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Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Mona Lisa of the frozen north

i meant to post a picture of the windows. as proof that i at least make an effort to keep new year's resolutions, i'd planned to put an image of the windows i painted in lieu of hanging drapes. (resolution being to make time for creative expression) when i painted the walls i took down the hideous clattering plastic vertical blinds that came with the place. i had to do something for privacy, as my biggest window faces about a dozen other condos. so i mixed some of the same latex paint that went on the walls with liquid dish soap and painted botanicals on the windows, white on white. the dish soap trick was learned years ago when i supplemented my meagre living by doing seasonal window painting for local businesses. it makes the paint spread smoothly on the glass, gives a slightly translucent look, depending on the soap/paint ratio, and makes cleanup much easier.

as i perused prospective painted window pictures i couldn't resist posting this one instead. much more interesting than just a pane of glass with some paint on it....

the lovely mona lisa upstaging my humble efforts (seen behind her) is my daughter, having a glass of wine with me on her birthday, just before joining her spouse and a crowd of friends for a party. the darlin' granddaughter had a sleepover with grandma that night.

3 comments:

Cicero Sings said...

You have a very beautiful daughter ( I think that every time I see a picture of her) and I love what you did with your window! So original. I hate those vertical blinds too -- and they are buggers to clean.

susan said...

I'm very impressed by the wonderful job you made of the window decorating. If only I'd known that trick when we moved into an apartment where the only place for our bed was right next to a double mirror door closet (!). Even when I was much younger I didn't find narcissism that stimulating. Just in case you ever want something a bit more permanent that isn't budget breaking I found this company after a long search. The samples they show on the home page aren't that interesting but there are neat ones if you explore. I really liked the fact I could wash them.

Your daughter is indeed very lovely in every picture.

gfid said...

cicero - clean them ?! didn't even occur to me! ;0) seriously though, i'm a minimalist when it comes to cleaning. i have to love something for it to be worth the trouble of dusting or cleaning. my mantra, stolen from William Morris, is, "have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful"

it's humbling going anywhere with Raven. no one even notices me. i spend the time thinking, 'what am i, chopped liver?'

su - i checked out the window film.... some lovely stuff..... i even think i could have some fun with the leaping trout and moose-in-a-marsh..... it was something like this that inspired the painting of my own, actually. a neighbor had some delicately bamboo patterned window film on the glass of her front door. in fact her both her front and back doors have a whole wardrobe of seasonal window films. it's brilliant - quick to do, easy to change and keep clean, and makes a gorgeous first impression to her tastefully renovated little condo.

Raven was trying to ignore me as i took the picture. she doesn't like having her picture taken.