Life in these Parts

I have been a big fan of designer Cressida Bell since the day I discovered her. Granddaughter to some of my favorite painters, our shared interest in Tibetan tiger rugs only sweetened the deal for me. I bought her book about decorative painting as soon as it was published in the mid 90's, and have adapted her leaf designs to fit hand painted gifts for family members, but always in the back of my mind was that desire to do a big project based on designs from the book. This year I found the perfect project: a chair for a charity auction. Northwest Furniture Bank is a group of volunteers who collects and warehouses furniture, then distributes it, through qualified member agencies, to natural disaster and fire victims, domestic violence victims, and to certain other families in need. Next March they will host their second fund-raising Chair Affair, and I will be one of the contributing artists to donate a chair. I found an unassuming little chair at Goodwill for $4.50 and am transforming it into a Tiger Chair. It has been a bit of work, but a lot of fun. I painted some canvas to recover the green naugahyde seat, and am embellishing that with running stitch.

I may add a little something extra, in the form of a small tiger bag. It's a design that has been floating around my head as I work on the chair.  I find that when I am wallowing in artistic doldrums, it sometimes helps to apply myself to a more "crafty" project such as this chair. The painting frees up another part of my brain to dream up new projects.

In other news, our main bath looks like this right now. Buh-bye 1970's lime green bathroom! Work progresses, but those of you familiar with remodeling projects know how important it is to maintain a sense of humor in times like these. Especially when one is doing most of the work one's self, one's only other bathroom is the size of a postage stamp, and conversations are rife with terms like "sweat-soldering" and "junction boxes."

We have discovered that a large glass of wine at the end of the day helps immensely.