Our Trip to the Jansen Art Studio

Just a short note to update everyone on what has been happening here at Pampered Palette. Well, this past weekend Mark and I drove up to David Jansen's (Jansen Art Studio) to pick up the new Heritage Acrylics (supplies for the online store) and other supplies. I guess we spent about 3 hours there at the Jansens talking, laughing, looking at paintings and taking pictures. I the above pictures we took with an iPhone which really turned out great. The first picture is David J and myself displaying the new Heritage 12 color set and we brought back a bunch of those to stock our shelves. The next picture is of me standing next to David's door that he just finished painting. I was stunned at how big the door actually is and how stunning it is in person. Thus the purpose of the picture. Everyone can get an idea how big the door is with me standing right next to it (or does it show just how big I am........hmmmm). The final picture is of Mark, David J and myself standing in David and Martha's new studio which is under construction. We we returned home, we realized that Martha is not in any of the pictures. In fact, she took most of the pictures. How could we have let that happen. Martha the next trip up we need to make sure you are in all the pictures.

Anyway, this week I am in Las Vegas and get home on Sunday. NO TRAVEL SCHEDULED AFTER THIS TRIP. And you know what that means? I will have more time to paint. I used the plane trip to read the Heritage Educational Manual as I will be offering classes after the first of the year. I actually loaded the complete manual on my Sony eBook reader and was able to read through the manual while flying. The only thin I could not do was paint. It was perfect. I will post more when I return to the DC area. Until then, Happy Painting.

Busy, Busy, Busy - New Supplies and New Paints

Well the above pictures are as far as I have gone with my Dewey Roses project. I have been on travel now for two weeks to Pasadena CA and San Antonio Texas. I am only home for a short time as next week I leave for Las Vegas. So I have not had a lot of time to paint. This weekend, before the next airplane trip, I want to do a little painting. However, it will not be today as I will be getting in the car for a trip up to the Jansen Art Studio to pick up the New Heritage Acrylics. Yeppers, they have finally arrived so I am making a beeline to Pennsylvania to pick them up.

Along with the new paints, I have been really busy receiving new supplies, brushes, patterns, and wood surfaces into my inventory and updating all the computer stuff. It seems like there is never a dull moment when it comes to updating all the computer things that I have to do. My FaceBook site now has 761 friends so I really try to type something on that page everyday. The blog takes me a little longer to get that updated as I like to have at least painted on one of my projects so I can include progression pictures.

I wanted to give you an idea where I do all my computer stuff and yes there are five computers on my desk. Each computer is used for different portions of my work demo builds, paint and supply tracking and accounting. HEY! I think I know the person who painted those plaques on the wall (David Jansen painted the plaques). Maybe the next pictures I will post will be of my supply storage area that I have established. I am very well organized if I must say so myself........lol. As I have to get off this computer and get ready for my drive to David and Martha's, I will have to make this post a little short. Therefore, hopefully I will be able to post more pictures tomorrow after I do a little painting. So until then, happy painting...............

Another Strawberry Plaque Completed

Well, this Tuesday I have to get on an airplane for Pasadena so this will probably be the last piece completed for at least a couple of weeks. As this week I am in Pasadena, the following week I am in San Antonio and then the third week I will be in Las Vegas. I guees painting during that time is a little out of the question. Therefore, I am been trying to get some pieces finished or at least to the point they are almost finished. The above piece I completed this morning with the final antiquing and the varnishing. I am actually pleased with how it turned out. As usual the strawberries look pretty good. I joke with Georgia that I will be known worldwide for my strawberries.......lol. I seem to do a lot of strawberries. Anyway, I heard yesterday that the new Heritage paints will be here by next week, which is really exciting. This week again I spent a lot of time, when I was not painting, stocking my shelves with new items like patterns, books, brushes, and wood surfaces. I also received what seems to be tons of marketing materials for the new paints so I had to get all of that put away or as they say on the airplanes, stowed. So I guess you get the point that setting up a business takes a little bit of time. Hmmmmmmm.......it sounded so easy when I watched Paul and Cathy's DVD on how to start a business. I guess I missed the part about how much time it consumes.......lol.

So, what is next? Other than working on my accounting system today a little, I have started the Dewey Roses piece. At the moment I only have the piece basecoated so will need to transfer the rose pattern and then basecoat that in white per David's instructions. Let's see if the roses look like strawberries when I get finished..........lol. Anyway, have to run as time is just ticking away. I have to get a lot of things completed or done before I leave for Pasadena. Until the time time, Happy Painting.

NEW!!!! DOMED TRUNK - NEVER A DULL MOMENT!!!

It is never a dull moment here at my place. I am almost finished with my strawberry basket. Well at least the lid has been completed and the basket is base coated. I am still working on the blue coffee, the Ompir Fruit Tray and the Ompir Strawberry Plaque (Disc 3) but now I have another piece to start. Above are the pictures of the new Domed Trunk that I just received yesterday from Hall's Woodcrafts. It was delivered all crated in a wooden box. What a sight to see, me lugging this box to the garage. Anyway, my initial thought is to paint the Ompire Fruit Tray pattern on the top and maybe the front. The pattern is certainly big enough and I think would look super on the piece. I think this piece will take a lot of paint to basecoat it........lol. YA!! THINK!! I took the pictures under a 6 foot long table just so everyone could get an idea of its size. This trunk is fairly large and will take a little bit of time to complete. I guess the hardest part or better said the most time consuming part will be the basecoating. That is a lot of territory to cover with a basecoat. Going back to my ceramic days, this would be a perfect piece for airbrushing. Hey, has anyone ever tried to airbrush pieces? I was told it would not work but if anyone has succeeded in airbrushing a piece and it worked, then please drop me a line. Have to get back to painting, I just wanted to share this piece with everyone. Until next time.....Happy Painting.......

OH! Visit www.pamperedpalette.com online store and take a look at all the new stuff I have added. That is another time consuming activity, entering data into the online store........not enough time in a day.

A Very Busy Week in Virginia

Wow! What a busy week here in Virginia. I am currently painting four different pieces. The above piece is my adaptation of David's Ompir strawberry plaque. The picture is actually the lid of a wicker basket. I have decided to not put anything around the edges of this piece so last night I went ahead and varnished the lid. I still have to finish the basket part and hopefully that will be done soon. Believe it or not, I am actually going to do this piece one more time. Of course, that will not occur until after the first of the year. There will be three weeks in November that I will be on business travel, so it is a little hard to paint when traveling. I am still working on the Coffee Pot, the Fruit Tray, and I started a new piece. Another strawberry plaque but this one is from Disc 3 of David's Ompir DVD set. So far I have basecoated the plaque, the strawberries and have antiqued the complete piece. Now I am ready to move to the next steps.

The week also brought some changes with Pampered Palette. I worked on the online store adding new products, updated the FaceBook page (currently have about 585 people connected on FaceBook), of course, I updated my blog. So there seemed to be a lot of typing this week. I have received a lot of comments from the FaceBook page. Comments concerning classes, about the pieces that I am painting (post pictures on FaceBook) and about promoting decorative painting. Seems some of the people stopped painting years ago and they are feeling inspired (by me?) to pick up the brushes again. Now isn't that scary......lol. Along with all the work, I had some excitement as well. I started receiving the promotional materials that I ordered including some mouse pads, new business cards, and vinyl booth banners. All of the items have the picture of the Heritage Acrylics and look absolutely great, if I must say so myself.

Well today will be no different than the rest of the week. I will be working in my store room installing some new shelving. I have to be ready when everything starts to show up (hint......paint). I hear we should be seeing the paint soon so am getting ready. As I am just about typed out for the week, I think I best get off this computer. Until next time, Happy Painting..........