A Little Bit of Catching up...

Over this past week, I have had some interesting things happening, the first of which is I finished the painting I started of my Cinnamon Bear. I am still debating adding some inspirational words, like I do with most of my art, so I will live with it like this for a while, and decide later.

 Last week I posted about our vacation being cut short, and deciding to work on our log cabin to make it ready to use. I decided to share some pictures, I just love it's rustic charm! Here is the north side,

 and the south. It has two decks and entrances.

 The downstairs bedroom, the floor was scrubbed clean with deck wash, which removed the silver color and  then I oiled it to swell the dry wood and enhance the color.

 Here is the vinyl tile I installed in the bathroom, which now has running water,a sink, a toilet and shower. I love rustic, but I am old enough to appreciate some modern conveniences...

and here is the gorgeous view looking north towards our little town. The land lacks the typical trees, lake or creek I would prefer in a vacation cabin, but the view and isolation make up for that. I went up on my own this past Friday, and clear coated the floors, so we are now ready to place the furniture and start enjoying our little hideaway. There are two whole other floors that remain untouched for now, I have been focusing on the main living area so that we can use it. The ultimate goal here is to sell the cabin, along with the surrounding 77 acres, but for now, we can enjoy some quiet times, and staging it as a usable get away can only help it sell better.

Back at the home front, I was delighted to harvest my first carrots and green beans this week, and steam them up for dinner. I have never grown this multi-colored carrot variety before, and think it lends an exotic look to the meal. There are a few new potatoes tucked in there as well.

 Last winter, I posted about my participation in the Art-o-mat Project, where you create little pieces of art, the size of a pack of cigarettes, ship them in and have them placed around the country in refurbished cigarette machines... These machines are placed in museum gift shops, hotel lobbies and various other high traffic locations, and managed by the folks at Artists in Cellophane, out of Winston- Salem, NC.
Well, after I sent my box in, I waited a very long time to hear back from anyone, and was beginning to think that the whole thing was a bust. Either no one was interested in the art I had produced, or they were sitting in a warehouse because of a backlog of stock. Imagine my delight when I received a message on my Facebook page, from a young artist that had purchased one of my collages, and wrote in to thank me, and ask for advice on starting her career as an artist! I though it was very kind of her to write, and wrote back with some pointers on starting a blog and setting up a Facebook page.

 Then, in one of those amazing coincidences, I got a check in the mail from the Artists in Cellophane. It seems that my fears were unfounded, not only is my art work out there, but they have sold 41 pieces out of the original 50! As you can see on this activity report, they use an image of a vintage gas gauge to show my remaining supply, and it is almost on empty. I love the little message; "more please", and the smiley face. I also enjoyed seeing where my art was when it sold, North Carolina, Texas, Missouri, Indiana, Las Vegas and the Smithsonian in Washington, DC!
 I was so excited to get this, I may have made a fool of myself, but with only Mr. How2 to witness, I guess I am safe...So my next project, besides my "Learning" ATC's for this months trade, will be 50 more tiny bits of art, mounted on blocks of wood so they will dispense properly through the machines. Participating in this project is not about making money with your art, at $2.50 per piece, you are not going to be living off your sales, but it is about networking, getting your art out there and validation as an artist, especially when just starting out like I am. My work spoke to someone...life is good!

This weeks theme for Every Inchie Monday is "house" and here is mine. Until next time...enjoy!