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Artistic Endeavors

Artistic Endeavors

why you always, always ask…

The other day, I was working at the studio without a car, so I needed my dad to give me a ride home.  We had a bag of trash to drop off at the dumpster and, on the way there, something caught my eye.  It sort of looked like a large, wood box…maybe something on its side?  It was just sitting on the ground next to the building across the street.  Either way, it caught my eye and deserved a closer inspection.  I asked my dad to drive by it slowly on the way back and he did.  I saw bead board and old wood… “I think it’s a counter!  Let me out!” I jumped out of the truck and walked around the piece.  It was a counter with bead board sides and a wood top.  What in the world was it doing sitting on the concrete next to a

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Artistic Endeavors

getting my house back

As many of you know, we put our house on the market back in April and it didn’t sell.  We didn’t even get an offer.  So, we decided to stay put, work towards some goals and look for a commercial space to use as a studio for our business.  We found an awesome one and moved into it a couple of weeks ago. Getting all of the business stuff out of the house and getting some separation between the two has been amazing and eye opening.  I knew the business was taking over the house, and we have the empty spaces now to prove it, but I didn’t realize how much it was affecting my decorating decisions and/or lack of decisions.  I wasn’t viewing my home as just a home, but a backdrop and studio and work space and it was just too much.  It’s great to have multi-functional spaces,

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Artistic Endeavors

chandeliers, margot & toledo

My dad showed up bright and early (which is around 9:00 in my book) to make sure all my chandeliers were ready to hang.  They all needed a little tweaking and some additional hardware. It took a couple trips to the hardware store, but my dad was able to get two of them hung and they look great.  I needed to order an antique canopy (the thing that covers the ceiling outlet), so we’ll have to wait until that arrives to hang the third. I had my dad hang them a little higher than traditional chandelier height, so I can walk under them when I’m moving the tables around. Yes, the tile ceiling and fluorescent lights are still there, but those are not going away and they are becoming less noticeable. My dad also helped me hang Margot, the studio cow.  Her boxwood wreath arrived today and now she looks

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Artistic Endeavors

hand painted empire buffet | take two

I showed yesterday how I styled the hand painted empire buffet as a piece for a nursery or kid’s room.  In this post, I’m going to show the piece styled as a buffet… Kriste and I grabbed what we had around the studio…pieces in the studio “prop stash”, things waiting for tags for the Chapel Market and things that are listed in the online shop.  I’m learning how much of a “prop stash” I had at my house and I need to bring some things over to the studio! When the famous “cow head” from my kitchen came available again on Decor Steals, I bought one.  I knew I would want to put one in my studio space, since it’s become such an icon of my style.  (Yes, I ordered a boxwood wreath, too.)  We needed something on the wall in this arrangement and this was perfect.  Kriste and Leslie (the

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Artistic Endeavors

empire buffet project

Last week I started to get pieces ready for the Chapel Market (on October 25 in Pike Road, AL).  I have a pretty nice stash and a plan in my head and now that I have space to work, I’m ready to go! I want my space at Chapel Market to have a cohesive theme this year.  Last year, I brought mostly leftovers from the Lucketts Spring Market, so it wasn’t as pulled together as I wanted.  It still looked like me, but wasn’t cohesive.  I’m planning to work on photo shoots for the second MMSMP look book while I’m working on pieces to sell, so they are going to have a shared theme. And the theme is… French Blue | Farmhouse White I’ve used this theme before for curated collections, but I had to revisit it for a look book.  Those who are familiar with me and my style are

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Artistic Endeavors

adding casters to the counter

A couple of weeks ago, I found this amazing antique counter on Craig’s List.  My mom and I cleaned it and then I sealed the paint to prevent further chipping. I want everything in the studio to be very easy to move, so we have a lot of flexibility with the set up and I can scoot things around by myself without shredding the floors.  So, my dad came to the studio yesterday to put casters on the counter.  We thought we might need to build a frame underneath to support the casters, but when we flipped it over, we saw that the wood was thick and in good condition to accept the screws required to hold the casters in place. Adding casters was as simple as lining the caster up and screwing it in. I bought some vintage casters, but we ended up using new ones, so they would lock

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Artistic Endeavors

french ironstone compote

I had my second full day in the studio and it was awesome.  I am loving getting up in the morning and heading out of the house to a place of business.  I’m still a little scattered, because there are so many things I want and need to do and I don’t know where to start.  I would go into the bathroom to get a trash bag and I’d end up cleaning something, then moving something else and then I’d entirely forget what I was supposed to be doing until I tried to throw something away and saw there was no trash bag!  Welcome to my day. I know I’ll get settled into a routine soon and will find my stride. As I was working, Jeff brought in a package I was waiting for… Come on…it was mailed in a French potato box!  I’m sure those are very boring in France,

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Artistic Endeavors

moving into the studio part 2

I don’t mess around when it comes to moving into a new space.  I want to get unpacked and settled as soon as humanly possible.  I think it’s my military brat upbringing.  Moving was just a part of life and something I anticipated.  Maybe that’s why I like change so much? Anyway, I’m good at moving.  I didn’t have a lot of time to plan for this move, though, so most things were thrown into paper shopping bags.  Nothing was boxed or neatly labeled, but it all made it there.  My mom and I got quite a bit done yesterday, but today Kriste and I were able to get the studio to point where it’s functional. Here’s how it’s looking… Some of these pieces are to sell and others are to use for photo props. The chairs are for workshop attendees.  Jeff is building two farm tables for me that the

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I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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