Haitian Art

A few years ago I read about a couple that saved up their nickels and dimes to buy artwork. They invested in things they really wanted to look at, things that told a story, that inspired them, that they loved. In a world of changing fads it's a very personal choice. It means you're comfortable with your own taste, that you don't need others to like what you like, and that is freeing. Randy and I collect art and things we like to look at. Our walls are an eclectic mix of graphic design, old signs, metal bits and wooden things. And color. Lots of color. When I was younger my grandmother had a green room. It was her favorite color (it's mine too). I thought it was so cool that she chose it as the color of an entire room, not caring if anyone else liked it or not. I decided that when I had a house of my own that I would choose fun colors that I liked too, and I have.

Some of our friends think I'm crazy because our walls are sooo green, others think it's fun and whimsical, some say it's "funky". The most important thing is that my family loves it. It makes a great backdrop for all of the miscellaneous things hanging about the room. 

This is one of the newest additions to our funky walls. My mother-in-law and several wonderful folks from her church have made regular trips to Haiti to help a school there. They have done incredible things for children. Before her last trip my husband asked her to please bring home Haitian artwork, and she did! While visiting family this summer she invited us over to choose a piece of artwork to take home with us, and I fell in love with this bright metal tap tap bus! Tap Taps are brightly painted buses used as taxis in Haiti. They don't move forward until filled. I love that it has character, it's metal, I love the texture, and the colors are gorgeous. 

Each piece of art on our walls has a story. My mother-in-law would say that some of them are conversation pieces, and this metal tap tap bus truly is. Metal Haitian art is made by repurposing the steel from transported oil drums. The top and bottom are removed, the drum is set on fire to burn off any residue and paint, and when cooled they are cut open and flattened into a sheet. Then the art begins! My husband knew how much I loved this piece and chose it from the his mothers collection even though he really really loved a painting a bit more. When I realized he'd done this I arranged for the painting to be his Father's Day gift. He was thrilled!

Wood is hard to come by in Haiti so when you buy paintings from an artist they remove the canvas or painted material and keep the wooden frame it was painted on. You roll up your new painting and take it with you, they attach another piece of material to the wooden frame you left behind and do another painting to sell. The sizing isn't always a traditional frame size. In order to hang this painting Randy had to stretch it and staple it to a new frame (in this case, an old board). 

He added an outer frame that he made out of old barn boards, and it's PERFECT. 

The bold graphic colors really stand out against each other. It also pops against the bright green wall of the living room. Being able to look at inspiring things that we enjoy has made this tiny house a cozy home. 

what I'm working on #3: redfish stool

Here it is, as promised! Clare finally has her very own fish step stool!

Being patient at any age isn't easy and it's usually not fun. We like to think that it's something we get a little better at as we age, but we're tested from time to time. My husband has a real talent for choosing the absolute slowest checkout line in stores, all stores. It's tough to be patient. Super tough. There's usually a wait in a doctors office. I totally get it. They've got a lot of people needing their skills to live comfortably, they squeeze people in that truly need to be seen, but sometimes it's hard to wait. When you're finally chosen to leave the waiting room your excitement fades as you realize that you're really just sitting in a smaller private waiting room. It's really tough to be patient. I'm positive you can think of examples to add to the list, you get the idea...

After years of experiences that test patience you do get a little better at it. You take a deep breath and roll with it because freaking out doesn't normally improve the situation. But kids don't have the same experience to draw from. It's really really tough as a kid to wait for something you've been looking forward to, especially when your older brother has his and it's still a novelty. Clare was a trooper. She was encouraging, she offered up ideas, she told me how much she appreciated my progress. Despite my mom fail for not having this done years ago, as I should have, I am immensely proud of my daughter for being the good kid that she is. 

Her stool is pretty unique, which is perfect because so is she! I've mentioned before how fortunate we are to visit our family in beautiful Matlacha, Fl. My brother-in-law is the ultimate uncle. How many kids can say their uncle is the captain of a boat?! Captain Gregg McKee, the ultimate charter fisherman, taught my kids how to fish. One of our favorite to catch is the Florida redfish. Their colors change depending on the season and the lighting and they are stunning. Their rusts, bronzes, and golds are a painters dream. Their fins have gorgeous translucent greens and blues that really stand out against the warm colors of the rest of the fish. Another recognizable feature is the trademark black dot at the end of the fish near the base of the tail. Though I chose to paint only one of these dots for the stool they can appear in multiples. The shape is not a perfect circle, sometimes it is oblong, wobbly, or heart-shaped! Did I also mention that they're delicious? No? Well, they are. Very...

You're either a glitter person or you aren't. Most aren't because it sticks to everything and it literally gets everywhere. EVERYWHERE. I know this all too well! I never considered myself a glitter person until I started teaching. I don't wear clothing covered in it, I don't typically wear shoes that sparkle, and I don't often use it for art projects with kids, but it sure does add some extra glam, glitz and whimsy to a special project. Set pieces for concerts definitely need glitter. Set pieces for musicals should totally have glitter. Graduation decorations are so much cooler with glitter. Fish art needs glitter. Any anything inspired by Matlacha had better have some whimsy. I'm all about whimsy and have been known to use obscene amounts of glitter in the spirit of it. My husband was horrified by the amount of glitter trailing through our house because of these fish stools for our children. He rolled his eyes, but in the end he agreed it looked pretty cool. Pretty cool indeed...

In addition to fish, my girl loves puppies! She thought Matt's Star Wars stool bottom was pretty cool, but requested that I paint our puppies on the bottom of hers. I chatted with my husband about the task and how to tackle it, and drew inspiration from my youth. My grandparents always had old timey pictures of relatives that never smiled hanging all over the walls and they could tell you anything you wanted to know about them. Some were in old oval frames, the men were in nice suits, the ladies had cameo broaches and lacy collars, and nobody looked like they were having a good time. To use this concept, it needed a cheerful twist. So... I painted the bottom red, Clare's favorite color, and added portraits of our puppies! Boomer (left) is a rescue dog that recently celebrated 1 full year as part of our family. Doesn't he look dapper?! Scooby is 3-years-old and looking fabulous with her new collar and tags. Not pictured here is a border of puppy prints. Clare is delighted with the end result, and I'm happy that she is! 

home away from home

We spend 3 weeks each summer in sunny Matlacha Fl visiting my husbands family. But our time there isn't all fun in the sun. 

My mother-in-law is part of a women's charitable organization called the Matlacha Hookers. Before you get too excited, they're based in a small fishing village and everything there has a fish/marine life/island theme. Hookers....get it? Yes, well...These ladies work together to collect school supplies for their local Pine Island Elementary School (P.I.E.), are dedicated to several local fund raisers, and offer support to a variety of other community causes. 

The Pine Island Fishing Tournament & Derby is a big hit for the Hookers every year! The event raises money for P.I.E.'s accelerated reading program and other educational tools. Events in Matlacha often involve event promotions on t-shirts, and for that you need a design that people will wear. That's where the McKee family comes into play. The ladies turned to my mother-in-law, Karen McKee, to ask her son and daughter-in-law (me!) to do the design. Shirts advertising and promoting the event have a list of things that need to be included in the design each year, such as "Olde Fishhouse Marina", the title of the event, and the number of hooks appearing on the shirt need to match the year they're on (pictured is the shirt from last year, the "17th", so there are 17 hooks pictured). We designed the shirt as a team last year, and we designed it together again this year. I do the cartooning, Randy does the font and layout, and it's worked out pretty well. We may not live in Matlacha Florida, but as parents who want great things for their kids, educators who give their best to kids, and folks who love the area, we've adopted the community as our home away from home. And who can tell their mother-in-law no?! 

what I'm working on #2: sea trout stool

My niece and nephew are ages 5 and 3. They live in Florida and we see them once a year. Since their father is a charter fisherman they have a fish theme running throughout their home. I've used it as the theme for several gifts. I've painted a chair for each of them. They have several Aunt Ashley painted step stools. Even my mother-in-law has one at her house for when the grandbabies visit. How is it that I've never made any for my own kids?! A mom fail that I have vowed to remedy this summer, and the kids are thrilled. They're old enough to have a voice in the process and we've had a lot of fun with that.

For years we've used the same old worn stools. The kids used them to brush their teeth when they were smaller, but nowadays they're used in the kitchen. It's a lot easier to see what you're putting into a mixer or reach to flip pancakes if you're up a little higher. Now they'll be steppin' up in style!

My kids LOVE Florida, and they love their Uncle Gregg. They caught their first fish with him and look forward to playing in the baitwell of his boat on extra hot fishing days. So, it was no surprise to me that they chose fish for the theme of their step stools. Since I started a stool for Matthew last summer I decided to finish that first. He wanted a spotted sea trout on the top so he could reminisce about the trout he landed in Florida with Gregg this summer. His picture was in the paper and on the cover of a local magazine, the Nautical Mile. It was a BIG deal. A very big deal. 

The folks at the Nautical Mile even had a poster of the cover printed so that we could hang it on our walls at home! How cool is that?!?!

A surprise little love note on the bottoms of the legs, and a fun cool splash of Star Wars. Matt is obsessed with Star Wars. We have every movie, we've seen them all a million times, and he'll tell you without hesitation that episodes I, II, and III are terrible and overdone... He knows more Star Wars trivia than I'll ever know in my lifetime. When he truly loves something, he's all in. I love that. 

Finished it is! May the force be with you...

what I'm working on #1: redfish table

How does the art teacher spend the summer? Why, working on projects, of course! I even do projects while we're on vacation!

Each summer my husband and I take our two children to visit family in beautiful Matlacha, Fl (a little island in the Gulf of Mexico). Randy's parents are there, his brother and his family are there, some aunts and cousins are there, and lots and lots of framily (friends that are so close they become family). It's the only time of year we get to see them, so this visit is a pretty big deal. We rent the house next to Randy's parents, and it's awesome. The owners, Mike and Barb Peplinski, are the nicest folks you'd ever want to meet! Each year we do a project or two for them as a thank you for their kindness to our family. This year I painted a coffee table to match the two end tables that I painted for them last summer. 

I painted a snook (left) and a tarpon (right) last summer. Both fish are gorgeous in their own special way, but I'll save that for another day and another post!...

My brother-in-law, Captain Gregg McKee of Wildfly Charters, is an amazing charter fisherman, fish expert, and art critic. As far as brother-in-laws go, mine is the best. Gregg is my go-to-for-everything-you-need-to-know-about-Florida-fish guide. He should be yours too! Not only is he amazing at teaching people how to fish, he also takes incredibly beautiful photographs of the them and it's been an invaluable resource. He shares his photographs with me so that I can paint them- it's like winning the fish reference lottery if fish are what you like to paint! 

I looked through several photographs of redfish, asked lots of questions...

Check out all of that glitter...

These fish are beautiful, and tasty...

Gregg and Randy are my best critiquers, offering advice on colors to use in the fins and body, the position and curve of the fish I'm painting, and little details that I wouldn't know to look for that a fisherman would notice right away. I'm fortunate to have so many great eyeballs looking at the things I'm making to help me paint my very best!

Florida redfish are one of my absolute favorite fish to paint. Depending on the season, their colors can be darker reddish oranges and rusts or brighter golds and bronzes. If the lighting is just right, you can see blue, green and purple iridescent hints in the fins. They are truly lovely...