Only here for the Boos

 

My house looks like Halloween.  Not because of decorating, either.  I used to love decorating for every holiday on the calendar.  I have hundreds of holiday decorations, stored carefully in totes in the attic.  I don't think I will even have time to get them down this year .  Plus, there is no place to put them!

The dining table is covered with witch hats and spooky cats.  The top of the China cabinet boasts a boxful of spooky painted

pumpkins.  The mantel, formerly a focal point of seasonal decor, now holds canvases in various sizes and stages of completion. Varnished ornaments are hanging from all the chandeliers drying.

There's even a stack of totes full of  fall and Halloween finished items in the kitchen (unfortunately, it doesn't block the view of the dishes piled in the sink).

And to top it all off, I have Thanksgiving and Christmas items started as well.  Soon they will be all over the place too.

The reason is simple.  Fall and Christmas craft fairs.  I have the last quarter of the year to make up for the limited number of sales in the previous three!  Fall and Christmas sales make up a staggering percentage of my year's income, and I have to take advantage.  I'm also including some new things...a series of Kwanzaa themed items and some Hanukah themed ones.  My husband says I am over extended. I like to call it "versatile".

In the meanwhile, please if you're in the Northwest Louisiana area, I will be at Sunday Art in the Park at Shreveport Common, The Minden Maker's Fair, the Emerging Artist Tent at the Red River Revel, the Bossier Maker's Fair, and group exhibits at Shreveport Regional Arts Council and Bossier Arts Council all before Thanksgiving.  Y'all come see me!

But for now, back to painting.  I love to create things.  Painting has proved to be a valuable outlet for those creative compulsions.  Without it I would feel hollow. Considering what I spend on materials, I won't say it's cheaper than therapy.  But it's a lot more satisfying. And it doesn't cause a hangover.  So for now, I'm 100% here for the boos!! Now would you please not sit on the couch...I need to set some ghosts to dry there!

I'VE BEEN FRAMED!

The right frame can make a painting into a masterpiece.  My late mother taught me that.  I remember making twice yearly trips to a local frame shop for their clearance events.  We would fill her Dodge station wagon with discounted frames!  Framing days were an all-day event, as we would try her finished paintings out in various frames until each had the perfect frame to display each.  

Then we would store the rest of the frames.  She had a 12'x14' empty room that was just perfect for storing a huge number of frames. 

Unfortunately, I do not have such a room!

The old framing shop is no longer in business, but I have still managed to acquire a lot of frames for eventual use.  I haunt secondhand stores and garage sales.  I have even brought home stacks of frames I found on the curb.  I also have a good friend who owns a custom framing shop is where he sometimes has ready-made frames at very good prices. That shop, located in Shreveport, Louisiana, is King Framing on Youree Drive and he's on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/King-Framing-892377277484286/. He does exquisite custom frames too!

I used to have a walk-in closet off the master bathroom.  Now, it is the frame storage.  And the fabric storage.  And the surfaces storage.  And on and on. It is necessary to unload the whole blasted closet to get to whichever object is necessary. 

I have managed to "organize" the frames so they are grouped by similar sizes.  But the one I want always seems to know I'm coming and hide at the back of the stack.  It's a case of either unload the closet or hang by my feet from the clothes rods and pick. 

I honestly thought I had every imaginable size of frames, but when I finished a series of 3" x 9" mini seascapes, I found out I had missed a size.  So I will be spending some time improvising with the wood I have on hand (fortunately not in that closet) to frame all these.

After I put everything back in the closet, of course.

Of course, I have a few pieces nicely framed and for sale hanging at The Corner Pantry in Bossier City as well as on my websitebetsylevels.com .

Y'all check 'em out!