Many of you know that back in October, Chris and I decided to open a booth at a vintage market, Picker's Place in Plant City. One of the side benefits of this adventure has been the opportunity to use my creativity in unexpected ways...like the sign you see above.

It's not perfect lettering and it didn't need to be for what it is—an attention grabbing sign! It was soooo much fun to do not to mention quick! (I copied the original for extra copies rather than lettering four different signs. It also stands out in the booth, letting folks know we have a few things we're looking to move out to new homes.

I love that I'm finding new and practical outlets for some of my creative energy!

Below is a peek at our booth:
This was taken during December. If you look closely, you'll see more lettering on the wall. You'll also see that insanely cool guitar lamp my uber-talented hubby made from a real guitar! Isn't that awesome?!
Here's a close up of the guitar lamp. It still has the strings and the volume knob is how you turn the light on and off! (Since I have "connections" to the guy who creates these beauties, I also have one hanging out in my living room!)

The clipboard was another opportunity to play around with yet more lettering (see a trend here?). It's a paper/cardboard clipboard from a discount market and was about to go in the trash. I slapped some chalkboard paint on it and spent a few very happy hours lettering out the saying.

I cannot tell you how much I enjoy adding an artistic touch to ordinary things and in unusual places. Sure, a lamp is a lamp, a wall is a wall, but why not add some flair to both by looking for ways to add your artistic style?!

Wishing my guy, Chris Ferlita, a super happy birthday as he begins a new decade today! Hope the day is as brilliant as you are.

Much like today, our weather 22 years ago was mostly cloudy with a hint of rain with the sun playing hide and seek most of the day. Finally, on that day many long years ago, just before seven o'clock, a fine mist began to fall…and that's the day I married my best friend!

Sounds cheesy, right? You bet, but it just happens to also be the truth. He's still my best friend today!

A rare photo of a smile on his face!

You may know him as a mild-mannered, laid back guy named Chris, but don't be fooled! I thought it might be fun to show you some of his other "sides:"

Goofy

He's got a great sense of adventure as long as it doesn't involve planes or long car rides…

Horrified

Distant

Every once in a while he gets very reflective and when he comes back from his thoughts, he asks something profound like, "Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be able to talk to animals?"

A good judge of character

Constipated?

Hello, Mr. Serious

The man and a canine bud from work

Suggested Alaskan Sketchbook Cover Idea © Chris Ferlita Colored Pencil and Ink Printer Paper

During the Imaginary Visit to A Past Vacation class, I asked my husband what his strongest impression of Alaska was as this was the vacation I used to create the class demos.

He replied it was a bear eating an elk carcass.

Pausing, I turned to stare at him and said, "But we didn't see any bears eating an elk carcass. In fact, I don't think we saw any elk at all."

He shrugged and said, "We saw bears. They have to eat, right?"

"Yes, but I'm trying to come up with the cover of our sketchbook for the trip. You think a bear eating an elk carcass is appropriate?"

"You asked me what I remembered. You asked me what my strongest memories of Alaska are. There you go," he finished and off he went.

He was apparently in an alternate universe on our trip because his Alaska memories and my Alaska memories are definitely not the same, but I digress...

Now I gotta tell you, I wasn't about to put a bear eating an elk carcass on the front of the sketchbook.

Wasn't happening.

Chris stopped by my studio a little while later to see what I had come up with. Looking over my shoulder, he asked me for the dimensions of the sketchbook and then disappeared.

(You know what they say about when it gets too quiet you should be worried? Yeah well...)

What was interesting, is that he asked for none of our photos. No information whatsoever. In a little over two hours, he was back with a sketch in hand.

The image above was Chris' take on what the front cover of the sketchbook should look like!

I don't know of too many other pieces of art that express my husband's sense of humor quite so well. It also displays his belief that life should be fun, and if it's not, he'll either make it fun or he just won't play. He has a knack for finding the funny in nearly any situation and making us laugh.

Today also happens to be Chris' birthday and this is my shout out to the a very funny guy that keeps me laughing. (Most of the time.)

Happy, happy, happy birthday, Chris!

Doesn't he look happy?!!

The other day, Chris and I went to LongHorn® Steakhouse for dinner. For some reason, the hostess always seems to seat us in one of the booths in the bar area. This was my view and I fell in love with the color on those boots! Of course, I pulled out my sketchbook and started to draw them in pen and after our meal, my plan was to add color.

Chris asked what I was sketching as he couldn't see my sketchbook. When I showed him, he decided he wanted to give it a whirl, too. So I handed him the other sketchbook I had with me. (Yes, I had two sketchbooks in my purse that day. One is good for watercolor and one is good for pen and ink and not much else. I usually use it for notes and lists. Since Chris prefers ink it worked out well.)

Chris' interpretation in Copic Gray ink:
My interpretation in Carbon black ink and watercolor:
And here is the dynamic duo caught in the act!
It's kinda fun being married to an artist! He "gets it" and he even enjoys playing along on occasion!

Food Sculpture by Chris Ferlita Click to enlarge

We had a family celebration last night, and of course, there's always lots of hugs, laughter and mischief going on. Chris contributed one of his (in)famous food sculptures. This is made of lemon, zucchini, tomatoes and rib bones.

Don't you want to come and join us for our next dinner?

Oddly enough, the waiters and waitress always seem to remember us.


Our normal programming will return tomorrow......

Your wish is my command—usually. Some of you asked to see Chris' work from our one-day staycation.....above and below are Chris' sketches from our outing to Davis Islands. (You can see the first post here.)

Chris worked larger than I did, his pages are 5"x 7" and he worked in colored pencil. Using colored pencils, especially for location work, is a real challenge as you generally have to build up many layers. Chris is an extremely quick sketcher yet the pencils slowed him down considerably. A few things both of us agreed on is that our values were off on the fountain guy and we wished we had simplified the background.
 I had finished my fountain face and was nearly finished with the bench when Chris turned to start sketching the bench. Having no way to really capture the whites of the Bridal Wreath shrub, he decided to capture some of the local wildlife going about their daily business.
Believe it or not, this door is part of the same house that I sketched. We both agreed that it seemed out of place for the house. It's looked like they were trying to marry different architectural styles and they just didn't mesh well. There were no bats....that's Chris' special touch he adds to his work. I was really surprised that the top sketch was not given the special touch as well. As Chris said, "I can only take this stuff seriously for so long."

Chris and I are not your usual sweethearts on Valentine's Day, exchanging boxes of chocolate and roses for power tools....no, we go in for things that are just a little off-beat. We have also been on an anti-clutter campaign for quite a while now, so if we give each other "stuff" it better be some really kickin' waaaay cool "stuff!!"

With this in mind, I was pretty sure that Chris was going to be thrilled with getting a box of artificial eyes for Valentine's Day....

I distressed this with sepia ink and tore the corner off to add to the look of antiquity

I overlapped the end pieces as if they were seals, and then "broke" them as if the box had been open a long, long time

Click to enlarge and read—it's pretty funny!

Is that not just wicked cool?!! I had the best fun making this from a piece of clip art I found over on the Graphic Fairy's blog (do check it out...Karen's got some really cool stuff!) and a wooden tea box that my sister-in-law sent to me because she knew something awesome could be made out of that box!

I spray-painted the box black and touched up a few areas with a black marker. I then measured all the surfaces and sized the art to fit. I had to put a black border around some of the pieces because it didn't quite work out to size. I printed the art on the back of some paper headed for the recycle bin. Once I cut down the art, I blackened the edges and "distressed" the pieces with some sepia ink. After gluing everything down, I went and found some antique glass marbles and put them inside for "sound effects!"

I wrapped it in an old paper box with lots of stuffing and bubble wrap to complete the "look." When Chris went to open it and the marbles clacked together, I cautioned Chris to be careful so as to not break anything! He was trying to figure out how to open the eye box (the lid slides open) when he realized what he was actually holding in his hands—the tea box. Too much fun!

He gave me an anatomically-correct squeeze heart.....
...with our initials written on it. He seems to think I may occasionally need some stress release......I'm not sure where he gets that idea from????

What did you get for Valentine's Day?!!

The attic door swung wide and free,
And box by box, we began to see,
Some lights, some tinsel, maybe even a tree!
Christmas was finally here, weaving its magic all through the house!
Everywhere you looked, creatures were stirring, and not one, a mouse!

We spotted a huge tree free-grazing in the back 40 of the attic—it was so majestic! The Tree Wrangler lassoed the huge beast and it went wild! It bucked! It fought! And at long last, our heroic wrangler subdued and tamed that tree so that he could ride it around the living room floor!

Tucker, The Tree Wrangler

Once the tree had been subdued, Tucker wandered off for a snack, satisfied with a job well done.

Meanwhile, for the Light Master, work had just begun.....

Joey, The Light Master

Lights. They were everywhere in knots and piles. The Light Master looked at us with reproach for allowing the lights to become tangled. We tried to explain to him that they did this on their own. Eleven months in the attic, by themselves, is a long time and they sometimes got bored. He wasn't buying.

Joey knew the key to untangling the lights was to keep calm and breathe deep. To approach the lights with an attitude and knowledge that they wanted to become linear and straight.....

Post Script: A huge thank you to our guest artist, Chris, for sharing his wonderfully quirky artwork with us all last week! Chris assures me that he and Boomer will return from time to time.

In the prior post, we see a disturbing side of Boomer as he makes the squirrel go "boom!," but that may be explained by the images below.

Bob the Squirrel was quite the jokester and Boomer was....well, Boomer just too easy to pick on!

© Chris Ferlita

Boomer tried to ignore Bob, but the squirrel was relentless....and so the games began....

© Chris Ferlita

Now that Chris' imagination is going full throttle, the possibilities are just rolling in! Seems that Boomer doesn't play well with others....

© Chris Ferlita

Then there's always the possibility that there's some kind of vision problem. Or perhaps he's just easily distracted....

© Chris Ferlita

Either way, Chris is having way too much fun with this! And you'll get to meet more of the cast tomorrow.

The conversations in our household often revolve around art as well as the ideas or concepts behind the art. Chris and I differ wildly on our views and thoughts around art as I think you'll see for the art below.

Up for recent discussion and debate was how Boomer came to be nicknamed Boomer (click link for more on Boomer). I chose not to reveal that piece of information, and that left the door wide open for Chris' imagination!

© Chris Ferlita "How Boomer Got His Name!"

And, before you ask, NO! This is not how Boomer came to be called Boomer!