The Sweetest Project!! Part 7

Mural Detail: Almost at the Top!

Several people have asked what kind of materials I am using for the mural. It's on 5/8 thick plywood (8 x 4 foot sheets) which are VERY heavy....about 100 pounds each. The paint I am using is CIL exterior Smart Technology. It has been amazing to work with and goes on smoothly. I only bought 9 colours and used them to mix and blend my own for the rest, which turned out great. All  of the panels were primed on both sides. This helps to seal the wood against the weather and also helps the colours to be more vibrant.

I can't blog long because SHE has gone out to the shed, which means I can watch Coronation Street without being heckled. (Crazy Tony with the wonky eyes has escaped from prison and is holding Harold and Carla captive in the underpants factory!) GOTTA GO!

The Sweetest Project!! Part 7



The Wee Italian Tries to Inconspicuously Sneak into a Photo (Mural Detail: Seal Family and Foofi, too)



Best Panna Cotta Since Time Began!

   SHE has been giving me a hard time about my words. I just found out (to my dismay!) that inconspiciously is not a word. Earlier today, I asked Her if She thought one of my mural panels was crooked or was it just a spoof of the eye. She said that "Spoof of the eye" is not a phrase. SHE wonders if I am ingesting too much caffeine....the coffee, the diet root beer. English IS my first language, and I taught ESL for years. Perhaps I am just getting older, or it could be cotttage fever due to the bismal weather. Odviously, I will have to get a grip!
The darlings from The Love Shack saved the day by poodling over and surprising us with home-made chocolate/raspberry panna cotta. What shining stars! What did we ever do to deserve such yumminess!
We ended our day with Senior Squisage at his lovely table, bellies full of a beautiful birthday dinner. He beat us both at cards (he is now the Eucher champ) but revenge will be mine!!!

The Sweetest Project!! Part 6




A tiny section of the mural..."Quiet Cove"

 


Another section of the mural..how do WE know that puffins don't like chocolate? Everybody likes chocolate!!!

Where in the world has the past week gone? I have hardly left the house and have rarely been less tha.n 2 feet away from the mural. 10-14 hours a day. I am obsessed. SHE has given up on me and hands me a fresh cup of coffee every hour on the hour until 2pm then switches to cans of Diet Mug Root Beer. It must be in the tin. I am addicted. I even sprained the pinky finger on my painting hand flipping the tab (I was THAT desperate). She  had to buddy tape injured root beer finger  to my ring finger so I could keep on going. If those are the biggest troubles facing me today,  then I have a lot to be thankful for.

Thank you to all of the darlings who sent me birthday wishes today! Hooray! Senior Squisage is giving us a dinner tomorrow night. What a doll. SHE says I will have to wear my town pants and is going to make me scrape all of the paint off my arms and forehead so I don't look like the little monster that I am.       (Her words!) IMAGINE!!!

Thank you Danielle for reminding me to write a blog! I have root beer brain!





The Sweetest Project!! Part 5

Detail: The Outery Battery Corner



Joining up the lines and starting the pirate ship!



BooBoo Loves Porkchop (the cat AND the meat product!)

Today I will be starting a 5 foot long pirate ship, an octopus swimming in a chocolate sea and a chocolate munching moose. Life, indeed, is strange these days. BooBoo has fallen head over heals in love with one of the Battery cats on the mural and kept sitting on him  every chance she got until I finally had to lock her out of my workroom. I told BooBoo that sitting on your  intended beloved isn't necessarily the best plan of action when trying to find a life partner. BooBoo was not impressed with my advice and headed for her Friskies (weight control for extra "fluffy" cats). If BooBoo keeps up with this Spring Fever thing, she is going to have to join Wait Watchers. She will have to wait to be fed twice a day instead of her all-day buffet. I am getting death glares even as I type.
Images: Details of Mural for The Newfoundland Chocolate Company

The Sweetest Project! Part 4

I am officially finished one third of the giant mural! Today I painted for 10 hours and changed my shoes 4 times (painting standing up and on chairs to reach the high boards...soar, sore toes!!) I would have changed my shoes 5 times, but SHE caught me pink handed (footed) wearing my very best (most comfy) pinkly clogs and made me take them off pre-disaster. It was back to my rubber boots.
I have become quite obsessed with this project and think I will go into "Big Project" withdrawals when it is completed. The cats will be sad too as they seem to like the commotion, the big,colourful pictures and the sofas standing on their ends to make room for it all. We have promised to drive them to St. John's, so we can go to Duckworth street and see it when it is installed. BooBoo is only going for the chocolate....(to be honest, me too)
Image:Detail...Mural for Newfoundland Chocolate Company in the Works

The Sweetest Project!! Part 3

Above: Mural detail...bottom left side. DONE!

Booboo has started sitting in front of her painted portrait, blocking her painted self from sight. She has recently lost 2.5 pounds and we think she is hinting at a do-over. I wouldn't MIND painting her again (a little less "fluffy" this time) but she is an emotional eater and any little stress such as a change in temperature or  the sound of the toilet flushing could send her sky-rocketing head first into her value size bag of Friskies. One toilets flush is another cats gain.
Hooray for tonight! We were invited to a dinner party at The Love Shack and even had an escort! We had the best dinner ever in the history of the universe since time began and a lot of laughs, too. Thank you to my darlings E & S for working so hard and for always making things special. You are shining stars and we love, love love ya! (I had to hide the German Chocolate Sauerkraut cake from HER until the morning!) For anyone who has never had German Chocolate Sauerkraut Cake...make it! Find it ! Buy it! Eat it! YUMMY Yum YUM!!!!

The Sweetest Project!! Part 2

Bottom right panel. DONE! This picture is actually 8 feet by 4 feet and weighs a squillion pounds. I am SO lucky that SHE is almost 8 feet tall and can move them all around for me. She is almost 8 feet tall but she isn't 4 feet wide..... and she doesn't weigh a squillion pounds....not even half a squillion. Not even a quarter! I think I should stop while I am ahead. I am lucky that I have such a very strong HER. Hooray!
Today I am tackling panel #3......7 to go before I am done!
(Thank you Senior Squissage for giving us a lovely dinner last night. I am sorry that we beat you so very badly at euchre. You are still a star in our eyes. I hope you were able to drag yourself out of beddies despite your vitamin deficiency due to the lack of salad. I LOVE YOU.
Image: Detail - Newfoundland Chocolate Co. Billboard by Cara Kansala

The Sweetest Project!! Part 1

Hopeful poses.....

The Wee Italian Sits in Front on the Projector, Supervising The Project

I am currenty working on a HUGE project for The Newfoundland Chocolate Company on Duckworth Street in St.John's. They have commissioned me to paint a huge billboard/mural for the side of their building. There are 10, 8 foot by 4 foot panels that will all be put together. It is taking up most of my time this month and all of our living room. SO funny. SHE  is in charge of moving the heavy panels, working the projector, keeping the cats away and everything else in the world that doesn't have to do with this project. So far, she is doing great, except for the cat keeping away part.

It is pretty difficult to be working on such a huge scale and most of the work has to be done standing up or standing on a chair. As much as I am enjoying it, I will be VERY excited to see it finished, installed at its home!

Now that I have found the computer, I will post my progress nearly every day.

SHE is doing a terrific job cheering me on with what seems like the biggest painting ever, since time began! Hooray!



And the Winners Are......

1. Missing_The_Rock
2. Danielle Hunter
3. Keith, Nino,Galina and Nicolai

Please send your mailing adress to
 cara-and-pam@hotmail.com  !!!

I thought it would be fun to start doing a monthly draw from the FOLLOWERS list. Each month, I will randomly draw a name and if you'd like to send us your mailing address, we'll send you a set of our artcards, a t-shirt or a print! (This month I am drawing 3 names because it is the very first draw!) Hooray!
SHE is not allowed to have her name in the draw (even though she is a FOLLOWER) and thinks that is very unfair. I told her that sometimes life is like that. It just isn't fair. That reasoning did not go over too well, so I gave her a cup of sweety-pie tea and a gingersnap. All is now forgiven.
(I have to be extra nice to Her today because it is Her birthday.) She is very spoiled as there seem to be 3 birthday dinners and an afternoon of cake in the works. Yes, SO very spoiled. For her birthday, I made her a set of cat dolls . And I made a gift certificate for a dinner at a restaurant of her choice. She chose one in Halifax. I can't object because I hadn't put a clause in for location.
Spoiled, indeed.
P.S. And HAPPY BIRD-DAY Lollipop! Let Us Eat Cake!

Come and Knock on Our Door, We'll Be Waiting for You....Where the Kisses are Hers and Hers and His Three's Company Too.....

Usually, SHE needs supervision when shopping for clothes and shoes. And accessories. SHE has come home with woolly Sherpa vests, red cowboy boots, ear cuffs (ALMOST too embarrassing to type) and yes, a cravat. SHE once found a sale on dickeys and bought one in each colour. Five turtlenecks. Just the necks. Creepy in the drawer, but great if we ever have an accident and lose everything from our shoulders down.

Yesterday I left her alone in Sport Chek for 5 minutes. It might have been 3. She managed to come out with Jack Trippers sneakers from season 3 of Three's Company. They are beyond. SHE loves them, which is all that matters. Next week, I am going to go shopping for a polyester mummu in a pink floral that Mrs. Roper would have killed for. I really am.

Image: Drying The Nets by Cara Kansala and Pam Dorey

Hand-Carved Wood/Mixed Media

Jack Tripper's Long Lost Shoes...