Here is the before and after:

The original painting is “The Sleeping Beauty” by Sir Edward Burne-Jones. It is a bigger painting, I think about 24″x48″. Acrylics painted over the poster board print. It is now hanging in the hallway by our front door. And I love that you have to glance at it twice before noticing the facehuggers.

UPDATED: Okay, I think I have all the kinks worked out, but let me know if you find anything wonkey!

I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo (Nation Novel Writing Month), a summer version of the original November version of NaNoWriMo.  This year there are two camps, on in July, and a second round in August.  When I heard about Camp in March, I knew that I had to participate.  No more excuses.

I took the time to work up an outline, character studies, etc. And then jumped in when July 1st rolled around.  My original goal was not only to “win” by writing 50,000 words in 30 days, but also to actually complete the story, which I thought would take something closer to 60-70,000 words.

I quickly realized that writing 2,000 was going to be harder than I thought, even with my detailed outline.  Especially since I’d never written every single day before.  I told myself that if I managed to get the 50,000 words done by July 30, I would considered it a victory.

I fell behind in the third week, just about the time my outline came off the rails. Suddenly my character decided to do what she wanted.

It was hard. Harder than I thought. Even the scenes that I had very clear in my mind were hard to get onto the paper.

I found it took me longer to “get in the grove” of writing than I thought.  And I had to fight very hard to tune out my inner editor, who screamed at me to go back and fix the sentence I had just written.

But, in the end, I did it. I spent the last three days glued to the key board, ignoring my friends and husband, and managed to catch up and validate.

To reward myself, I’m allowing the editor loose on the first several chapters of the book that need to be seriously reworked.  My goal is to get those chapters fixed and back in line with the plot changes my strong willed character insisted on.

And then, I’m going to go for round two in August. This time, I’m going to rebel, and not be concerned so much with the final word count at the end of month, but focus on getting the first draft completed.

When a friend of mine Susanne was looking for something to hang on her empty wall, this method came to mind. Her and her husband are big into robots.  So I hit up the local Savers and found the perfect framed lithograph from the 70′s. It was only $3. Perfect!

The design of the robot was based on an image I love “Come, Come Little One” by Szymon Biernacki. Since this was really just an experiment, I didn’t anticipate how much I would love the final produce. Therefore I failed to take a before picture. Whoops.  But I was able to find the original image online (the version I bought had been cropped down to a much smaller portion of the photo):

I loved the result so much.  It was so much fun to add these guys into the picture, and the challenge of matching the color tones and style was delightful. Then another friend Erin gave me the idea: TARDIS.  I hit up Goodwill on my way home from work, and picked up another few images.

The original art was a photo print of a painting by Gregory F. Harris.  I used acrylics to add in the TARDIS and K-9 and sealed the whole thing with varnish.  Print available here. Before and after:

I am hooked. I foresee many more of these in my future. Oh yes.  I am bursting with idea. And it combines two of my favorite hobbies. Painting. And “junking” as my Grandma would call it.

Here are some other artist’s thrift store alterations.

Wooded stream: 8×10 acrylic paint on canvas board.

Stone Stairs: 5×7 acrylic on canvas board

But, now, I’m back! The main thing fueling my creative juices at the moment, is that I’ve decided to stop making excuses, and participate in Camp NaNoWriMo this year. I hate that NaNoWriMo is in November. I have to many things going on at the holidays to even consider taking a month off to write a novel.   But then my friend Joi pointed out that they have started Camp NaNoWriMo, which takes place in June and August. Alas, there go my excuse.

So, I am in the midst of finished up an outline for a book I plan to write in June. I really really just want to complete at least one book before I die. Many if I have a chance, but I’ve got to get over my block and finish the first.

My notes have been filled with sketches of the characters and pieces. I’ve worked out a thumbnail for what I would like to do for the cover, when the book is done. (Note, I have no idea what I’m calling this book yet.)

I will probably work on the cover after finishing the outline, to give myself a break. I would like to have it done before I start writing, so I have some visual motivation/inspiration for the story.  In addition to the cover sketch, I started painting a picture of the main character. I won’t give away any details, but I will say she is pissed off in this picture, I don’t want to be in the shoes of the person she is glaring at.  I may get it done tomorrow.

]]> http://stringfellowart.com/blog/2012/04/04/a-new-wip-and-ive-gone-a-bit-crazy/feed/ 0 http://stringfellowart.com/blog/2012/01/19/more-miniature-inspiration/ http://stringfellowart.com/blog/2012/01/19/more-miniature-inspiration/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:08:50 +0000 Megan http://stringfellowart.com/?p=3280 Continue reading →]]> I know I’m not the only one with a childhood dollhouse sitting around collecting dust, but now I have proof. While visiting my in-laws over the holidays, I got the chance to poke around my sister-in-laws old dollhouse. And although it was in need of some serious repair, it was a thing of beauty. I have to admit, I had dollhouse envy.

Exploring the rooms was not unlike walking through a haunted house. The walls were crumbling, the lights hanging broken from the ceiling, the spiders making homes in the corners. But it still full of so much character.

I now must have a weather vane for my own dollhouse.

We also pulled out all her furniture and laid it out on the pool table to drool over. My favorite is this bear skin rug. So cute, I must make one for myself.

I mentioned in my last post I got the chance to visit a real dollhouse store. It was like I’d died and gone to heaven. The shop was absolutely cluttered. But it was stuffed full of these tiny miniature scenes. I could have spent hours in this small room.

I was happy when I saw she had a shelf full of “House of Miniature” kits, at 50%. It was such a trip down memory lane. These were the kits my dad used to mail order for us when we were kids. The company is long out of business, but you can still find the kits online and in shop like this.  I bought a dinning room table (which might be too large for the kitchen, but I don’t care), and for chairs.

PS: Yes, that is a photo in the background of my studly husband when he was a kid.

PPS: When I showed him the picture of the miniature garage scene, he said, I WANT IT. Make it! This is why I love my husband.

We spent Christmas day in Vail, and I got to walk abound the village and enjoy the Christmas lights. New Years Eve day we went pheasant hunting with the family.

I did not reach my goal of December 15 for the I’m a giant challenge. Boooo.  But I’m okay with that. This isn’t a project that I think will ever be complete done, so I will keep working on the dollhouse, because I love working on it, and now I have plenty of time to do it.

Some goodies I picked up in Colorado when I visited a miniature shop (there are NONE near me in California, and that makes me very sad).

I feel it is necessary to say, “Yo dawg, I heard you like dollhouses. So I put a dollhouse in your dollhouse, so you can play dollhouse while you play dollhouse.” Ya, I just went there.

Here is the couch in place in the living room, with some of the little throw pillow my mom made for me for Chirstmas. Also in the picture is the arm chair that used to be a dark blue. But I painted it a cream white to match the sofa, and to fit better into the room’s color scheme.

I think I will be painting the bed, because I don’t like how the maple wood looks in the room.  And you can see the fireplace in progress. Here is the finish result.

I actually think I might be adding some brick onto the face of the fireplace. But I am so happy with how it turned out. I love the flickering flame inside.

Some more goodies I got over Christmas for the kitchen: the sink and the stove. Also note I got ONE of the windows framed up. Finally.

Its really starting to come together. Now I feel like I have most of the bones in place, I can really start the decorating process.