... painting... it sounds so simple...
the first thing i decided my working studio/ boutique needed was a fresh coat of paint ! it had been painted a dark maroon color by the previous tenant (which is a safe color choice for Lana'i, because it won't show the red dirt !) but I wanted to brighten up the space, give it more definition, and have the walls be a more neutral color to really show off my work.
... a cream piece of seaweed and partially burnt piece of driftwood that i found on a day trip to Federation were my color inspirations...
i choose Popcorn for the ceiling, Gull for most of the walls, and Wrought Iron for the accent walls. the paint and colors are all by Martha Stewart, i had used her paint previously and was very happy with the results.
...i thought that my boyfriend and i would get it all painted in 4- 5 days. we started on a Thursday, by wiping down all the walls ( to get rid of little spots of mold ) and were able to put a first coat on most of the ceiling and trim. by the end of the day i was feeling good about what we had done and couldn't wait to start again tomorrow...
so tomorrow comes around and after i arrive home from running errands in the morning my boyfriend says to me " i really need your help with something" i could see in his face, that something was up..... he had stepped on a toothpick.... it had gone in his foot like a tiny spear. he says to me, " here just pull it out with these tweezers ! " when i looked at his foot there was no toothpick in sight, and i said " no way, you need to see a doctor " about 3/4 of the toothpick had gone all of the way into the pad of his foot, the other part had broken off... an hour later the nurse was finally able to dig it out... she had to cut an x into his foot to do the digging, and he also had to have stitches and a dose of antibiotics..... and i had lost my painting helper !!!
my boyfriend felt really bad that he couldn't help me, but i thought "hey, i can do this ! " and i did... let me tell you it wasn't easy and it took alot longer.... but i just kept painting, painting, painting...
half way thru my second solo day of painting i realized that maybe my boyfriend had stepped on that toothpick for a reason, maybe i was meant to do most of this painting by myself.... it was like a process that i had to got thru .... a lesson that i was being taught..... it was hard work (really, really hard work) but i did it and was better for it.
painting solo also gave me the freedom to listen to my music ( which my boyfriend hates ! ), get aquanted with my new work space and do little things to make the space mine. i brought in a freshly picked hibiscus, or two, everyday and decided to use the Message from Water theory on the walls.
If you've never heard about The Message from Water check out the link above.... here is a very brief explanation : Dr. Emoto, a japanese scientest, discovered that if you wrote different words on containers of water and froze them, the water crystals would look different under a microscope, for example water with the word "love" on it looked like beautiful snowflakes, while water with the word"hate" on it was brown,ugly and misshappen.
some of the words i painted on the walls before applying the new color were: "love", "heart", "create", "beauty" and "inspire"...... there are more, but the rest is kind of like a secret between me and my new space...
two and a half weeks later.... and the painting is almost done ! it took way longer than i thought (i had to sew more bags and make more jewelry, which took up some time) but it's getting done and that's all that really matters....
below are some before and afters.... enjoy !
until next time,
cory
