Cassie Marie

Thrifted Recently: Mid Century Goodness

This is how far $55 can get you in South Dakota:

A $10 Danish Modern Chair frame.

I saw her from a mile away. Someone in the store had thankfully put two of the ugliest giant pillows on this chair to avert any other mid-century freaks away. She was all mine. I had her bought and paid for before my husband knew what was happening. I'm in the process of ordering foam for the cushions, and I've got fabric picked out. I'm hoping it will turn out something like this chair.

A $40 Loveseat in tip top condition.

I may feel a bit guilty about this one. My good friend Andre actually saw this after I bought it and tried to buy it only to find out it was sold (to me!). He jokingly thought it must have been me and told me about this beautiful couch he saw that had already been sold, and I had to break his heart. It even has a pull-out mattress. :) It is going in our living room as soon as we get our new floors put in. Luckily, this couch did not come home on the roof of our car.

And, last but not least, the $5 table and chairs set.

I actually bought this table and chair set a few months back at an auction a couple of blocks from our house. I just happened to be outside and I heard them starting the auction so I wandered over and ended up buying a few pieces of furniture and a couple of really nice ornate wood-framed mirrors. No one else even bid on this table, so I came away with it for $5. The only downside was that Nate had the car that day. I hauled this set on foot piece by piece back to my house. I also bought a small bookshelf there. Needless to say I was a bit sore after lugging the table along. I'm planning on replacing the fabric on the chairs in a solid color. It is the perfect size for our porch though - and I love the look of it!

Have you found anything great lately?

Dogs

Just finished painting my friend here:

16x20" - Oil on Canvas

And I've started another pup - this is the sketch:

And the underpainting:

I'm loving the orange in the background. :)

Happy Monday.

Slightly evil looking Bobo says, 'good morning!'

I started another painting this weekend. I love the expression on this pup's face! I'm not sure what breed of dog this is, so if anyone knows, please clue me in by leaving a comment.

Ideally, I like to have two paintings going on at once in my studio. Sometimes this isn't possible as my studio is a 10x10' room that is packed to the brim with paintings, books, and supplies.

I think I'll try to tackle a studio renovation in the Fall. I need a better flowing space, and I'd really like to have one empty wall that I can use just for my easels. I've just started a studio inspiration board on Pinterset here: Studio Inspiration

By the way, have you guys signed up for Pinterest? If not, do so now! As a creative person it really helps me to keep my thoughts & inspiration images organized. If you join, feel free to add me as a friend!

Anyhow, back to this painting. Those of you who know me personally know that I am pretty adamant about the importance of drawing when it comes to painting representationally. When doing a painting, I'll do a couple studies to get the composition just right.

Most of the time this works great for me. Sometimes, like with this drawing, I just can't seem to get it just right on the first, second, third, or even the fourth time. Luckily for me, the fifth time was the charm.

My husband, who is a musician/recording engineer/professor, and I have had an ongoing conversation about work ethic lately, which I thought I'd share here. We've been talking about the extent to which we'll go to have something look or sound right. Many times we'll work on a project until it is 90% finished, and take a little break from it.

We've come to the conclusion that finishing the last 10% of the project (be it a painting or a recording) is the most important part of the process. In most of my work that last 10% of the project ends up taking just as long as the first 90% to get it just right.

So with that thought, and with this guy to cheer you up, I'll bid you adieu.

Finished!

Recently finished:

Lamb - 24x24" - Oil on Canvas

All in a Row - 8x8" - Oil on Canvas

Recently

Just started this little painting:

I'm glad to have my studio buddy to keep me company! Rascal always has to be in the room with me when I'm working in the studio. To keep her from jumping on my papers, I put her bed on a chair and it worked like a charm!

I've also been attempting to keep better records of my paintings! I bought this little notebook to keep track of colors/dates/dimensions of my paintings so that I don't need to constantly re-measure or remember what colors I mixed to get a certain color.

Lastly, I hope wherever you are living, it is warmer and not as crazy on the roads as it is here! I don't think I'll leave town for a while...

Sneak Peeks and Other Important Things

First off,
Sorry for the lack of words on this blog recently - the holidays are kind of stressful for me between traveling to see our family in Wisconsin and trying to make time to visit everyone without hurting anyone's feelings (this can be a challenge!). We got back to South Dakota right before the new year, and rang it in with our good friends here. We spent a few days recovering from holiday travel, and then spent the rest of the week preparing for this semester. I'm teaching Art History (Renaissance - Contemporary) again this semester - which should be much easier the second time around.

Nate and I also got the chance to get the first shots of the film we're shooting this spring/summer so I thought I'd share them here:

Dakota Sunset from Nathan Edwards on Vimeo.

We're working collaboratively on the filming, and he is doing the soundtrack. We have plans to travel across South Dakota this summer to get shots for the film. If you have any suggestions for 'off the beaten path' areas to film, I'd be more than happy to hear them!

I hope you are all having a great start to the New Year!

Progress

Hey all,
Just a quick studio update.

I've made a lot of progress on this painting in the last few days. I've still got to go back into this one once it is dry to tighten it up and fix some things that are bugging me.