recent watercolor paintings

Before I got into cards and scrap booking I painted some acrylics, but mostly watercolors. I painted a lot. This is also before having twins.
Lately I’ve been very frustrated with my job search and consumed with guilt because I miss teaching and would really like to go back full time, but maybe I should wait until the twins are in school? Needless to say, I haven’t found a job so it looks like I’m home longer. But that’s another story. I’ve been in a funk, I’ve been stressed and depressed so I got out my watercolors and started doodling and painting. And they may not be the best or even moderately good, but it feels so good to be standing at my easel again.

Normally I don’t share my paintings because they mean too much to me, and I’m worried about what someone may think about them. Which is silly but I think everyone is hesitant to share their artwork. But I’ve decided to be brave and share these recent works that are based on my photos from my family’s farm.
1st one, an old shed. I’m still working on this one but it needed to sit and rest before I added anything else.

Next, a hollyhock flower and bee. I think it’s done.

And finally, sunrise at the farm. Still needs more.

Thanks for letting me share a little bit of myself.

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Adding a dose of color to my home (or finally getting rid of “builder beige”)

We’ve lived in our home for nearly four years. It was a spec home–built and painted just waiting for us to move in. Inside the trim is all glossy white and the walls are all what I’ve named “Builder Beige” or “Tahoe Tan” (Tahoe was our builder and this is a color they use in many of their homes.) I’m sure this color has an “official” name but I like builder beige and now everyone uses that color. We had just moved out of our 900 sq ft brick duplex, built in the 60′s with hardwood floors. It had a really simple/classic look, nothing too funky. We owned both sides and rented the other side out, which meant we did all of the maintenance on the place and we had a ton of painting and work to do when we moved out of our side so we could get it rented out. Long story short: we were really happy to move into a nice, new, completed home. Not having to paint or do a bunch of work on a house was really nice. We thought about color for a while but could never decide. Then we had twins and had two toddlers ramming their stuff into the walls and corners and we thought “let’s wait a while to paint”. So now the kids are 3.5, they’re big toys are outside and in their rooms and my husband thought this summer would be a good time to paint. But I wasn’t ready to until I went to buy stain for our fence and decided to get some paint. Well, the first two colors I got where not the right ones. So a friend brought over a paint deck and helped me find the right colors.
So here’s the kitchen before (the red was started two years ago but I couldn’t decide how far to go with it!)

And now, after

I also carried the red around the other side of the kitchen to finish it off.

In our house, the kitchen is at the front of the house overlooking the street (which I love) and instead of separate formal dinning room, we have a dinning area right with the kitchen.
So here’s before (with my 1st color attempts)

And after

This yellow is so warm and comforting. I love how it makes my trim work stand out better. And I love how my great grandmother’s buffet looks so great against that yellow. The large pitcher and basin are also from great grandma and for a long time sat above my kitchen cabinets because I didn’t have a safe spot for it where it wouldn’t get bumped. The small cream pitchers are from both my hubby and I’s grandmas.

We are all so happy with our new paint colors. It makes it feel like a brand new room!

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