Spiffying Up the Playhouse

One of the main reasons we bought our present house is that there was a closet under the stairs. Why? To make a playhouse for our grandkids a la Harry Potter.

The closet is tall enough in the front for adults to stand. It gets shorter in the middle and the roof slopes to the ground in the rear. We noticed that in other houses of our model the closet had been walled off and only the adult-height area was left. Soon the workmen tried to do the same to ours. Why? I can only guess that they wanted to save the carpet and labor necessary to leave the far-more-interesting configuration.

We insisted that the closet be finished out as in the model home!

Beth our youngest helped me paint a big blue house on the wall. (Our house is blue and the kids' favorite TV show was "Bear in the Big Blue House.) My husband Archie cut holes for windows with doors that open and close. (The lower door has been left off because the little ones are not ready to be closed up with no view of parents.) I painted a downstairs front door and another door and balcony above to mimic our house.

Archie added a doorbell that rings loudly. So loudly in fact that we resorted to removing the batteries when our grandson rang the bell often enough to make our granddaughter cry.

The house number is, of course, 5208 1/2 as ours is 5208.

We quickly painted trees and bushes and added a lamppost with a light that actually lights--quickly because our first two grandkids were soon to arrive for Christmas. I am now adding values to the trees, bushes and the lamppost to make them more dimensional.

Our Atlanta grandsons were here for my birthday and played in the playhouse. (You may have watched the puppet show they enjoyed in an earlier posting.) They are returning for the Fourth of July. So I am spiffying up the playhouse.

Art is for everyday living--to enhance our experiences on this planet.

Miriam's Blog

I am helping our friend Miriam Cassell set up her blog. We are the proud owners of a print of one of her pastels in her Kimono Series.

http://www.miriamcassell.blogspot.com

Happy Easter

No major artistic accomplishments to add yet. But I did hand-color these eggs for our Easter breakfast. If you wish to do something similar, I have two suggestions:

• Be sure to take previously boiled eggs out of the refrigerator at least an hour ahead or let them cool for an hour if you have just boiled them. Either way, pat them dry if they are damp.
  
• Be sure your markers are permanent (unless you are letting children color eggs with them).

Happy Easter!

NEW GRANDSON

No postings for the last few days. Our newest grandson arrived on Thursday--Callan Michihira McKee. We are PROUD!

YUM! Cakes by Beth

Our daughter Beth made this birthday cake for me. She is also an artist; her medium is a bit unusual--she expresses herself using fondant icing on bakery items.

She now has a blog, too. To see more of her creations, visit her blog at http://www.yumcakesbybeth.blogspot.com/. You will be amazed.

Rather than Artist....

Archie says I will always do more than paint, so I should name my site something other than, "Grace McKee - Artist." He recommends, "Grace McKee - Artistic Leanings."

What do you think?

Latest Painting: Bromeliad - Potted

Finished another painting: Bromeliad - Potted.

This plant I love and I haven't managed to kill it yet. (Archie takes care of our plants is the only reason.) Just as I painted the cut flowers Archie brought me one day for no special occasion in order to "keep them," I've done the same with this bromeliad. Only way I can keep a garden! lol

I said I'd be painting waterscapes for a while, but needed to let the gesso dry before beginning the next one. This bromeliad painting had been started, but I just couldn't seem to get it to speak to me. Well, it has finally spoken. I really like it now and hope you do too. Let me know.

Waterscapes: South of Rocky Point

I think I am ready to sign my first painting in my new series, Waterscapes. But I'd love to have your input first. What do you think? Is it finished?

Send me a quick email to artist@gracemckee.com and let me know what you think.

Thanks for looking!

New Series - Waterscapes

Inspired by a Carmel coastline photo (taken by either my husband or me) and a painting requested by our daughter and her husband (see photo of it hanging in their dining room in Alpharetta, Georgia), I have decided to begin a new series - Waterscapes.

This will allow me to loosen up from the style I have been using in my Asian Motif series. The ceramics used in some of those paintings called for such detail (to challenge myself), but now I am ready to "get loose."

This painting (above left) is not quite finished. Once it is, I will put a Waterscapes page on my website, www.GraceMcKee.com, so visit there soon.

My Chinese Seal

You might notice that my Asian motif acrylic paintings have a Chinese seal by my name. My Chinese name, Ma Cong Ci, is carved into a stone which is inked and then stamped onto the canvas.

  

Our son was in China in 1988-89 attending Zheng Zhou University. He was 19. He gave me this Chinese name: Ma for McKee (family name) and Cong Ci which means, "Wise Benevolence."

  

Many mothers of 19-year-olds would be as proud of such a gift!

Reinventing Myself Once Again - ARTIST

FINALLY! I have the time, resources, and self belief (and hopefully the energy) to become the artist I have always aspired to be!

From an early age I was in awe of my big sis Fran Dillard who is an accomplished oil painter. One of my earliest memories is studying for hours a palette-knife painting by my Uncle Rab that hung in our family room all my growing up.

With a big thank-you to my husband for his support (financial as well as moral), I have been pursuing this new venture of being a professional artist for almost a year now.

Not that I am new at creating art. All my life I have kept my sanity (no comments, please!) by creating, whether watercolors, silver jewelry, home decor, multimedia art, websites, murals, even bulletin boards. The only reason for cooking for guests has always been presentation and table decor.

For many years I studied watercolor with Jo Tarabula, AWS, whenever I could squeeze out the time in a hectic schedule of being wife, mother of three, teacher, and club sponsor. I am so lucky to count Fred Rothenbush, a well-known fifth generation artist, as a dear friend; I'm a huge fan! Most recently I have studied acrylic painting and drawing with Joanna Coke, a greatly respected artist and instructor in Bradenton. Another artistic force in my life is Miriam Cassel, a passionate pastelist. Miriam is walking art!

My work is presented here for your inspection and comments. I hope that viewing it will motivate you to share your feelings with me.

I offer encouragement to all of you who have an artistic bent to CREATE! The first step in my journey was to complete the assignments in THE ARTIST'S WAY by Julie Cameron. This gave me the belief in myself as an artist to go forward. I highly recommend this to you.