Cool fact. The bridge is 24 miles long. It is the longest bridge over water in the world.
The Whimmsey Shoppe will be open starting November 1. The hours are Tuesday-Saturday 11-7 and Sunday 12-4.
The owner is Kathleen Peterson.
Kathleen and me
We just met and you can already tell we are BFF’s.
Cool fact #2: Our birthdays are 4 days apart and our favorite color is green.
This is the place where art meets antiques. Gator Girl Art is here with prints, giclee’s and original works of art. In downtown Covington there is no sales tax on original art. Win/Win.
Kathleen finds great stuff and makes it better. She has lots of mid-century furniture and cool new items. This can be your one stop shopping for eclectic gifts.
Raffi finished his BIG painting. It is 30 by 40 inches.
This is his sequel to “Family”. It is Pet Parade because when he finished painting all of his pets he noticed they were facing the same direction.
Pet Parade
“What is special about this painting is that all of my pets are going the same direction. Kenobi, Lacy, John Jones Nixon Pokorn. They all have Pokorn in their name. Albert Pokorn.” -Raffi Pokorn
The snails have one goggly eye on the tentacle
“The snails are Shelly Pokorn, Shirley Pokorn, Killer Snail Pokorn and also Kriller Snail Pokorn. One snail’s name is Crush Pokorn.”- Raffi
I met Kathy at Pinchapalooza in April. Recently she called me and said that she would like to have Gator Girl Art in her shop. The Whimmsey Shoppe is having a Grand Opening October 30th, but will be open this Saturday as a preview during Covington’s Fall for Art event.
Whimmsey Shoppe, 828 Rutland Street, Covington, LA
In February 2013 I painted Justice in honor of marriage equality. I felt strongly that these two women existed out in the world. I put it out there over and over, “Does anyone know a couple that looks like this painting?” I offered a print in exchange for a photo.
Here they are.
Amy and Rene
I saw this photo and thought, “Wow! Except for the blonde hair this is them!”.
Rene (short for Irene) said, “How did you know Amy’s original hair color is red?”.
The quote that I have on my painting is, “The moral arc of the universe bends towards justice”- Theodore Parker. We see this is true when we watch state after state passing marriage equality laws. The full title of the painting is And Justice for All. Kind of gives me chills.
It has been a while. I think I had a virus. I hope you are doing well. I am much better.
October is the beginning of the time of year when we have to start choosing activities. Things begin to over-lap… This weekend we are choosing the Louisiana Seafood Festival in City Park.
It is much easier to make something to sell or give away. When someone has pre-ordered, I always worry if they will like it. This one has nice depth and texture. I felt bold with the colors. So far, I am not tired of Grace. I love to spend a couple of days with her.
I am taking a little jump-start class with Cosmic Cowgirls, called Spark. We make a plan for the month. It is something we want to accomplish that takes 10 or 15 minutes a day. They offer it every month, but I haven’t signed up for about a year. My goal in October is to live my art. With a side note of using powertools. I have a habit of waiting until I can ask my sweet darlin’ to hang pictures, drill holes, cut wood… I am perusing my house, moving paintings, and using power tools to build and improve things. It has been a physical 8 days.
I made this frame from wood I bought at the salvage place.
Framed Turtle
Those mitered corners are hard. I think I did a good job.
I am re-visiting Magnolia. I hope I will be happy with her soon.
Working on Magnolia
She looks much more alive. I am going to bring her hair forward over her ears a little and add magnolia earrings. I cropped and resized the two magnolia flowers on the left and printed them on paper to make her earrings.
More power tool use…
Cabinet doors before sanding.
I wish I took a photo of the doors when I brought them home. They looked like they had sat in dirt of years. I washed them outside with dish soap and a sponge. Then I put them in the bathtub for a day soaking in Charlie Soap and washing them over and over.
I sanded them with my Craftsman Mouse Sander. The sandpaper is peel and stick. The sander has a little nose that gets into corners. I am going to paint on the panels. I plan on them hanging together. Maybe a woman and her flowers or a woman looking at another woman. I don’t know yet.
Gator Girl Art 