Monday, January 31, 2011

Second Chances

On my last post, I neglected to mention a couple of other tiny purchases I made about a week ago. This was mainly because they didn't look that stellar in their found state.
They were two rather unimpressive violet prints from the Goodwill store. But at just $4 each, I knew I could reinvent them. I was drawn to the fact that they had matching gold frames and decent-looking matting. Once, I got home I quickly dismantled them. Unfortunately, the matting was not the same color on each. One was a fairly decent pale greige but the other was an unfortunate anemic sage. I accidentally tore the sage mat while removing the print from it (it really was an accident), but mended it as best I could. Then, to conceal its color and the slight tear, I covered the mat with brown craft paper.

Now onto the replacement art. I bought some drawing paper and charcoal at Michael's, looked for inspiration, then got to work. An artist I am not, but I can imitate simple lines so I went with some very simple subjects. I know my limitations. Here is what I came up with . . .

a nude figure drawing

and some random abstract.
What do you think? Anything would be a vast improvement over those violets.
The nude is the one whose mat got recovered. Also, it has glass whereas the abstract does not. Details. My children shriek with laughter whenever they see the nude. I forgot how hysterical naked people can be to children. I reprimanded them and told them art is not funny. That didn't seem to help. So, the drawings may be going in my bedroom. For now, they're parked on top of my grandmother's china cabinet in my kitchen/breakfast area. I'll have to live with them a while to see where they need to be.

In other totally unrelated news, my husband came home from work this evening and surprised me with these:
Isn't he the best? Today is the anniversary of the day he proposed to me 14 years ago. Isn't that sweet? I totally forgot. He likes to surprise me from time to time with little romantic gestures like this. He hates Valentine's Day and its artificiality, so he thought this was much more original. I agree. So what's that little fake yellow flower ring doing in the rose? When he proposed, he stuck my engagement ring down in a rose for me to find. I swear it's not as cheesy as it sounds. Or maybe it is, but I don't care. Thank you, Matt, and I love you!

And just to balance that bit of sweetness with reality, my daughter just threw up about an hour ago, so no school for her tomorrow. You win some, you lose some.

Hope you had a happy Monday!

12 comments:

Elisa @ What the Vita said...

Haha - cute kids! But maybe the more they see the nude drawing, the less funny it'll seem? They look too good to be hidden away!

jandjhome said...

I love them! I love the black and white. I remember my aunt had a nude drawing growing up and we would always giggle and stare. Too funny.

Noelle at Gray Paint Decor said...

Love it! I'm a big fan of thrift store frames--esp. gold ones like these. Sweet story about your husband :)

Kim said...

You rock, Kathy! I love that you drew those. You ARE talented! I love that your hubby is a romantic. And I love that you can see the humor in a not so funny moment.

Bri@Meyouandawiener said...

I agree with your hubby about Valentines day, yours brings flowers mine brings Starbucks which I love don't get me wrong. Well I was gonna ask you about possibly thrifting this Friday but now that your little girl is sick dont see it happening..=( Mine is sick as well.

If you do happened to get out don't forget this Friday is Goodwill's 50%off weekend I believe its the first Saturday of every month. I to buy my gold frames there.

Anonymous said...

Your artwork is great! Really, I love the nude--but I totally get how the little ones might not appreciate it.

It sounds like you have a very sweet and sentimental hubby. Lucky you!

Julie

lisaroy said...

Thanks for sharing your little bit of romance - what an incredibly sweet guy!
I love your new prints and great score on the frames. I drew nudes in art school but never displayed any of them - I wonder if I still have them kicking around?

come by and celebrate my blogiversary and enter my giveaway! :)

SHERRY HART said...

Hey...who said you aren't an artist...you just showed them!!!! And your husband,...if mine brought home anything but something he picked up in Publix I would think he had been abducted by aliens.....he is so not the romantic type :(

Curtis said...

I like your art work!

Megan James said...

Love this post! Miss you guys. Tell Meg I hope she feels better soon!

Ashley said...

Beautiful "afters" and happy engagement anniversary, Kathy! What an adorable hubby you have!

paula said...

Wow, you ARE quite the artist. love them.