Pictures in Pastel by Carol Conrad

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Today we decided to drive down to Plymouth, Ma to visit the art gallery of Anne Heywood a pastel artist from Maine, but unfortunately when we got there it was closed. Anne is a very good pastelist and I've taken two weekend workshops with her which taught me a lot. I also spent some time today sorting through my paintings that I have yet to photograph and put on this blog. I hope to do that soon but it's easier to photograph them outdoors on a sunny day, and the weather isn't co-operating yet.

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Two exciting things happened today!

We totally finished the crown molding and are very satisfied with the result. We figure for amateurs we did a pretty good job.

The other exciting event is that I have signed up for the International Pastel Society Convention, so John and I will be going to Albuquerque at the end of May for that. I have always wanted to go to New Mexico and it's a plus that the IAPS is there. I have also signed up to belong to the Pastel Painters Society of Cape Cod, it's a long way from Chelmsford, but is the only one in Massachusetts. I don't imagine I'll get to any meetings or take part in their events but by being a member I get a slightly reduced convention fee, but it will be good to belong to the society and get newsletters and information.

Friday, January 2, 2009

The crown molding is done! It looks great and now we just have to go round and fill a thousand nail holes. I love the way it looks. Just spent the last hour cleaning up all the resulting sawdust from every surface in the kitchen. We decided that using the mitre saw in the kitchen was preferable to suffering the bitterly cold temperatures out in the garage, but it did make a bit of a mess. We had to go to Lowes and get an extra length of molding probably due to the number of practice cuts we had to do while we were figuring out how to make the joints. Had lunch while we were out but got right back to work as soon as we got home again. Looking forward to relaxing this evening.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Very cold today. Here in the Boston area it was 4 degrees F when we got up this morning. We are keeping warm though wrestling with the intracacies of installing crown molding in our family room. We finally got the corner miters figured out but then couldn't figure out which way up to install. A search on the internet revealed that it depends on the "rise and the run" which on our molding appears to be the same, so I guess we can put it whichever way we prefer.

My sister called from England this morning to wish us a Happy New Year, so it was nice to speak with her and catch up with all the news there.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

So today is New Year's Eve and it's snowing like crazy outside. We are going to a friend's house this evening and hopefully the snow will stop before then. I did manage to get into my studio this morning and work on the picture currently on my easel. I recently tidied the studio and laid out all the new pastels that I was given for Christmas - it's all very organized now - a far cry from the situation before the big tidy-up!