Category: florida

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Not three, but FOUR months later…

and I’m finally getting back into my painting.  With a full time job in social media for a major central FL company, my days are busy and free time is a luxury at this point.  The house is settled in, more or less; We’re in a groove in terms of pool, lawn and home upkeep; We’ve even got a well-stocked freezer, filled with Grouper, Tuna and Snapper thanks to my son who visited and had a successful fishing trip on the gulf side.  So, there’s little else to do but paint!

And it’s hit me: it’s time to try Flamingoes!  I can see them now, all aqua backgrounds, cheery red/salmon/pink/crimson and white bodies with graceful long necks and impossibly skinny legs and balls for knees!  How fun!  I was so motivated I already slapped the backgrounds on about five canvases of varying sizes.  The plan is, to paint and hang these (hopefully) adorable works throughout this, our “Florida” guest room.

The room was a big renovation project we tackled last month.  Long story short, the homeowner’s son was a heavy smoker and preferred dark drab colors.  Not us, that’s for sure, and after painting, carpet cleaning and furniture reworking, we love the end result.

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Transformed from drab dark blue to this, we hope our guest bedroom is inviting and welcoming.

So, stay tuned for a few froliking and fun Flamingoes!

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Coming home

Our new home
Our new home

Here I sit on the last night before we close on the purchase of our lovely new home in a pleasant and serene community in Central Florida.  It’s been a long journey, both figuratively and metaphorically speaking.  I left our comfortable Tennessee home last June to take a great job in Florida.  The dog and I started with an air mattress and folding table in a tiny, hot second floor apartment with a kitchen smaller than the size of our former master bathroom!  Hubby extraordinaire (David) joined us after sprucing up and selling the house in September when 90% of our belongings were placed in storage.  The remaining items and the three of us were crammed into that small space with little light or room to breathe.

After getting most everything packed up and ready for the move for the second time in less than a year, here I sit tonight, processing this journey. I am so filled with emotion knowing it’s about to reach its end. Or start, as it were.  It will mean a chance to settle into a home we love in an area that abounds in glorious flora and fauna. And it will mean a chance to unpack all the art supplies and materials and books and inspirational mementos I have missed for so.very.long.

My soul is tingling with anticipation and excitement as if ready to meet a new lover for a secret tryst. But this is real and is out in the light of day. It is due, in some part, to those sacrifices we made these past nine months. And it is due to my starting at the bottom again, two years ago taking a job in retail with meager pay hoping it might just lead to something more fulfilling, which, thankfully it did!

After the signing of countless documents and the tiresome humping of boxes and driving back and forth, will come the joy and pleasure.  First, the unpacking of boxes filled with items nearly forgotten for the better part of a year.  Then, the digging in and getting back to that which I love more than nearly everything else on earth (except my kids, husband and hound): making art.

If all goes well, you may not hear from me for another three months!

Signing off,

Maura

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2012: Ch-ch-ch-changes!

It’s been a while (8 months!) and a boatload has happened! The hubby and I pulled up stakes and moved to Florida! It started with a great (day)job offer for me, drawing upon my computer graphic and other skills and offering the security of a (wonderful) paycheck and benefits and the chance to live nearer the ocean in pleasant Central Florida.

Smokey, our Dalmatian and I moved down first, in early June into a tiny 2nd floor apartment. We sold the house quickly and hubby joined me in September. We’re in Lakeland, along the I-4 Corridor only a short drive from both the Gulf and Atlantic coasts.

That’s the good news. The bad news is, I haven’t had the space, time or drive to create any art in the past.eight.months. And I’m now feeling it. Yes, the job offers a great deal of opportunity for creativity. But there is something very different about manipulating an image on a computer screen and the sensual pleasure of moving paint and materials on a canvas.

Well, that’s all about to change… We are now house-hunting and while the practical side of me weighs in, my (he)art and soul demands to be heard. Stay tuned.

For now, check out my Lakeland, Florida Pinterest Board and see what we’ve discovered!

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>We’re going on vacation!

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These are from my class yesterday but my mind wasn’t really into it…

The hubby, dog and I are going to Florida Sunday for a week’s vacation in Gulf County where dogs are permitted on the beach all the time… I can’t wait to eat the fresh seafood (Tennessee, as you may be aware, is landlocked), and walk along the beaches, explore the water, take photos of sunsets, and etc. I also look forward to testing my hand at some plein air watercolor paintings and will try my first acrylics, too, in that low-pressure environment, I think.

I have a few books from the library to bring down on acrylic painting, and have learned quite a lot on how to set them up from others in the class who often paint in acrylics instead of watercolors.

Don’t get me wrong, watercolors are nice but I think I’m too rigid to feel too comfortable with them and may have more success with acrylics. From what I understand they are more forgiving. Besides, I have that starter set from my kit. Might as well use it, right?

Well, off I go… wish me luck!