I’m not sure where the summer and fall went, but I realized today that I haven’t posted in two months! I thought things would slow down after we got through the move to our new house last spring, but we’ve been inundated with projects to oversee and decisions to make since then. We’re finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, though, and I’m looking forward to the day that I can simply enjoy being here at our new place instead of managing contractors.
So let me give you a whirlwind tour of the fun and not-so-fun parts of the past two months, and you’ll see why it’s been challenging for me to find time for painting and posting.
First, the fun part…
We headed to Oak Island, NC, in August for our annual family beach vacation with the grandkids.
Meanwhile, back home, retaining walls were being built and concrete poured.
Soon after, the stamped concrete sidewalks and patio were started.
They turned out fine, but we ended up with a drainage problem in the front flowerbed that would require installing a French drain ($$!) One thing always leads to another…
One late-summer day, an Amish crew from Ohio arrived to construct our storage shed…
and six hours later, we had the cutest storage building you’ve ever seen!
It got even cuter once it was painted!
Meanwhile, the concrete guy was here every day working on pouring our driveway. We had lived with this mess since construction began three years ago…
Now we have this!
In between projects, we helped out with the grandkids and took them out for a special day at the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium.
Meanwhile, I was getting ready for my first overseas teaching trip since 2019, and on August 31, I flew off to my long-awaited workshop in the French Alps.
The trip was perfect in every way. I had a wonderful group of students, the weather was awesome, the scenery was out-of-this-world, and the food was to die for!
After the workshop ended, my friend Pat and I took a train to Aix-en-Provence where we spent four days wandering the city, shopping on market day, and visiting Cezanne’s studio. We drank cappuccino, ate lots of gelato, and people-watched to our hearts’ content. It was a nice, relaxing way to wrap up what turned out to be one of my favorite painting trips.
I haven’t had a chance to finish up my sketches from France yet, but I promise I’ll share them with you when I do.
While I was away, we had some major construction going on back home. Since we had built a 2700 sq. ft. ranch-style house, and all homes here in western PA are built with a full basement, we ended up with 2700 square feet of unfinished space on our lower level. In August, carpenters arrived to start finishing it off for us. It will include an apartment for my mother, a large sewing and art room, storage closets, a man cave and workshop for Fred, and a powder room. It feels like we’re building another whole house!
So, as soon as I got back from France, I had to make all the selections for the basement project, everything from vanities to paint color to flooring and lighting. It took weeks to research products and make all the decisions. Now our front hallway is piled with cartons filled with products waiting to be installed downstairs. (I’ve had to give up on the idea of decorating my new house until the basement project is finished.)
This week I finished up the design for my mom’s kitchen and got all the cabinets ordered.
We squeezed in a couple of camping trips this summer and fall with my daughter and her family, too. The grandkids just love the biking, kayaking, fishing, hiking, and, of course, s’more-eating! Our favorite place to camp is Laurel Hill State Park near Somerset, PA.
We ended up with some rainy weather on our last trip, but this artsy grandma is always prepared!
As if all these projects and trips weren’t enough, I got it into my head that I wanted to participate in Fall Color Week this year. It’s an event sponsored by Plein Air Magazine – a week of painting outdoors on the Schoodic Peninsula near Winter Harbor, Maine. I had been on the waiting list for months, and I finally got word a few weeks ago that a spot had opened up, so I grabbed it.
I drove to Maine all by myself and spent a week painting with a hundred other artists. This wasn’t an instructional thing; we just all went out plein air painting each day and came together for meals and evening events. My intent in going was to paint only in oils. I wanted to feel more comfortable with the medium and figure out what techniques I liked best.
I have to admit that I struggled mightily. After painting with watercolors for more than a decade, I couldn’t get used to the stickiness of the oil paint and the way it slides around on the surface of the panel. But I persevered and managed to complete seven paintings before I ended up sick in bed the last day with a case of what turned out to be COVID.
I had to make the two-day drive home while I was sick. Luckily, the virus didn’t hit me hard at all, not any worse than a mild cold, and I felt fine after a few days.
Since I got home, we’ve been dealing with one more major project, finishing up the exterior grading and landscaping. Now, instead of being surrounded by a sea of mud, we have straw. (I guess that’s an improvement!) We’re hoping we’ll have rain soon to start germinating all the grass seed, so it can start growing before winter settles in.
I had hoped to plant bushes and perennials this year, but it seems we’ve run out of time. It’ll have to wait until spring. But I’ll have all winter to dream up plans for the yard and flowerbeds.
We’ve taken a little time this fall to explore the region where we live now. There’s a great county park just fifteen minutes away where we can go hiking, fishing, and kayaking, and last weekend, we visited Moraine State Park, just 45 minutes away, where we biked with our granddaughter on a beautiful autumn afternoon.
I’m heading off to California next week to teach a workshop in sunny Santa Barbara, and I know that, by the time I return home, all these glorious fall colors will be gone, and the season of grey will have begun.
Our basement project will be wrapping up, and I’ll finally be able to move ahead with decorating and making this place feel like home. The hard part is behind us – now comes the fun stuff!
I’ve been thoroughly distracted for the past two years with this homebuilding project. Thanks for hanging in there with me. It’s been frustrating for me, not having much time to sketch and share my work. I’m looking forward now to getting back into painting, writing more PDF lessons, and teaching online classes, once I’ve had a chance to catch my breath.
Enjoy these waning days of autumn – I’ll write again when I get back from California and have some finished sketches to share. 🙂
17 Comments
I enjoyed getting caught up with you.🥰
Sure do miss the great times we’ve shared.
I miss you, too, Cindy! It’s been way too long. Can’t wait to see everyone soon.
Enjoyed seeing the photos of your beautiful new home and look forward to further online classes. Your oil paintings are beautiful!
Thanks, Jeanne. I think learning to paint with oils will make me a better teacher. It’s a humbling experience to be a beginner again.
Life is good Leslie! The house looks fantastic and you will have an apartment for your Mom and a man cave for Fred! Perfect! So fun that you get to be with your grandkids more often and are back to traveling and painting!! Yay! Would be fun to have a workshop down our way someday! The new house reminds me of Summerhill. It’s just beautiful. Can’t wait to see what you do with the landscape. Have fun in Santa Barbara. Hope the weather stays nice for you. Love, Beverlee
Hi Beverlee! It’s so nice to hear from you. I enjoy keeping up with you through Facebook – looks like things are going well for you and the family. I hope we’ll be able to connect in person again one of these days. 🙂
Me too ❤️❤️
I’m so glad you got to go to Fall Color Week! (though I was sorry to hear about the covid outbreak!, bleh). I love that scene from Corea, Maine…..I painted near that same spot when I went several years ago (pre-covid). It’s really fun painting with the whole group of people & meeting all those kindred spirits!
I’ll be posting some more of my paintings from Maine as soon as I have a chance to photograph them. I’m sure you’ll recognize some of the places. What a beautiful place to paint! I never even drove over to Mount Desert Island when I was there, just spent the entire week around the Schoodic Peninsula. There’s so much there to paint. I have enough photos to keep me going for a year.
What an exciting, wonderful update! Sure do miss all our wonderful times. You and Fred have done an awesome job designing the house…….so beautiful!
We MUST get together as soon as I get back from CA. Miss you all so much!
Hi Leslie!
Thanks for sharing snippets of your new home, and your recent trips. Sure wish I could have made the French Alps trip, but am happy we be seeing each other again in SB next week. So looking forward to seeing and having class with you again!
Marlene
I can’t wait to see you – it’s been so-o-o-o long! We’re going to have a great week together.
So nice to see the progress on your beautiful home. Your mom is going to have a beautiful apt when the time comes to live with you.
I have enjoyed seeing all your posts throughout this year. So sorry the Covid finally caught up with you. Thank goodness it was not too hard on you and luckily on the last day do you did not need to be isolated but could hop in car and go home.
Yes, I was lucky. I didn’t even know I had it. I tested negative twice while I was in Maine – figured I just had a 24-hour bug – then when I tested again two days later at home, it popped up with a strong positive. PCR test confirmed it was definitely Covid. It’s actually a relief to have it over with. Now I should be immune for awhile.
Leslie! Your update was awesome!!! Loved your “Oil” painting! Cannot wait to see more of your oils. Have a good trip to California…just know you will have wonderful paintings from there also!
The work put into your new surroundings is lovely! We have enjoyed your MOM so very much here in Preston County, WV…will certainly miss her!!! In every conversation she mentions her family!!!
Thank you for sharing. Most Sincerely, Nancy & Maurice
It’s so nice to hear from you, Nancy. I hope you’ve been enjoying this extraordinary fall season. It’s the prettiest autumn colors I’ve seen in years. Makes you feel lucky to be alive, doesn’t it? Stay well, and I hope to stop by for a visit next I come to Alpine Lake.