Got a few things this morning. I tell ya, its getting tough out there at my favorite thrift......it seems more and more dealers and pickers have discovered the place, I see the same faces waiting by the unloading trucks every time I'm there.....its not a fun way to shop. Anyway, today I picked up a china cabinet and I had already started dismantling it before I remembered to take a before picture.....
I'm ripping off the front on the top section and it will be left open.
The whole thing will just be painted off-white, maybe stained, and then distressed. The doors across the bottom will get an old world Florida scene, similar to the piece below.
I'll replace all the hardware with wooden knobs to get a more relaxed feel.
Then I got a few odds and ends, some lampshades, a few little shelves, a small round side table, a square side or coffee table, and a little tiny stool.
I've closed the shop until Dec. 4th....the day/evening of the city's Holiday Shopping Stroll.....so I can focus on getting all these things ready for sale for that day. Its not like I'm inundated by flocks of customers that would bother me, but I'm easily distracted by even the imagined sound of a door opening and it really is much more fun to paint without distractions.....crank up the music and just focus on painting :-) Our little corner of shops was actually listed in the main flier for the event, so we're hoping for a decent turnout this year.........remember I mentioned the shop next door only had two or three people stop by their shop last year.......lets hope for better this year!

One of the sales made over the weekend involved changing the top of a table (from black fronds to green).......done and delivered.
I was finally able to make it out to the favorite thrift shop yesterday. It was slim pickins on wooden furniture, couldn't find any dressers or cabinets, but did come home with two chairs and a great old headboard and foot board. Total spent?......$17 and change.
OK....I know the material on the chairs is a bit outdated but they still register comfy and relaxed, perfect for the Florida environment....and they were in perfect condition..no soiled arms or wear.
I'll head out there again this morning to see if I can't find something I can paint some scenes on.
This buffet finally sold and this leaves me with only a couple of pieces left in the shop that actually have artwork on them. The city's shopping event is this Saturday evening and I'm really anxious for the shop to show its best.

Mural update.....moving along.....slowly.
Made a couple of sales yesterday in the shop which was very needed and appreciated! The city has its annual Holiday Shopping Stroll this coming Saturday and I need to prepare the shop for that. I'd like to get a few new pieces done (to show off :-) plus we're expected to offer complimentary refreshments, which I was in a panic about having only $4 and change left in the bank and bills still to pay.
So now I can relax a bit and take of business :-)

Yesterdays progress. You'll notice I wanted to see how doing marble where the city's name will be carved would look, but I think its too much.....especially after all the scenes go in......too fussy. I'll turn it back to stone today.
This is where the portrait will go of the character the city was named after. I think I may need to close in a little more on his face, he looks a bit too puny here.

Finally sold two pieces which allowed me to get the primer needed to start on the mural....so I did :-)
I'm just focusing on the top part of the mural right now, remember there will be an additional four feet added to the bottom of this.
I'll be back at it today. I'd love to get the center frame pieces in today, I'm anxious to see how they'll look.

I finally got the boards I'll be using for the exterior mural, ironically I now have to wait to get money to get the primer I need.
I've never used this board before.....called hardy board, made with cement?........the owner of the property felt it would be more durable, so I'm giving it a try.
While I wait for something to sell I started working on the sketch that I'll have to present to the city for approval.
The mural will be 12'x12'. I'm still playing with ideas for each section. I was focusing on just the past history of Lake Worth, but have now decided to bring it from past to present time. This will probably mean that each of the four larger sections will each be a collage of a certain time period instead of just one image. The center will be a portrait of the person the city was named after. I wanted to include portraits of the two people recognized as the first settlers but there are absolutely no images of them....dang. So instead I may do portraits of the two men who are considered the founders of the city.......undecided.

Here is the finished table, and the chairs (that I had conveniently stashed away months ago, and that match it beautifully)! The chairs still need new seat covers, but I love the set.
I wasn't able to get the boards for the mural yesterday......the landlord forgot :-( so we're trying for today.
An interesting development yesterday...the girl's shop next door got a 'For Lease' sign put in front of it. They had just signed a new agreement with the landlord last week to go month to month instead of signing a new one year lease, and then they (the landlords) decide that 'no lease' doesn't work for them. I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around this one. Number one....I have no lease and two (especially #2!), I haven't been able to pay them any rent. That's right........the landlords have generously allowed me to have this space knowing that I'm not making enough to pay any rent! It is why I've offered to do this spectacular mural on the side of the building for them, I want/need to pay my way somehow. The shop next door has been there for 18yrs and I just don't get it. It doesn't only seem not fair, but this hits me personally as well.......Jackie, the original founder of the shop, is who inspired me to begin my journey into painting 14 years ago, its where I sold my first works, I can't imagine them not being there. I will secretly hope that the landlords are unable to find a new tenant :-)

I didn't make it back to the city's history museum yesterday so I'll try for today. I also found out that someone I know through a friend of mine does some volunteer work there so I'm going to give her a call and see if she can help me sort through the sometimes contradictory history of Lake Worth.

Oh....and I went and looked at the chair that the upholsterer was concerned about and there are a couple of spots that appear to be flaking but its nothing I feel is serious. Actually some of what person pointed out to me was part of the distressing that I had done intentionally. I notified the owner that I will come to her home when the work on the chairs is completed and do any touching up that is needed......including areas that she may feel I was over zealous in my distressing :-)

Remember all these chairs I painted a month or so ago?
I got a call yesterday from the shop where they are waiting to be upholstered saying that they noticed on one that the paint is flaking off, so I have to run down there this morning to check on that....I'm hoping its nothing......they had called once before to tell me that one looked scratched and it turned out to be part of the distressing I had done.
After I deal with that I'm heading to Home Depot to meet up with my studio/shop landlord to pick up the boards that I'll be painting a mural on for the side of my building.
Yesterday I stopped at our town's Historical Museum to gather information and search for images to use. I'll be going back there today to speak with a woman who I'm told is the utmost authority on Lake Worth history....should be interesting.
I've gather a few images that I'm considering using in the collage mural on the history of Lake Worth.
The casino building still there today....
The first school house.....
The first mayor.........
Or perhaps I should consider the man the town is named after, Major General William Jenkins Worth.....
And I love this photo.........the Jupiter-Lake Worth RR

Delivered a few furniture pieces yesterday that were purchased about a week ago and while I was there I was offered this table for $25......I bought it. Got it back to the studio and started sanding it right away before remembering to photograph it :-)
Nearly finished painting it by the days end.
I'll finish it up today and then start on the chairs that I just remembered I had tucked away in a storage space above my work area months ago. One I had painted and hated immediately.......another one of those MacKenzie-Childs inspired paint jobs and won't show you, but here's what they looked like originally.....
Perfect for this table!
Remember this piece?.......
The leather top was so abused that it needed to be removed. I was originally going to do a mirror mosiac top on it because of the raised trim around the edges, but the mirror that I had was too thick so the table has been sitting in a corner while I decided what to do with it.
Looking at it on Sunday I realized the trim could be removed......duh! .......removed it and filled in all the nail holes from the upholstery tacks, sanded, painted, and now its a sweet white table. I'll lightly distress it today and add a coat of polyacrylic for added protection.

I want this stuff!

For the first time in a long time I've no projects waiting for me at the studio. Yesterday I finished up the bedroom suite that I'd been working on. I also finished up a large dresser that was a street find about a week ago......it was originally just a varnished knotty pine finish with two thirds of its handles missing, but in great shape, clean drawers, a great find.
I also got a sweet little dresser painted up. A sweet elderly man from the neighborhood stopped in the shop a few days ago with a few items he wanted to sell....... a vintage enamel top, chrome legged table, so cute.....yellow with blue floral design in great shape....he was asking $50, but as I was down to my literally last $46 dollars I had to pass :-( He also mentioned an old dresser that he had for $25 so I arranged to stop at his home to check it out the next day. It was too sweet to pass up......now you can see why I'm always whining about money....I spent $25 of my last $46 on a dresser!! My logic being because of its cute factor it will sell quickly and for way more than $25.....fingers crossed!
Here's the dresser.......and yes, I forgot to take before pictures..........again.
Its sweet little handles......
And it finished.......
Traffic and business at the shop is finally starting to pick up a little bit, not enough to allow me to relax, but enough to give me hope.
Our city of Lake Worth is having their annual Holiday Shopping Stroll on Dec. 4th, and the girls next door and I will be participating. I wasn't here for last years of course and I'm told that the girls were on the stroll list of shops but only received two or three visitors in the four hour event.........not good. Our shops are two blocks north of the main street of stores and thats a problem. This year however we are armed with the Palm Beach Social Directory and will be mailing/emailing our invitation directly to those listed in the book......baiting them with gift certificates and door prizes :-)........hoping for a better turn out.

Since I have no projects right now (and no $ to purchase any), I've contacted my landlords about doing a mural on the side of my shop.....trick is I'd need them to supply the materials. My plan is to create a collage mural based on the history of Lake Worth.
I want it to be something that people will want to make an effort to see, and I want it to be something that will be there for a long time (and of course draw attention to the shops:-). I'll hear back from them today.

I've been busy trying to get a bunch of furniture painted and on the floor and out the door. Got a couple of those chests painted that I picked up a week or so ago.
and I've been working on a commissioned paint job. This is the rest of the set of furniture that goes with that beautiful intricate headboard I did about a month ago,
the headboard.......
a chest, side table, desk and stool.......
And in between I make quick stops at some local thrift shops. Recent finds.......a couple of vintage bed tables and this adorable dolls high chair.