Just some stuff

This past weekend I headed to Ohio to go to IKEA to shop for some furniture for a classroom in our school. We applied for a grant through Lowe's the beginning of this school year and we won! It had been years since I had written a grant, so I was thoroughly surprised. But we won and now we get to stock the room. It was a fun trip because a. I could decorate a space and b. it wasn't my space or my money. I was accompanied by my partner in crime Mandy who has been working on this grant and program and space as hard as anyone. It was a fun trip, especially since Mandy was an IKEA virgin. She fared better than I ever did my first time. As I explained to her I was in tears by the second floor and I think Ryan was seriously questioning our future together. Fortunately we made it through and now I believe, without question, I am an IKEA expert. I could docent the store really - I know what they carry, generally where it is and where your biggest bang for your buck is. I have always recommended the buddy system - bring someone who's been before to lessen the stress of your first visit. It was actually pretty funny to watch someone for the first time - it was kind of like taking a kid to Toys r' us. I'm thinking of doing field trips for friends that have never been - it was only a two hour drive and when you fold down the seats in the van you can fit a crap load of stuff in there. It was a fun, long day - but I was proud because all I bought was a cup for my bathroom and a lazy susan for my kitchen table. I believe I may have zoomed to 60 years old because I've never seen anyone under 60 have one -but the kids had a blast with the salad dressing last night at dinner. Ranch, nah, (spin) Italian, nah, (spin) Vidalia Onion, nah (spin) you get the point. I don't care as long as they ate their salad and they did. I think it was my cheapest trip to IKEA yet.

I appear to be hot on the list of people to call when you are picking out paint colors - personally I love it and I am flattered to no end. I've had two requests this week and frankly I couldn't think of anything better than picking out colors and flooring and things like that for other peoples spaces. I mean eventually you run out of your own space (and money for that matter) so it's an awesome honor for someone to trust my opinion at all. I am really geeked and can't wait to see what comes of our little paint choosing escapades.

So what is on my agenda this week? Well I got out my sewing projects and will finish one up today - the little black and cherry number for Penny. I'm also thinking about doing something fun for her birthday - a t-shirt or something - we'll see. I have a bit more to do on my painting, but should be done by the end of the week. I also have a few crafts for the kids to do for Valentine's Day, so hopefully the week doesn't get away from us.

Some Random Bits:

Can I tell you the solace I get from this blog - the people on the Indy Star can be so hateful - not necessarily directed to me, but in general. Didn't their mother's teach them if you have nothing nice to say don't say anything at all? I mean, I don't mind a healthy debate, but these people clearly are hateful, negative individuals and frankly I can't handle the negativity. It makes me all sad and sick inside. Ugh - so I appreciate all of you and your interest and your not-hateful-at-all words. I suppose the more public you are, the more people feel they have some entitlement to comment on you and your words. Ah - I feel a thicker skin growing as we speak. I just wanted to pass along a thank you and tell you appreciate all of you!

Okay -I'm off to school to assemble furniture. I hope everyone has a marvelous day and hopefully I'll have some accomplishments to show off this week.

Thanks!

Gabriella

I was approached by a very good old friend, Caryn, to do a nursery piece for her cousin's new baby girl, Gabriella. A bit of background on us, Caryn and I met after I had Jon and she had her son Noah, who is a week older than Jon.  We met at a breast feeding support group and after a few weeks of talking we found out that we lived a few blocks apart in the same neighborhood - she and several others became my "booby buddies, " that made that first year of motherhood so much more bearable and fun!  Since then, we've had more kids, we've moved and our babies are now first graders, but we've kept in touch.  Of course if any of you have school aged children, you realize how challenging it is to get together for "play dates." That being said, we've been able to see or talk a few times a year and it is one of those friendships where time doesn't seem to matter.  

When Caryn asked me to meet up for coffee and discuss her cousin's piece, I looked forward to both catching up and brainstorming.  I was thrilled - I know, I'm always thrilled, but really I just love the fact that I get to do so many custom pieces. What was so fun was that Caryn gave me a basic idea of what she wanted, but really let me run with my own ideas.  I always surprise myself because at first it's all blank, and then I just can't stop the ideas - it all comes together almost instantly.  I liken it to anything else, the more you do or stretch your creative "muscles" the better you get or the easier it comes to you.  Anyway - Caryn wanted flowers, she wanted something that would go nicely over a crib or changing table, and the room had chocolate brown and pink in it and espresso stained furniture.  I decided with this piece to step away from my Gerber daisies and do a flower similar to a dogwood blossom.  I used a variety of pinks, peaches and yellows with my trademark "dots" - as Jon calls them and added some fun chocolate brown polka dots and super colorful butterflies.  The result was adorable!  What I love best about this piece is that it embodies what I try to achieve with all my paintings - something that will transition from nursery to toddler to child.  This piece with no doubt go beautifully in Gabriella's nursery, but I can see this canvas still being relevant when she is 7 or 8.  I'll stop going on and just share these pictures!

Happy

Little

Butterflies!

Thank you Caryn for allowing me to do this beautiful canvas for your cousin.  It was a true treat and I am so happy with how it turned out and so flattered that you liked it as much as you did.  I am so excited to hear about how it looks in Gabriella's nursery.  Thanks again!

Gimme a "M", gimme a "A", gimme a "C"

Finally some Penny Pickles art!  Not that you mind seeing my angels, but lets be honest - its the painting that brings you back...right?

It was rhetorical so you don't have to answer that!  

I was contacted a couple of weeks ago by a previous client, Steph that wanted me to make something for her newest nephew.  She wanted something with sports, but wondered if we could tweak my current sports theme - just not to pigeonhole this little fella into one sport or another. I have been wanting to do a theme like this - I just haven't had the time.  I am so glad that Steph asked - because it was a lot of fun to do.

So for little Maclain, we did "MAC", since that is his planned nickname - they asked for soccer, football and basketball, with a medium blue background.  I am so happy with the outcome:

Thanks again Steph!  I mean I am always excited to work on things for my clients, it means a lot when they come back and ask me to do paintings for gifts, when they do it a third time - I am just touched and humbled.  I appreciate your business more than you know!  It's good on a girls ego, it is!  (Sorry we've just watched ALL six Star Wars movies in order here at the Page house so a bit of Yoda-ease is coming out, it is!

Thanks again and next up Gabrielle!

these shoes aren't made for walking..

To keep with my "girl" series, I wanted share something I did for my friend Meg.  Meg's birthday was last Thursday, so it makes complete sense that I would posting her birthday gift and publicly celebrate her day a week late!  Right?  I actually was able to give her, her gift on her special day and enjoy a rare lunch out with no children - we're so naughty we even had wine at LUNCH!  I've been a bit backed up with sharing photos, but I am happy to share this one with you now!

So for Meg, I wanted to do something quirky and fun, something she enjoys and would put a smile on her face when she sees it.  I came up with this little lady:

The slingback, peep toe heel - not much more on this planet that is pretty than this for a girls wardrobe!

Okay, so I really like shoes, but Meg LOVES shoes - I don't have an official head count - but I am guessing it is somewhere around being able to cover the feet of a small village in Africa.  So this little beauty seemed more than appropriate.  

With all seriousness though, Meg has become one of my best friends and our relationship is one of those that I believe has come at a time when I needed it most.  Meg fills a lot of the voids I have since losing mom - they have quite a few of the same qualities, so even though our friendship is only a few years old, there is a comfort there of a decades long relationship. So for you Meg, I wish you a very happy birthday and a wonderful year ahead!  I love you!

Thanks!!!

A-I-N-S-L-E-Y

An order had been submitted about a month ago for a seven tile spread that would match a nursery valance. I was thrilled because first I have wanted to work on a large canvas spread - 7 letters makes up a pretty substantial piece of wall art and second the bedding was just absolutely adorable!  Abstract with swirls and flowers and shapes - just beautiful.  I jumped at the chance and wanted to share with you one of my very favorite pieces I have done to this point.  

When Sarah, my client, contacted me and attached an image of the valance in the room and told me that the room was painted pink, I immediate had ideas on how to matte and hang this piece.  Normally, I would matte these pieces on white matte board.  I do this for a few reasons - first off the white usually pops of any colored wall and second it holds all the tiles even so that you don't have to make a zillion holes or use a laser level to get the plumb.  I thought with this spread though that it would be really beautiful to double matte it using both white and chocolate brown matte board and attaching pink polka dot ribbon - the piece can be hung from the ribbon - but I also added holes to the back of the matte board for a more secure hang, not to mention keeping the matte board and canvas' from warping.  It turned out better than I could have hoped.

I lucked out when I asked, Leslie, my photographer, to do an "action" shot and her daughter's bedroom just happens to be pink!! Perfect!

S-L close up

Bottom view

I received a nice note from Sarah and Matt regarding their painting (and for the record the box was HUGE!):

Hi Ann,

 

We received the painting yesterday and you were right the box was huge:)  We love the painting. It awesome to be able to display her name in a unquie and beauitful way. It matches her room perfectly! It is so much better than just putting wood letters up on the wall it it will last a lifetime. You did a beauiful job on the painting and provided excellect customer service. Thanks so much.

Matt and Sarah Hall

Thank you so much to the Hall's for allowing me to work on something so special for your daughter - it was so much fun to do!  It was absolutely my pleasure!!!! Enjoy!

I still have a birthday post and another girlfriend to cover, so stay tuned, I'm not done yet!  Also, I've tweeked the website a bit, added stuff mostly, check it out and enjoy!

Thanks!

My Girls...part four

After a bit of break, I realized I am so behind.  I mean, Monday was Jill's birthday and I should have posted this then, but here I am today realizing that tomorrow is another friends birthday and I have a painting that I have to post for her, but won't be able to because this one is going up late.  I'll get it figured out one of these days.  Plus this is a nice problem to have, I have so many paintings to post and not enough time to post them.  Not to bad.

I'm thinking about Jill this morning as I am eating my organic vanilla yogurt and my homemade granola from my yoga studio.  Jill.  Where do I begin?  Like my other girls I met Jill at HNTB.  She was an intern and she was doing her grad work at IUPUI.  We all immediately took to Jill because she is fantastic.  One of the most genuine people you will ever meet.  She was interesting too, she was my first vegan I ever encountered.  Now we all have run into "vegetarians" or even some of those people who think they are but still eat fish and chicken.  Not Jill, she was vegan.  She didn't eat meat, use any products with animal by products and doesn't wear leather, or anything that may have originated in some way to an animal.  I found it fascinating.  I also realized that all she ate was tortilla chips and salsa for lunch, so it was intimidating to figure out what we should fix when we started our monthly girls night.  We started out with at least two vegan things - something Jill would bring and one of us would brave the world of TVP or tofu or carob.  At first it might as well have been called spaghetti or stir fry night - we didn't have much imagination.  Jill will admit that if she hadn't been with Dan her wonderful, handsome, vegan husband, she'd be living on chips and salsa. She's a simple girl.  Our food choices expanded to all things vegan and our meals became quite extensive, chocolate cakes, chili's, dips, breads, sides, casseroles - there is SO much you can do vegan.  I love Jill for opening my eyes to a whole world of options out there.  Now she hasn't turned me vegan, but I really do like to cook vegan.  I also always tell her that if I had to kill it and prepare it myself I would be vegan, plain and simple.  In my world meat comes from a Styrofoam container or on a platter at the meat dept.  It doesn't resemble its former self so- in this case ignorance is truly bliss.  

Beyond being vegan Jill is as active as they come (I can hear her laughing), but seriously she is always spinning, walking, running, taking classes, kickboxing - I get tired of thinking about it.  She is a creative soul that has the most amazing heart and if anything that is one of the best things I have learned from her.  To love, love all and love it well.  She is a wonderful friend, rarely forgetting to send a card or surprise just when you need it.  I admire her passion for her beliefs, her love of her family, the relationship she has with her sister and her carefree attitude. I tease her because she can be a bit helter skelter about things (a la 22 containers of armour-all wipes in the backseat of her car) but I truly love her for it and it gives me the boost to let go a bit and relax.  

When I was thinking about doing a painting for Jill it immediately came to mind that I have gained so much wisdom from our friendship and that I find Jill to be that perfectly quirky friend that I love dearly.  So I thought lets do another Owl.  I decided to match her Owl to her very cool, black, white and red kitchen.  It is such a wonderful hub of her house - so many spices and goodies to make the most basic of tofu taste delectable.  So I present to you Ruby, created by me with love for Jill - love you!!!!

Thanks again Jill for your friendship and love!

Last up, but definitely not least: Heather!

My Girls...part three

Where to begin with Brooke.  Brooke and I became fast friends at first job at HNTB.  I know that we were every bosses nightmare - two twentysomethings, planning to get married, chatty and worse than that we were squished into one big "bull pen" which is the equivalent to two cubicals with out the separating wall.  The best part was we weren't the only ones in there either.  Needless to say, there was lots of chatting and not nearly as much work was done.  We were young and they got smart and separated us later on.  Brooke is a person you feel very comfortable with, right from the get go.  She's evolved since I've known her from a fun loving partying girl to a fun loving super athlete.  We all walked and ran the mini-marathon here in Indy together the first couple of years into our relationship, but Brooke got bit by the running bug HARD.  Since those early days she's run marathons, trail runs, she wins her age group pretty much every time, does mountain biking and has a pretty strong stance on high fructose corn syrup.  She is truly an amazing person and one that motivates me to make myself a healthier and better person, taking better care of my own body and my family's as well.  Her determination is so strong - I strive to attain half of that determination for myself.

I am also so very blessed to have Brooke as part of the small bible study that I do, it has taken our relationship to an entirely different level and has brought so much depth to an already pretty fantastic friendship.  Like anyone else Brooke has her ups and downs in life - sometimes the downs seem to be running the show, but her optimism and strength are no match.  Our little group has provided so much healing and learning in the short time that we have met.  I, we all agree that it is no coincidence that we formed this group and began this study.

When deciding what to paint for Brooke I was immediately moved by the Warriors in Pink dove.  It is representative of peace in a time of struggle, freedom and gentle joy.  These are all things that I wish for my friend and see within her.  So for Brooke I have the Warrior Dove:

You learn things about your friends - first off if you know Brooke she loves green and purple, hell they were her wedding colors and second, which I did not know, she has an affinity for birds.  Sometimes things just work out perfectly.

I'm pretty sure that Brooke was happy with her dove - I think I saw a tear, which is pretty awesome because Brooke is a very composed person.  I love you Brooke, thanks so much for your friendship and support.  I am eternally grateful!

Thanks!

Next up: Jill