I finally got a weekend to spend on and finish up the first of three porthole paintings (unless I hear otherwise from the client), they'll all measure 34" in diameter and will be framed on site.

They'll all hang on a wall that will go up a staircase so painting number two will hang higher and not have an ocean floor and it will feature a large sea turtle and some fish.  The third one will be even higher (closer to the surface/top of stairs) and will feature dolphin.  I'll start number two tomorrow.

I was suppose to visit a car dealership tomorrow after work but canceled it (lack of funds).  Have I mentioned the bit of floor hanging underneath my car?  Well, now I have to be especially careful because I could see light through the carpet last time I drove it.....a little scarey.  I'm once again stuck between a rock and a hard place......the car is not in good enough condition to cover a down payment as a trade-in and its so old (23 yrs old!) do I really want to spend the money to fix it?  My only immediate hope would be getting some of my deposit money back from my previous landlord, but she wasn't very clear on whether that was going to happen (because I left the lease early).  There was a new tenant to replace me but she can still withhold it according to the lease........never sign a 12 page lease!

Other than that things are good.  I'm so happy to be back in Narberth!

Once I recover from the financial output from moving I plan to indulge is some online art lessons, here's one I'm interested in.

Well I'm in!  The move went very quickly, a total of two hours....these guys were good!  Of course it helped that everything was packed and ready to go out the door.
If I thought I had accumulated a lot of stuff before its even more obvious now......where to put everything?!
I've managed to set up a comfortable area but trust me, every other spot out of view is a mess.

The kitchen has a total of 3 upper cabinets so I haven't bothered to grocery shop yet....there's no where to put everything!  So I went thrift shopping yesterday after work to try and find some useful storage pieces, and lucky me found a nice, very traditional style, apartment size hutch cabinet for $95 that will fit nicely in the kitchen, it'll be here Friday.
Work this morning is delayed an hour or so, which is welcomed.  Between doing my 'regular' jobs and cleaning the apartment I left, my poor hands are so red and sensitive from over exposure to cleaning products (my bad for not wearing gloves).
I could so use some time off but I need to get this place settled and in order and keep my work schedule up......living in this nice little town has its price.....high rents. 
And I've got the restaurant paintings to get back to, they need to be delivered by the end of the month.

One week to go for the move.  I can't believe how much 'stuff' I've accumulated in the 15 months I've been in this two room apartment and I'm still packing 'stuff'.

It makes my mind wander to such places as this and a simpler more thoughtful life....

If only I were thirty years younger and still held the belief I could do anything.  I miss youth.

Making some changes, I couldn't handle the yellow fish.

I won't be able to get much more done on this until the weekend.  I'll be adding more Yellow Tail Snapper, more Clown fish, more coral, some fish off in the distance, maybe a Parrot fish or two and some interest on the sea floor.....stones, shells etc.

Well.......great news!  My apartment has been rented!!  I'm not sure if I'll still have to forfeit my security deposit for early termination but I do know I don't owe the landlord anymore money so I was able to hire movers for the move.  April 28th is moving day :-)

I also got my canvas and have started (don't judge, its still early stage) one of the three porthole paintings.  I want to add a lot more detail (fish, coral) to this, but its funny today I realized I just can't seem to escape my distinctive style of painting.  I wonder if that would change if I took some classes?

Yeh!  I finally got the go ahead for the three porthole paintings for the new Florida restaurant, they will be 30" diameter but for safety sake I will oversize them a few inches.  The paintings will be similar to this

that a did a few years ago for a Florida mansion's elevator, it lined the inside wall of the elevator shaft and had a window on the cab so you could view the mural as you went up or down.

The white area is where there was a window in the wall of the elevator shaft.
I ordered the canvas for this new project from one of my favorite ebay stores, $33 and change for a 22' long roll 55" wide, not a bad deal....plus free shipping!  It should arrive before the end of the week.  I'm anxious to get them done before the move.......just 3 more weeks, can't wait!

No new paintings to show, I've got moving on my mind and its hard to focus.
Yesterday there were two appointments to show my current apartment, I don't know the results.  This apartment is a hard sell, its very small, two rooms and a tiny bathroom, but fingers crossed someone will be swept away by the beautiful architecture of the place.
Anyway......when there is a showing here I leave the property and head around the corner to the local thrift shop and yesterday was my lucky day!  I loved my old red curtains that I had in the apartment I'll be returning to...

and thought I'd never find panels wide enough or long enough to get that look again (that I could afford).....But.....I did, well sort of.  I found three ikea curtain panels for a total of $8.95.  They're brown not red but they are wide and long (57"x 118" each) and will look great with my current furniture.

I'm still waiting for measurements from Florida so I can begin the paintings for the restaurant there.  I'm guessing the renovations are presenting more pressing concerns for the new owners. 
Perhaps I'll work on some ebay paintings today, I confess its getting harder to get motivated to do them.  Even though they sell consistently I'm not seeing their value increase significantly and with the ebay fees, supply costs, postage, etc, well its frustrating spending hours on a painting and seeing a return of just a couple of dollars......the joy of painting starts to fade.

A couple of more paintings for ebay

I'm still waiting for measurements to begin the paintings for the Florida restaurant and there are no takers on my current apartment yet......waiting, waiting, waiting........sigh.

Today I sign the lease on my old apartment, it got moved up a day......AND :-).......my current landlord is showing my apartment tomorrow afternoon, fingers are crossed!  I stayed home yesterday to avoid the snowy morning commute and spent the day staging my apartment....shampooed the carpet, shined up the wood floor, removed and put away as much 'stuff' as I could to make the place less cluttered, etc.  One thing I like about Philly, if you don't want something anymore you can just put it out on the street and it'll be gone in seconds!
Since I'll be scrambling for extra money the next few weeks I got back in touch with the decorator in Florida, the one who had me doing the silly animal portraits, and the one who was trying to open a new restaurant.

I learned she finally got a place (third try) and its under renovation.  The theme will be sort of old rustic fishing shack kind of stuff and we're talking about me doing some paintings, and I don't think it will involve animals in hats :-) I'm waiting for pictures of the place and any ideas she may have for the paintings.
I've got a couple of new paintings up on ebay, one being another peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

A long day today, yesterdays job and todays and a lease signing........off I go.

Love this room, it reminds me most of when I was in the apartment I'm moving back into.  Of course I have different furniture now.....wish I still had those gorgeous red curtains.....and I think I have enough pieces to closely replicate the design below.  I've been looking at studio apartment decorating ideas online. I'll sign my lease next Wednesday and then panic for the following six weeks trying to get all of the move-in costs together. I'll be losing my deposit on my current apartment because I'm leaving early, something I didn't anticipate so the pressures on......but I'll get it done :-)

Here's some others that caught my eye.........

Yeah!....today I put a deposit on my old studio apartment, I'm sooooo looking forward to the move, move in will be the end of April.
I spent most of the afternoon looking online for new ideas decorating small spaces although I pretty much have it planned out already having lived there before.
I did find something new that I'm excited about using because if I remember correctly there's a bit of  linoleum flooring in the kitchen that is pretty boring and could use some help.  I happened on a Youtube video about putting down a temporary linoleum floor with double sided tape.  The company is Modularity Tiles .

Of course these can be applied permanently but whats neat is they sell a double sided tape ($65) to use for a temporary application and this tape leaves no residue when removed, the tiles are $3.25 a piece........LOVE IT!

Anyone remember my first studio apartment in Narberth? 

Where I painted my window screens.....

Ok it was a few years ago, I really liked that apartment but at the time it was getting too expensive for my budget so I gave it up.  Well, I just learned its become available again and just at the time I'm apartment hunting.  My one hesitation.....its now even more pricey at $960 a month.  I have a feeling though that I won't have to struggle deciding whether to take it or not.......I don't have the money to secure it and it'll probably get snapped up before I do (have the money).  Better news........I'm looking at another apartment in Narberth today that's two hundred dollars less and has a bedroom and washer and dryer.  True I still don't have 'holding' money but maybe I can strike a deal?.......... probably not, Narberth has no problem finding new residents.  We'll see.  I need to learn to be more positive.

So exciting all my ebay ACEO paintings have bids on them.  I did these peaches over the weekend to add to the apple and the two landscapes.

New on ebay

I can not believe this!  They are predicting another 6-12 inches of snow starting tomorrow and guess what that means........possibly another two days of missed work.  I've been struggling to figure out how to move into a larger apartment since I can't afford to move back to Florida and now its beginning to look like I can't even afford to move to just another part of town!  This is just frigging ridiculous.

On a brighter note the landscape painting in the previous post sold for $20.49, I finally broke through the $8.50 starting bid :-) that everythings been selling at.
I have been painting all day and will probably spend the next few days doing the same.  I did another small (ACEO) mini landscape.  I hope those look like cows to everyone, painting cows that small was tricky.

I look up old landscape paintings online and borrow bits and pieces from them and compose my own scene.  The bits of money I make from these is becoming more and more important.....right now I've got about $40 in the bank and with missing more work this coming week its going to be rough.  But the rents paid and there's plenty of brown rice and dried beans in the cupboard :-).  And I should say out loud how happy I am that I started collecting social security early because if I hadn't I'd be in deep(er) trouble having missed so much work these past several weeks.......I am grateful.