Holiday Preparation

I have been getting ready for the holidays earlier than usual this year. I took a dollhouse down to my shop that I had displayed in a guest bedroom. It really needed a coat of Annie's Chalk Paint to transform it into an elegant little dollhouse. I had so much fun working on this project that now I am on the hunt for more dollhouses to paint.

I even went as far as looking for tiny lights to decorate the front of the house, but discovered, after attaching them, that battery-operated lights just do not last very long. Three double A batteries every three days is a bit extravagant. I put a little decorated tree in the window instead.

I brought in a small round table for the center of the room and painted it Versailles. The little tree looks perfect there. And, of course, Versailles looks good on absolutely everything!

I took my sewing machine down to the shop and made stockings to hang in the window. The fabrics and trims and lace are all vintage. They are also for sale.

The tiny red baby shoes stole my heart recently at an antique show. I think they spell the magic of the season, tender and sweet and hopeful.

Upcoming Shows and Workshops

This last Saturday I was a vendor at Art and Soul.  What an amazing week-long event this is for so many women who come from all over the country to participate in all kinds of art and mixed media classes.  I am hoping that next year I can take a workshop or two and do the vendor show again as it was so much fun being around all these creative women.  Everyone loved Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint and the colors.  I also had a chance to sell some of my antique textiles, trims, buttons, and tassels.  I will be selling more of this at the upcoming show at the Washington County Fair Complex in Hillsboro.

Before the show, I was busy painting color cards to sell.  This is a time consuming process, but when it is finished the colors look so true, and it is easier to really see the paint and all the exquisite colors Annie has created in her palette.

I sell these in my shop and soon they will be listed on my website too. 

This is the new paint lid that just came into the shop.  It is going to be great!  Now no more mess or waste around the rim of the paint can. 

I have so many lovely things in my shop for sale, including this wonderful passion flower painting that was done on a board.  I would guess it is late 19th c. but it is such a beauty in form and color and composition.



In the weeks ahead I will be posting more photos of upcoming Chalk Paint workshops as well as holiday-themed workshops.  So please check in periodically to see what is going on in the shop and out of the shop at the various shows.

The Purple Pear revisited

It has been awhile since I entered the world of blogging, even my very own.  I need to get back here and resume with some stories and a few photos of what has been going on with The Purple Pear......

 I finally am getting around to some essentials like advertising, what I am doing here and why I am in this retail space.

I have already moved several pieces of furniture out to accommodate some great Chalk Painted pieces by Kathy Sandler who has no problem playing with a multitude of colors as well as the clear and dark waxes.  I have added a table painted in Provence as well as a fun picture frame that I did in Antibes Green and Aubusson Blue with both waxes, but running a store tends to allow less time for huge projects at this point in time.

Old White is really such a versatile color for distressing as well as layering.  I never tire of looking at the softness of these pieces, and it seems this is a shade that is ever popular and in demand because of its timeless beauty.

Yesterday one of my customers brought in a picture frame that she had purchased at the Goodwill that she said was pretty dull and uninteresting.  I am amazed how she transformed this with Duck Egg Blue, Olive, Old White, and Arles.  It is an exquisite piece.  It almost looks as if she has added gold leaf, but it is the way she applied the Old White and Arles that gives it a wonderful metallic appearance.

I am also happy to say that my website is now active and will be featuring the paint, waxes, books, gift items and handmade creations.  I will also keep up with events and ongoing workshops there.  The door is opening to many possibilities and all of these "pages" will be updated on a regular basis.  Please stay tuned for more stories and photos of customer creations. 

Opening the Purple Pear

The last two days, I have been moving into my shop at 1720 Lovejoy, Space #120.  The store faces 18th Street and is next to a cafe that sells espresso drinks and quick meals.  Stop by and see the shop and grab something from the cafe before you head home.

I just flew in Monday, late afternoon, after attending the IDAL Convention in Hampton, VA where I met many of the other Stockists as well as Annie Sloan.

We all had the opportunity to watch her paint a piece of furniture that was be given to someone in a drawing at the end of the show.  What a treat to watch Annie paint and wax and work.  It seems that she painted this piece in a flash!

I just kept taking photos of the process and watched her closely as she did each step. 

What a gem!  She used Primer Red on the first coat, then painted the base and mirror with Duck Egg Blue.  On the top and accents, she used Old White and finished it with the clear  and then dark wax. 

I returned to Alexandria, VA and went on a couple of bike rides in 100 degree temps over to Washington DC as well as Mount Vernon another day.  What a great trip and now I am back  opening my shop, "The Purple Pear".  Please do come and visit me.  Lots of workshops will be up and running very soon.  It will be a great place to paint, see all the colors, and talk about projects and ideas.  I am very excited to get going on all of this!

Alma Jane's

This is where my travels began to Alma Jane's in Eastern Oregon, in the Geiser Hotel in Baker City.

We always are nostalgic about eras of the past.  I think I would have fit right in with the dress, formality, and elegance, but could I live without my computer, my iphone, my skype connection to my children and grandchildren?  I think not.  These experiences help me appreciate the history of other times I deem wonderful and elegant, but they also help me recognize the ways of communication that I take for granted in reaching out to family.

Alma Jane's is "the little white cottage on the southwestern corner of Adams Avenue and Maple Street in downtown La Grande, specializing in mid-twentieth century furniture, linens, china, pottery, and clothing" as well as home decorations, collectible cookbooks, sewing, and everything related.  It is a charming house filled with quaint rooms waiting to be explored!

  All around the cottage are the most beautiful gardens....

lovely props....

filled with charm and delight.

And the dear and sweet Sammy who stayed close to us for the entire workshop!  (He loved the belly rubs whenever we took a break from our painting!)

 It was a beautiful day.  I am rolling brown paper over the sidewalk so I can open the Chalk Paint and not worry about spilling any drops.

Here are the exuberant ladies waiting to get started!

....and now focused and starting to paint.

Kathy's husband, Gordon, was happy to accommodate us and take our photos at the end of our day of painting exploration and fun!

We had our projects and samples posed for a photo shoot also.

Even Sammy decided at the end of the day that we had all put in our best efforts and we were happy with the results.  But it was time to go home and rest and restore.  We took our cue from dear Sammy that it was a productive day and time to move on to the next day and week for projects, ideas and further exploration.

Before I headed home, I drove up to Joseph to see the most beautiful lake, Wallowa.  Such a setting and beauty beyond anything you could imagine.  The town of Joseph is most charming with lots of fun and inspiring shops to explore.  All this was recommended by the sweet Jeana who shares a love of the outdoors and moments of solitude.

Thank you, Kathy, for inviting me to your idyllic surroundings and your beautiful and nostalgic shop!  I loved meeting all of you...April, Emily, Jeana, Gordon, and Sammy.  These are treasured moments for me.

Please visit Kathy and her friends at http://almajanes.com and see what they are doing with Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint as well as the many offerings and finds they offer in their shop as well as their website.

Retail Space Opening

Please come and visit me around the middle of July at 1720 NW Lovejoy Street #120, and see the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint colors and waxes, paint samples, and ideas as well as workshop options!

To the left of the entrance of the retail space is the garage door, a huge room unfolding....a place to explore workshop ideas and possibilities and ongoing projects.  Please come and see what is happening in this ever-evolving space filled with light and color.

Chalk Paint Blooming

I have this thing about flowers as a metaphor for so many things that necessitate description or definition or simply a place to be.  And is it not true that when we seek to express an idea or a plan, it seems to germinate through the process of words and images?  At least that is true for me because I am always torn between the power of phrases versus the beauty and tactile images of color and art. 

I have been so busy the last few weeks that I have taken refuge in a bouquet of peonies that have been in my living room for many days.  They seem to last forever.  I probably have taken twenty photos in various lights and unfolding, a way to chart a journey of their life, a source of continual engagement and inspiration.  It has given me reason to pause and reflect on the days when I am often at my computer or in my car.  And essentially, it has become a forum for me to reflect on variations of colors and movement and all that this manages to entail.

I will be moving into a retail space soon.  I think it was the bouquet of peonies that helped me arrive at this decision.  It was simply a thought, similar to that peony bud, knowing it would eventually unfold, gradually reveal its reason and strength.  I know I love the idea of story and metaphor, but truly it seemed to be an evolution of like-minded souls, the bloom and the action to decide.

It will be the perfect space.  If you look to the left you will see the industrial garage door.  Don't be fooled.  Behind this door is the most incredible space for workshops, painting furniture, and creating all sorts of amazing things.  The space in front of it, "the storefront" is where I will be wild with display and color and eclectic design, but the back room will be the place where all the magic happens!

Practicality precedes progress as well as dreams.  So this last week I was busy sawing samples for my first workshop.  I had so many to cut, and I nearly purchased an electric saw but when I saw the blade and the way it worked, I quickly moved on to the manual department.  I have this fear that I will cut off my fingers and be unable to create anything for the rest of my life.  That would be catastrophic, no question.

Holding a painting workshop in a dining room tends to be a lot of work.  I moved out the rug, covered the hardwood floors with brown paper, covered my dining table with plastic as well as paper taped all around and then "decorated" the table with notebooks, pens, and samples to paint.

I hand painted the charts and spent some time documenting each process, all six of them, so there would be a format of instruction to follow. 

All the cans were on my kitchen counter waiting to be opened....my favorite thing to do.....take a peek at the beautiful colors!

We started painting fast and furiously, thrilled to be using the Chalk Paint! 

We took a break for lunch.

And lingered there for awhile talking about our favorite project, the magazines we loved, and the plans we were making going forward. 

 We played and we experimented and we explored many possibilities.

 I have to say I was in the company of three amazingly creative and very confident women.

Three women and three amazing and different results from one technique.

When the shadows cast their spell in my garden at the end of the day, I felt that there was truly so much blooming in the world of paint, in me, the students in my workshop, and the idea of a retail shop soon to make its debut.