Front window

So following on from the opening, the first week went well with the sale of my 'zesty triptych'.  We arranged to arrive early for the vernissage on 9th February so that I had some time to change some of the paintings with those that had come back from Belgium.  I wasn't too keen on all the little ones and wanted to add some larger works.

Setting up the food and drink

Quick chat with Jean the gallery owner

Jean was showing me literature from a previous expo

Just as we finished that, the local newspaper turned up. We had a quick interview and the photographer took some photos of me.  I've yet to see the article so I hope that went OK.

Next, the caterer came with a very strong punch (it smelled strong, I don't drink) and some lovely canapés.  There were tiny pieces of pizza, cheese croissants, small sausage rolls and pistachio pastries.  We set it all out and then the first guests already arrived.

The small gallery soon filled with people and I was really happy to see so many people appreciating my work.  I had some lovely compliments which really boosted my confidence and has inspired me to keep going.

I did not make any sales on the night but today someone returned and purchased half artichoke.  There are still 2 weeks to go so fingers crossed for a few more sales.

I'm delighted to finally have my paintings hanging at the gallery in Moulins, here in France.  Preparations for it seem to have gone on forever.   The exhibition was in fact first organized for May but just 5 weeks ago I received a phone call from the gallery owner asking me to bring it forward to February. This threw me into somewhat of a panic because a lot of my larger paintings were still in Belgium from a previous exhibition.  I worked like a mad woman, managed to rework some of my older works and finally got together 20 works.

2 days ago we were there to hang all the works.  I always find that nerve wracking and I come away thinking maybe I should have hung them differently.  Dream of Beans was definitely a eye catcher and the lighting generally in the gallery was superb.  It really brought out all the colors in my paintings.  It was lovely to see them take on a different life.

The show opened yesterday 1st February but the vernisage is on 9th February.  By this time, a friend of mine has gone to Belgium to collect my paintings which means I will have my paintings back so that I can replace some of the smaller works.  Phew, glad that worked out.  Let's just hope that it is well received.  The local paper will be coming on 9th February and will do an article on me so hopefully that will bring in some more visitors.  I intend to take more photos later and let you all know how it went.

The exhibition is open from 1st - 26th February - 9.30am - 12 noon and 14.30 - 18.30 Tuesday to Saturday.  It's at 34 Place d'Allier, Moulins, France. Tel: 0033 975 41 22 90.

Here's our 3 hooligans who rule the roost. In fact, I'm sure we're living in THEIR house!
Meet Bean, our female. She was dropped off at our house the night before the owner left the country. I think she was made to live outdoors and once experienced being inside, no longer wanted to go out. We spent 6 months coaxing her out but she would always cry and run back in. Now she's very confident and adores being out and climbing trees.
This is Oscar. We also have his brother Herbie. They were found at 1 week old and brought into a refuge. I adopted them and had to bottle feed them. As you can see, Oscar is cross-eyed which is very cute. He's our Zen cat although he's also an amazing hunter and catches rabbits bigger than himself. He eats the entire thing and then sleeps for 3 days, just like a snake!
This is Herbie, brother of Oscar. He's definitely the clown of the house and always up to mischief. He has a very expressive face and although he looks grumpy, he's incredibly friendly. He went missing yesterday but we found him rolled up inside a blanket. He's the master at hiding.

We were going a little stir crazy yesterday as we've spent much time working. Joe thought that we should get out and just down to the lake we have near to us. It was around -10C so we put our thermals on, 3 pairs of socks, wellington boots, scarf, hat and gloves.

This would normally be just a 10 minute walk but when we got to one of the fields, it was fenced off so we realised that the cows must have been put there. We decided to walk the long way round, through the adjoining field, through some woods and over a fence to reach the lake. It was a pretty difficult walk because with all the snow, we could no longer see what was underfoot. We ended up in some marshland which was scary as our boots were sinking in quite deep.  Finally, we made it to the edge of the lake.

Joe wanted to test the ice and having lived by a lake all my childhood, I told him not to put his weight on it. Boys will be boys and of course he ignored me, the ice gave way, he slipped and thankfully fell back on to the bank and managed to only get his wellington boot wet! I seriously thought he was going to end up in the bloomin lake! lol Frightened the life out of me.

By this point, my feet were getting really quite cold, despite the 3 pairs of wool socks, so I asked that we started to walk back.  It was quite tough going again and my toes just seemed to be not only very cold but also very stiff which was odd.  We finally made it back to the house but by this time I was near to tears with the pain in my toes. I took my boots and socks off and sat by the fire and soon realised that I had first degree frost bite. Wow, was it painful! Once they warmed up a little, they started to swell up, like little chipolatas and I stopped being able to feel them. It was the strangest sensation, like my toes did not belong to me. It took a good 3 hours before things started to feel normal again.

We managed to take some beautiful pictures which I'm delighted to be able to share with you all and despite the frostbite, I hope you'll agree all the effort was worth it!

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Joe and I are thrilled to have the Forum up and running. We bought the domain name for Total Art Soul well over a year ago with the idea that we would start up some kind of artists' community. Due to time constraints, we didn't get it off the ground and meanwhile I started a group on Facebook under the same name just to test the water. I very quickly had over 500 members there in the space of a couple of months with numbers just over 700 today. The group there has been a little quiet, again because of time constraints, I didn't have much time to devote to it.

The idea lays behind the fact that the days of doing apprentices with other artists seems to be gone. Where then do us artists learn new skills? For those of us that are not lucky enough to be able to go to Art School, it is a big problem. Finding out vital practical skills is often done by talking with people. Being inspired and encouraged by others is something you can only do by talking with other artists. As the internet is now very much the way to communicate, Total Art Soul was borne.

This Forum is free to join for any kind of creative person. We have categorized all the different creative fields to make it easier to find information on your subject. We have also added a Member Spotlight section so that you can share the members you feel inspired by.

This site is still very much in its infancy and will evolve over time with your input. Any suggestions you may have will be welcomed and considered. We need to get more members first in order to put in place certain things like contests and featured artists. It is foreseen that we will have a weekly contest and will feature an artist on the blog so they can get extra exposure.  We will also incorporate galleries for artists so that they can showcase their work. This is taking a little bit of time to set up and we will let you know when it's in operation.

I'd like to thank all of you who have joined already. It's heart warming to see how much support we have already from many familiar faces I've got to know over the years of being on the internet. It's a wonderful start to the new year and I sincerely hope we can make this site work for all of you.

Cathy and Joe

To take a look at the forum, simply click here.

Some time ago I had an order from a customer who has a Lavender Farm in North Carolina.  She wanted a welcome plaque and a set of gift tags for an opening day. It was postponed and meanwhile, she ordered some more things, including a chicken feather tree. I'm absolutely delighted that not only did she write to thank me but she also posted pictures of their opening day to show off my things. It's not often that I get to actually see where my creations end up so I'm thrilled to be able to share this.

This is the welcome to sunshine lavender farm plaque I painted. It was made of an old wooden chopping board. Annie found a metal stand that seemed to be made for it.

My lavender gift tags were used as tree decorations. So pretty.

One of my chicken feather trees.

You can find out more about Sunshine Lavender Farm here.

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Because we have been laying a new floor, the log fire has not been going that much as we've had to live in the bedrooms upstairs whilst the work is going on. The cats have been quite cold with -10C outside and lots of snow. To our absolute amazement, we found that the two boys wanted to cuddle up together on top of a scrumpled curtain which was lying on top of a small toolbox. The only way they could fit was on top of each other! I know what it looks like but I promise you it's nothing rude. They're both castrated males! Put a smile on our faces.

Sorry for the poor quality but the lighting was not good that day and we had to be quick to capture the moment.

 

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The snow really is coming down hard now here in the Auvergne. We've run out of wood and it's impossible to get the wheelbarrow up the hill with all this snow. Looks like we'll have to carry a few logs at a time. We should have been more prepared I guess. We just hope the farmer will deliver us some more later. Meanwhile, whilst we shiver, we can enjoy this wonderful scenery.

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In the past, I've always thrown away paintbrushes that had gone hard. Even solvents didn't seem to work that well and I didn't like the cost to the environment using these. I've just recently found this article which says that using ivory soap gets your brushes back to their former glory.

It’s very simple - take a glass jar (I think she said it needs to be non-reactive - which would be vessels like ceramic, glass, stoneware, food-grade plastic, wood, or porcelain, as opposed to reactive vessels like copper, zinc, cast iron, brass, aluminum, carbon steel, or galvanized anything) and place a bar of ivory soap inside. Fill with enough water to cover, and drop your brushes in.

The soap makes a nasty grey slurry mix. Like this:

Let sit for a couple days, then wash with soap & water. It really works - and my bristles are softer and more workable/pliable than ever! I think I’ll let all my brushes get hard & crusty with paint, so they can go through this process.

I've yet to find the equivalent here in France so if anyone can give me an idea, I would be most grateful.