Friday, June 30, 2023

Roses And Thorns...

 


Gypsy Wagon Sleeping Nook... Take Two...

Some of you, Dear Readers, might recall the Gypsy Wagons and might, with reason, wonder if they would ever get worked on again, let alone completed. And it would even be reasonable to think that they are so small... what could possibly take so long to finish them? (Yes, "them"; there are two wagons, each with a distinctive decor and history.) And both incomplete! The above picture shows the second wagon, which quickly took on some extra characteristics that made it a bit more complicated (and more interesting!) with its body mostly taken apart. You know almost nothing is glued together yet! This wagon had to have an extra window in the rear wall, and also an entire "menagerie" built onto the back wall. For the goats and chickens, of course!

And these menagerie compartments were desperately dark 
and in need of some "airier" coloring.
So I started with the primer on the interiors.


And of course, while waiting for the primer to dry,
 I decided that now might be the right time to paint 
the underside of the sleeping compartment too!


The sleeping compartment at the rear of the wagons
 is high enough to allow for another sleeping area beneath it,
 like a bunk bed, but enclosed like the upper one.
It is darker and lower, and I assume
 it would be the sleeping space for children.
You might remember the lower area of the first gypsy wagon,
 painted a long time ago (look it up in the blog list at right)
 and you might remember that the Gypsy child, Rowena,
 grew up alone with her father in that wagon.
 But when she became a young woman, 
she had to go live in her Grandmother's wagon instead.
This would now be her sleeping space,
 no longer a child, but not yet grown up.
In the above picture you can see the walls
 were painted pale green a long time ago.
It only remained to decorate them.


Of course, it begins with a soft green grass...
 
And rose bushes.... 
for the sweetness of love...
 

And a white rabbit...
(because Time is passing...)
 

Or three....
(because, Time.... you know, does not stand still)
 

And we mustn't forget the thorns!
Because Life is no longer so simple...


Or the leaves....
To hide among...
 every bunny needs a place of refuge!
 

And surely we want to see what it looks like all together... 
(I apologize for the dark shot... 
a thunderstorm had rolled in...)


Here you can see the flash turned on...


Here you see the compartment wall also in place,
 with the upper and lower spaces and their doors open.


And lest we forget, the menagerie interiors
 have also been painted inside, a lovely sky blue.

But that is not all, Dear Readers, 
you must know that I can't leave a ceiling unpainted...
So the following morning I continued the roses..


onto the underside of the upper bed compartment.
(There is also a pull-out table section, but I painted it too!)


Here the platform is removed while I painted it.


Here you can see it from below with all the walls together, 
as if you are lying under the roses...

And because I was painting things.... 
I decided to (Finally!) finish the painting
 on the walls of the upper compartment too.
What was missing, you ask?
 

Well, really just a couple of owls!
Here I have under-painted the shapes.


Here the Saw-whet Owl is done
(I know, it is a too dark shot!)


And the Common Screech Owl too.

And then I had to sprinkle a few stars across the dark night sky...


And can we see it all together....


Of course, it becomes difficult to see 
and difficult to photograph...


But it is supposed to be the night sky!
And it is getting late again...
And I have been following white rabbits, Dear Readers,
 into thorns and roses...
and listening to the owls
 begin to call in the night sky!

10 comments:

  1. I'm enchanted by your roses and thorns, bunnies and owls. And the story is so delightful! What a wonderful project!

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  2. Your stories about the two wagons are as delightful as your beautiful drawings.
    Hugs, Drora

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  3. Your painted walls and ceilings of these bed alcoves are very pretty. And I love the symbolism of the themes used for grandmother and granddaughter. They give a good look into their lives and circumstances.

    Huibrecht

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  4. Oh my goodness! I LOVE the interior paintwork! Gypsy wagons are in my past, as our city in The Netherlands in the early 50's had a gypsy encampment site, and I sometimes got to see the wagons at the encampment. Wow! Love it!

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  5. Wow, this looks amazing. You are so talented being able to paint like you do. What a fun gypsy wagon indeed.

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  6. Sorry the above Anonymous comment is mine, I forget my ipad doesn't let me sign in for some reason.

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  7. It's always extra fun whenever you continue working on older projects which have been put aside for a while enabling you to create miracles for other projects. And now you're back to the gypsy wagon... oh, I remember the other one so well with the beautiful horses galloping over the meadow. And now it's time for Rowena's own wagon... I really love the background story and the themes you've chosen. And it made me smile that there had to be white rabbits because time passes so fast... (btw... mentioning Rowena makes me remember all the times she appeared to help children being lost in the woods... or in other words... it's somehow frightening but "H" isn't that far away anymore as one would like it to be... and let's not start to think about "C"... aaaahhhhhrrrggghhhh... eh... where was I... oh yes... white rabbits because time flies...) and what could be better for the walls of a beautiful young girl than roses? And as Rowena sure has a gift when it comes to supernatural things the night wood with the owls and the sparkling stars was a brilliant idea.

    Oh, and would you like to know a little secret? Okay, not that secret perhaps as you know by now I often "hear" songs when I read your posts. Remember "Let there be rock" (AC/DC) or "Rock of Ages" (Def Leppard) when you were in your rocking phase? With this post it was a bouquet of songs! Okay, no surprise it's BonJovi with "Bed of Roses"... but also Poison with "Every Rose has its Thorn". And The Little River Band with "The Night Owls" *LOL* and not to forget "Vincent" from Don McLean... you know... "Starry starry night". Oh... and I have one more: "Gypsy" from Fleetwood Mac... ;O)

    Hugs
    Birgit (who can't wait to see what comes next...)

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  8. A nice story. The interior paintwork is amazing!

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  9. That's beautiful! I love your little cupboard beds!

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