint to it and kinda let it go...until the inspiration came to me.
using what i had, i added my hand made doily bowls, left over from another project, to some of the lights......up side down.....really just balancing there on the bulbs! i thought about creating new doily lampshades, yunno with real lampshade frames and all.... but settled on this for now.....it may change....most likely will.... things around here usually do! right, hubby? he loves me anyway, for all of the changes.

and then i added translucent white ghost leaves (from Anthro's clearance table) and pieces from a deconstructed windchime (long ago tangled by stong winds)..... oh look, you can see i need to do another coat of white paint....but that will probably not happen....... and it is fine with me...yes, it is.....it's good for my never ending "recovering perfectionist" work, to just leave it. ha

the dangly bits and bobs create such beautiful light.

you can read about my handmade doily bowls here.

the light is sooooo pretty coming through the window into the delicate lace of those bowls.

it's all about the light.

the beautiful light.

i must say...... just how overwhelmed i feel right now (in a very good way)....with all of this luminous light around me...... to have so many people respond so positively to my dining room, but most especially to my paintings!! so many have expressed interest in purchasing my paintings, especially the "horsey" painting. my paintings are a labor of love for me and i want to share them! please know that yes, my paintings are for sale (to the right home, of course) and you can e-mail with any inquiries........i'll do my very best to respond (with my lack of typing and computer skills.....hey, i am artsy-fartsy)......i promise, i will get back to you :0)

we received some much needed rain today and there's more in this weeks forecast......aahhhhh, time in the studio painting for me!!! in search of that light.

my bloggy friend, Lucinda of Cobalt Violet often ends her posts with

"blessings and light"

isn't that beautiful? i love that......

~blessings and light~

erin

impressions...

well, i am just overwhelmed, by all of the yummy blog love, sent my way, for my "newish dining room" post! thank you all so very much! and just to show you, that while i do LOVE an all neutral palette, like i used in my dining room.....well, i also LOVE me some COLOR! i do....i do!

i was so totally, over the moon, inspired when i saw my bloggy friend

Georgianna's dreamy images,

from her trip to Giverny, France (the home and gardens of Claude Monet). i have never been to Monet's gardens...it's on my very long bucket list of places to see....Georgianna was gracious enough to let me use her scrumptious photos as inspiration for my latest paintings. thank you, G so very much! please check out her fabulous blog...you will be inspired too.

please enjoy some color filled snippets from my studio...

as the heat wave here in Tennessee continues (on and on and on), i am very grateful to be able to do my gardening work in the early morning....

and then spend afternoons in my studio....

fans a blowin.

creating.

playing.

musing.

listening.

dreaming.

artying.

how about you?

welcome to my newish dining room......

wowza!

in the last week,

i have painted....

a chair, a library table, a dining room table, two more chairs and a bench......loving the results of that project , i then painted my dining room walls.....which lead to painting my entry and hallway walls.......which lead to painting my kitchen and eat-in area walls!!

oh .......and a few days before all this activity, i managed to paint two paintings, inspired by a blogging friends trip to Giverney, France (i'll share those paintings soon...if i am brave that is)

PHEW!

i learned a long time ago not to question where these spurts of creative energy come from.

but to

just go with it.

so, i recently found a nearby shop that sells

Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint. i had read about it all over blog land.

see that little chair against the wall?

that was my first victim at using this paint.

the painting above the chair is one of mine.....

i tend to paint moody-sepia toned landscapes on rainy days.

i sure do wish it would rain again soon.....

i am so over this this oppressive heat and humidity.

anyway, this chair has the perfect crackling on it, that only age and exposure can create.
i brushed "old white" chalk paint on it (even on the old leather seat) and then wiped some off.

here is the before.

ew.

ahhh.

then i painted this library table using "Paris Gray" chalk paint.

did you know, that the word gray can be spelled with either an a or an e?

it's true.

i looked it up.

i did some distressing to reveal the inlayed top.

i hit the terra cotta dutch shoes with the "old white" paint too.

next, i tackled the harvest table, two chairs and bench.

this set is from my childhood in the 1960's.....

boy, will my mom be surprised to see what i did to them.

the table top and chairs are mostly "old white", while the bench and trestle i painted "paris gray".

here's the "before".

dark.

no wonder we never use this room.

so much better!!

light and bright.

it's hard to tell from the photos, but the wall paint went much lighter too.

lovin the "linen white" shade from Behr!

another "before" shot.

miss swan is so much happier.

the chair now.

and then.

so the beauty of the chalk paint is...

no sanding.

no priming.

but to get an aged look, there are lots of layers, including two layers of wax.

a clear and then a dark wax.

gotta tell ya...i did not like the waxing.

i do like the white textured vinyl that i covered the seats with though...$3 for half a bolt...yard sales are cool.

i used "old white"

then "paris gray" in the cracks and crevices, for depth.

then clear wax.

then dark wax, which you have to rub off.

then more "old white".

then more wax.

lots of steps,

but the effect is pretty good.

i used a watered down "old white" on the table, so the grain of the wood shows through.

the dark side board and one corner hutch remain dark for now...they came from hubby's family and he (hubby) asked that i leave them alone ....at least for now..... they rather balance out the dark floors though.

i did tack (as in thumb tacks) old grain sacks to the backs of the windows to lighten and declutter the look.

o.k that's all for now.

i am exhausted and my wrists are tired....not sure why my wrists? but,

i feel great that all the painting is done....every wall needed two coats...oy...

but i am abso-tootly lovin the changes....and the house seems fresher and lighter and brighter...

and so do i.

i am joining these parties to show off my dining room.

thanks so much for stopping by and taking time out in your busy lives to visit me.

your lovely comments mean the world to me.

howdy to my new followers...and a special shout out to Carla!! who left me a comment....she is someone i new as a child and has found my blog through our parents!

my blog is such a wonderful safe place for me to share a little bit of myself.

and i like that very much.

erin

xxoo

nn

nn

btw....as i was painting my walls, i was reminded of the fact, that ALL of the walls still have their original wallpaper underneath....YES, you can paint over wallpaper...just make sure you use an oil primer first.

also, the two corner white hutches cost $25 (for both!) ...crackled green chair was $5....and all other furniture came from our families........the carved swan is probably the most expensive thing in the room! i think it was $50 from the nashville flea market.

cheap is good.