New Years Resolutions....

The Christmas Card.... At Last!

I finished this Year's Christmas Card two days after Christmas, Dear Readers, which is Not how I would like to have it happen! But so it goes when there is a busy life and I set myself a difficult task. This year it was a drawing of my Memory of Christmas Morning fifty-four years ago.... when I first set eyes upon The Lovely Old Dollhouse... and the "Never Ending Story" began! I won't go into detail about the struggles I had with drawing this Perspective! I just knew the "Vision" in my Memory..... and had to make it work on paper! There are no photographs of this.... so I am sure there are a few details that might be different if there were. I was only four years old and my sister was three and the dollhouse was built by my Grandpa from designs drawn up by my Daddy.
The little details around the edges are the current pictures.... if you follow this blog you will recognize many of them.... (with me hard at work painting things at the lower right)... but I had to take liberties with the perspectives to make things fit the spaces!  The original painting is 8 inches by 10 and a half inches, done in watercolor and pen and ink. It took me over a week to complete it. I do hope you can forgive me for taking you on this journey down memory lane.... the Lovely Old Dollhouse is what started it all!

So now that we are putting Christmas behind us for another year..... 

and looking to the future... the New Year is almost upon us....

which means many of us are Making New Years Resolutions!

(Usually I avoid this challenge!)

But this year I find I really want to resolve to Finish projects sooner....

(Don't laugh!)

And really, I have spent the past couple of days working on partly finished  things...

Do you remember the embroidered bed curtains for the Pagoda bed in the Tree House?

Well, I added the final flower and the details to another flower....

Then I started on the leaves....

This will mean the first curtain is nearly done!

It is the one for the back side of the bed... towards the wall...

That way I can make mistakes and it doesn't matter as much!

Each curtain is two and a half inches tall!

Perhaps I shall start the second curtain tomorrow...!

 

And because I have So Many Unfinished Painting projects.....

I decided to work more on painting the Saints on the Castle Hall Ceiling!

You may remember I started it last July....

Here above is a close-up of how I left the Saints Hedwig and Mark... 

partly done.....

And this is Saints Mary Magdalene and John.... 

Barely started!

So I got busy and spent a Wonderful day painting details....

I added the darker outlining for Mark,

as well as the Lion and the book stand...

And I did the face and hands of Hedwig...

and worked more on her head covering and halo.

Here she is closer.... 

with some of the details started....

there are still a ton of details to paint...

And another closer view of Mark...

 I still need to work on the highlights of his robes 

and add another layer to the background....

Here you can see I have added a lot to Mary Magdalene...

 

She will need another layer on the background 

and more highlights on her cloak...

And I also worked quite a bit on John...

 He still needs details everywhere....

but the basic colors are laid out....

Just a tiny bit more was added here....!

It is really difficult to get a shot of all of the Saints together....

It is so dark out and the light reflects off the curved surface....

but you can see that I still have to start the six Saints for the other side of the ceiling!

Maybe I will get that started Tomorrow!

Meanwhile.....

Here is a closer view of Mary Magdalene....

I also need to work on her hands....

And a closer shot of Saint Hedwig....

Lots still to do....

I don't know why I am bothering with so many details on these Saints....

They will hardly ever be looked at... 

up on the dark ceiling of the Great Hall!

But somehow I can't seem to help myself.....

Like with the tiny embroidery, and the Christmas Card....

I just Love the details!

Perhaps it is the Saintliness of the Saints 

which inspires this New Years Resolution....

(We'll see how long I keep to it!)

Happy 2014 Dear Readers!

May your New Year be Wonderful.... 

And may your Resolutions be truly Inspired!