In my dream house I will have space for all my art!

I never shared my last few projects in painting with y'all!
This one is pretty awesome, but really the one that I can't wait to share is the last project from the class.
I'm gonna try and go in order, so next week you will get the one I'm REALLY proud of.

Just a recap of what I learned in my painting class. 

In beginning painting we are taught how to mix and see colors that are more than just the average blue, green, red or yellow. It is actually pretty intense in the beginning. I had NO clue that white objects really weren't white! (I talked about that process of looking for color in a post here.) 

Now this is our second to last project. It was more geared towards teaching different techniques. 

We were told to choose 2 art historical references. 

1 landscape painting

and 1 abstract painting. 

We would then use the color palate of the landscape and the composition and technique from the abstract painting. 

I chose a Gustav Cailebotte landscape The Bridge At Argenteui

I really loved all of Gustavs paintings and color pallets but this one in-particular "spoke to me". 

Well, maybe not but I LOVE these colors. Those blues are my colors. 

Just go look at my house and you will see that a majority of my projects end with some kinda of blue from this painting :) 

I then chose Morris Louis abstract pouring Delta Zeta 

I hadn't heard much about Morris Louis until I chose this painting. 

I really loved the way it all seemed to have a smooth, soft, light emitted from the canvas. 

I then combined these two pieces to try and create a greater sense of depth. 

It was really fun replicating while also figuring out how color can change so much.

The process that Morris Louis employs is a pouring or staining.
He uses thinned down acrylic paint to pour across a raw canvas. And has multiple different tools to help him manipulate the canvas to ensure he gets the shapes he desires from the colors.

I couldn't use that process so I sorta had to make it up on my own.
I used oil paints and thinned them down with mineral spirits and Galkyd which thins the paint to a point where it is more fluid.
I then used one large brush to keep the shapes from the original Louis painting and very delicately overlapped the many different stripes.

I loved working with this fluid paint and obviously the colors are pretty spot on with my living room :) Right now the painting is leaning against the wall in the guest room.
We just don't have enough space for it on our walls!!
One day. One day... 

Spring Studio Space

I moved in to my studio at school last week. 

I'm sure most of you saw it on instagram or facebook. 

Sorry, I'm not sorry about it!! 

I'm way to excited NOT to share :)

Having this closet size studio sure beats using my guest bedroom and having to worry about the carpet all the time. 

(Heres the picture I shared last week, I've cleaned it up a little bit but forgot to take a picture. I'm sure you will see it again soon, I'll be living in it this semester!) 

Now that I've got space to work, I've been MUCH more productive.

I even just think better!

Here is my first project for the semester. 

What I am looking to discuss with this piece is a continuation from last semester. 

And the topic that is common in many societies is tradition, and how to preserve it. In

today’s American culture we are asked to look forward more often than back, and to think

about OUR individual future rather than the collective. This is evident in the lack of interest

in heritage. Not only are people losing their personal history but many traditions are being

lost as well. Trades that were once passed down from generation to generation are now

specialties that are hard to come by. With this body of work I am using furniture to

comment on the tradition, heritage, and integrity that is seemingly loosing importance to

the younger generations.

I am really proud of this piece and am honestly stund at how well the testing worked out. 

I posted a few weeks back asking if anyone knew how stiff fabric stiffener got. 

Well, incase you where wondering what I was doing with it... I made a fabric table!

Here is how I tested it. 

First I laid out wax paper to protect the counter top and chose 2 pieces that I didn't care about messing up. (They ended up being fine and I just had to wash the glue off) 

Second I filled a large bowl with the fabric stiffener and rolled a small piece of fabric in it. 

Once the fabric was completely covered I draped it over the cup and bowl to dry. 

After about 24 hours of drying I was so surprised how well the fabric held its shape! 

Now back to my large test. 

I used the same process just on a larger scale. 

I also used Elmer's glue instead of fabric stiffener because it was cheaper. (Also had the same results). 

This took about 24hours of dry time also and was unbelievably strong when I poped it off!! 

For this particular piece there is evidence of a table set for dinner while it is no

longer in existence. The tablecloth is formed to the shape of a traditional table that a family

of four would sit down to for dinner. Nearly everyone in the American society would be

able to identify this; however, eating at the table is becoming a thing of the past. With the

high paced life that many of us are living we often find ourselves eating out, in the car, or

even just grabbing a bite in front of the TV to relax. This table, whether in the kitchen or

dinning room, is becoming something that is more metaphorical than literal, more strange

than familiar, and recognizable yet overlooked.

I am hoping to draw the viewer back in with a piece that is in an inbetween state.

Causing the viewer to prolong their engagement with the piece by questioning their own

habits, knowledge or appreciation for the past.

I really do hope that people will interact with this piece and begin to investigate it. 

I love the way the fabric drapes and billows. 

 And ending on a different note. 

Tepe and Reed have too much fun together sometimes! 

Recap of this weeks Thankful Things!

Alright, on Monday I challenged y'all to post a picture of something your thankful for each day. 

I am personally taking a picture daily, and plan to do this for the entire year. 

I hope you can join me!!

I'm so happy that people like the idea, so lets keep it going! 

Don't forget to tell your friends to join in the fun this week :)

These are a few of the photos shared this week. 

Photos by: @cwalpole, @alie515, @mltd54, @lucysatt, and @ssclaude

Thanks for sharing!!

Alright readers! 

Heres the deal for the rest of the week be posting pictures of the things you find your thankful for. 

To play along and have a chance to be shown in the weekly recap you need to play along. 

How to play: download the picture you see below (right click to save to your computer, or save image or screenshot on your phone), post it on Instagram to get started! Then when you post your thankful picture each day, simply tag it with #KTAthankful and @gracielathrop so we can see! Each friday I will go through all of the posts from the week and share my favorites!! 

Our Puppy!

This is baby puppy, Tepe. 

She is 9 weeks old. 

We got her two weeks ago from a shelter in Liberty, SC. 

She is an English Pointer/Lab mix and is so cute!! 

The name Tepe is short for her full name Ticuantepe, which is the town in Nicaragua where Reeds parents own a Pineapple farm. We shortened it to Tepe, which we pronounce as "Teppy". 

This is one of my favorite pictures of her. 

It was the first day we got her home :) 

I ordered Tepe some special collars from Etsy. 

They are BEAUTIFUL! 

Allyson from SophiesDogBoutique has so many different fabrics to choose from and can make them special for your precious puppy :) 

Go on over and check them out, she also makes leeshes and accessories too! 

Just tell her I sent you:)

I ordered 2 so Tepe could have choices!! 

But really, one is a medium and the other is a large. 

We aren't sure how big she will get so we needed options.

The blue is the large so she still has a good bit of growing before it will fit her. 

And Yes. I sat her on our island to take the pictures :) 

I wanted to light from the window... 

This one is my favorite! It is such a cool fabric, I would love to have some of it for myself :)

This one is also a little big but it will do for now. 

She is growing so fast I'm sure she will fit it in a few weeks.

And I just thought this picture was hilarious! Looks at her face!! 

She was just enjoying the yard and the sunshine :)

And she eats the grass every now and then. 

And ending, with this beauty!

I thought it was similar to the one in the bath tub but showed how much she has grown in the 2 weeks we have had her. 

So anyway, we love our Tepe and I wish she would stay little forever!

Right now she is sleepin in my lap with her head on the keyboard...

Its official, Reed and I got a puppy and our heart has melted. 

Now we are a real married couple :) 

Thankful

This year I decided I wanted to find 

the importance in the mundane,

the beauty in the everyday, 

the little things that I couldn't live with out. 

Basically, I want to be truly thankful for my life and every aspect that I've been blessed with. 

I decided to do a post on Instragram each day all under the hashtag #thankful. 

Sometimes I feel kinda cheesy but doing this really makes me think throughout the entire day about all the things that I'm thankful for. It has been more of a challenge choosing just one each day. 

I think it would be great if we could start this every week. 

How about y'all start finding what YOUR thankful for tag me @gracielathrop and use the hashtag #KTAthankful. 

Then every Friday we can do a week recap right here on the blog to share with everyone!! 

Here is a recap of my #thankful challenge. 

DAY 1: Thankful for a handy and crafty husband. 

DAY 2: Thankful for soft tissues and Chapstick

DAY 3: Thankful for breakfast in bed :) 

DAY 4: thankful that I can be home in 2 hours 

DAY 5: Thankful for a dirt road lifestyle.  

DAY 6: Thankful for car rides and 2 hours to hold hands. 

DAY 7: Thankful that my options today are to paint some scarves or cuddle in bed and read.

DAY 8: thankful for our sweet baby Tepe! 

DAY 9: Thankful that my tough Reed is the one spoiling our puppy. 

DAY 10: Thankful for good friends, puppies and southern winters.  

DAY 11: thankful for such a precious sleeper

DAY 12: thankful for a new blogger buddy! 

DAY 13: thankful that Christ has died and Christ is risen, Christ will come again! 

DAY 14: thankful that school is testing fabric stiffener sculptures. 

DAY 15: thankful for late classes and cuddle time on a rainy day

DAY 16: Thankful for hot showers on a rainy day 

DAY 17: its small but its my studio! Sooooo thankful!!! 

DAY 18: Thankful for nights where I get to be girly! 

DAY 19: Thankful that however uncertain my future is I kno wart will always be a part of it.

DAY 20: Thankful that in the darkness Gods light shines! 

Alright, from here on out I'm going to do a thankful recap every Friday. 

How to play: download the picture you see below (right click to save to your computer, or save image or screenshot on your phone), post it on Instagram to get started! Then when you post your picture each day, simply tag it with #KTAthankful and @gracielathrop so we can see! Each friday I will go through all of the posts from the week and share my favorites!! 

Can't wait to see what you guys are thankful for!! 

House tour 4... FINALLY!

When I was doing the year end review I realized I never shared the photos of our guestroom/studio!! 

Here ya go!!

Our teeny tiny house doesn't have room for my art stuff so we had to compromise!

We basically split it in half, with the guest bed on one side and all of my art supplies on the other. 

You can see the lack of storage in the picture...

But hey, I've got that awesome armoir!!

Check out how I redid it here!!

Here is a close up of the desk and all its... STUFF. 

I've got sooooo much! 

I'm hoping to teach myself how to sew so far the closest i've gotten is getting my moms old machine on the desk :) 

Here is the other side of the room. 

It's just a little less chaotic!

This is probably my favorite part of the room. 

This blanket is just so bright and exciting!

I love all of these fabulous pillows, the 2 bright orange and blue ones where made by my cousin and the stitched on is from clearance at Belk!

You can see I've added a little camo and a large bass pillow for Reed :) 

A little recap of the corners :) 

The cutesy day bed, and my granddaddies armoir! 

Another way that I added a little "manly" touch for Reed,

not only the camo and bass pillow. 

But also put up some of his animal mounts.

The hog on the right is one that I've never particularly liked, its just so... fearce!

But the duck is beautiful. We just got him done recently and even though he is hung in an awkward place I do love it :) 

Well, thats our precious guest room/ studio! 

It is usually covered in Reeds camo clothes and my art projects... 

But this is what we try to keep it looking like.