Featured Artist for First Friday at Arbor Crest Winery

Last night I had the pleasure of being the "Featured Artist" at Arbor Crest Winery in conjuction with the Spokane Valley First Friday Affair.  It was absolutely fantastic!  I had been almost to the point of cancelling due to the 2 sprained ankles I was contending with BUT I am so glad that I persisted and went...with my elephant sized ankles and all.

The winery is located high atop of a hill overlooking Spokane Valley and is quite a sight in itself.  I had taken along over 40 samples of my work including Marmarino, Venecian Plaster, Frascati, faux brick breakaway, foils, metallics, concrete overlay....just alot of beautiful works.  They were very kind to help pack everything in when they saw me hobbling along, people are so nice. 

This event is quite new to the Spokane Valley, has only been going on for 4 months so they warned me of low attendance and apologized in advance to me and the caterer who had an absolutely fantastic spread for only $10 a plate.  Well, as the evening progressed I think not only my ankles were swelling but also my head!  It was an extremely busy evening, over 40 people came to enjoy the wine, food and art and I knew 24 of them! !

Needless to say, I was blown away by the support I got from my friends and I also have to admit that the group of 12 arriving in the limo to celebrate a birthday did not come just because I invited them however I did happen to know 5 out of the 12 so I think the people at the winery thought I was quite a celebrity with a following!  It was a nice coincidence on that one. 

I received many compliments on my work and it is nice to see people appreciate my creative spirit.  I think that as an artist your work is very personal and as with many art pieces, some will love it while others will not.  However it was just what I needed at this point in my career to hear people appreciate what I do.  I am beginning to realize that at times I may be my worst critic and I need to listen to others more and not my little inner voice.  I am happy that I had this opportunity to show off my work and I will definitely be getting out on the First Friday of each month to visit the other venues involved with this event as everyone was having a wonderful time.

You CAN update those ugly formica countertops without breaking the bank!

I have enjoyed taking many classes over the years, everything from cake decorating to International cooking, tole painting to glass cutting and most of them were great for the moment but did not linger long on my "to do" list.  However, the knowledge that I have gained over the past few years in the world of concrete has been something I am still intrigued with and continue adding more and more information into my brain whenever I have the opportunity. 

I started out making simple concrete leaves and then moving onto giant concrete bird baths.  You can be so creative with this media and can create simply magnificent things.  I have taken several classes in the concrete overlay system and it has been interesting to compare differant products and their unique characteristics.  I will admit, I now use a combination of 4 differant company products to produce my finished pieces but it works and I love the results, as well as my clients loving it too. 

My son has been working on a 102 year old house located on the South Hill in Spokane.  It has so much personality, about as many quirky architectural features as it has major problems due to age and neglect from the past owner.  This big old rambly home has been converted into 4 apartments, all which have quite a personality in themselves.  We have now completed 3 out of the 4 units and I will take you on a little tour of apartment #3 just to show you how, with a little imagination, a little money and a whole lot of elbow grease and downright hard work this project has become the poster child for turning TRASH into TREASURES.

The first sight for sore eyes was the kitchen.  One counter had old vinyl glued on, along with the other one having brocken formica that really dated the entire kitchen.  The great thing about concrete overlay is that it is not like solid poured concrete that weighs so much that the underneath cupboards need to be powered up to endure the weight.  This overlay consists of 3-4 very thin layers of a special polymer concrete mixture and it gives the look of solid concrete without the weight.  With the colorants and then epoxy finish, along with a protective topcoat no one would ever know the differance.  You can apply it directly over formica, MDF, tile, whatever the substrate is that you are working with.  This also saves alot of time and time is money! 

I enjoy working on these older homes as the old world charm can be captured so easily with the interesting architecture.  In less than 3 days I finished these countertops and offered an updated look to this small but adequate kitchen space.