I wish to be sipping bubbly at a champagne garden party… maybe nibbling delicious hand-passed appetizers too…
I’ve been working on my soonish-to-be-released romance novel—WRONGED. It’s important to get things right… today I found some photos I had gathered when writing a GIANNA (my main female interior design character) chapter about her apartment transformation… visuals are very helpful…
Chapter Four
Gianna
I had learned painting techniques and applied them to smooth out crumbling walls that my papa insisted someone fix. “Nope” I said and painted exposed brick white while the rest were streaked with lavenders, blushes and brighter whites to create the marbled look in the sitting room and kitchen area. In the bathroom I had old used mirrors installed on a wall behind a free-standing white porcelain tub. To some they looked like the mirror needed to be trashed but to me it gave the perfect antiqued mirrored look and reflected the other walls painted a pale lavender. My bedroom got a coat of blushed paint and a faux wood paneling look that was perfect with my lavender and dark midnight blue bedding. I even made a padded headboard and hung my own crystal chandeliers. Old furniture that had been in the space with a bit of refurbishing and reupholstering mixed with modern fabrics and vintage Italian damasks blended well with the walls. And lastly, I had a friend make me wood-slated shutters for window treatments.
Copyright 2023
It’s a sketchbook… it should have sketchy elements… correct??? When I sketch, it’s not pretty… it’s scribbly… lines over lines… items sketch over other items… it’s about placement… it’s about fitting key objects within the drawing… very a perfect, clean drawing… pencil… ink outline… erase… or not to erase… that is the question when creating in my sketchbook… lately, I have not erased much and I’ve allowed mistakes to remain… it’s my sketchbook… it’s my learning book… it’s for fun… leave it in, I say… let the process show through lighter paint or pencil…
Today’s sketch is extremely messy… you can click on the photos to see them larger…
Something a little different today… sharing an ongoing home project… 26 years ago we purchased our home… a 1930 California bungalow cottage with craftsman built-in characteristics… soooo charming… 18 years ago we either needed to move to a larger home or add-on to our home… an addition was my plan from the beginning… hubby thought we’d move… I talked him into my way of thinking to stay in our neighborhood which I adored… fast forward… we love our home and garden and we are still making improvements… such as painting all of our exterior doors black (originally only our front door was black)…
I mashed together three art challenges from one of my art challenge groups…
Feeling under the weather—nasty head cold—has hampered my production somewhat since I can’t easily paint in my bed; too messy! I can sketch and I can write when my head-fog is lifted… I had expected to finish my NEW NOVEL: WRONGED last week but I’m a little behind… next week works too… I would like to release it for New Year’s Eve-ish…
So here is what I have accomplished… sketches in my sketchbook…
This art challenge brightened my day—sick with a head cold—before I crawled back into my bed… love flowers… love stripes…
My worlds often collide…
I like to write what I know—easiest to be real even writing FICTION. Soooo my characters usual (no Navy Seal experience but I research a lot) have professions I’ve been associated with or done. I have a few artists and galleries in the mix too… I JUST realized MOST or ALL of them are MEN… I’m not sure… ohhhhh no I did have a female artist, the reclusive Constance Chiani, one my main character interviewed in Reclining Nude in Chicago (FYI the title is based on a painting)…
This is the first book in my Foolish Hearts (standalone) series… Each book has some characters that may show up in other books. I LOVE to use my made-up characters in other books in other series or totally standalone books. I’ve created my own universe: with my own famous people, my own products, my own places… Soooo FUN… If you haven’t read any of my books, maybe start with this one and it is FREE with Kindle Unlimited.
Book Cover design: LKO Designs
