Category: General

Mr. Communicator came for the ornament and brought his brother and Grandma! What fun – we could have all talked for hours. His G’ma grew up on the same street in the same town in Orange County where my G’ma and G’pa raised their 3 children. His brother flies for the Air Force, and Mr. Communicator? He works in finance on Wall Street! Ever met one of those guys before? I have, and both have been as genuinely nice as you could ever hope to encounter – nothing like the nasty stereotype. Of course, both of the ones I met grew up in Tulare County, Perhaps that is the difference. Enough chit-chat. Photographs are more fun than words.

Had to show the 2 ornaments together!

He is tall – I am not short. More American women are 5’4″ than any other height. Just sayin’.

Thus we conclude the conversation and saga of the Custom Christmas Ornament between Mr. Communicator (the customer) and The Artist (that would be California Artist Jana Botkin, in case Mr. Google is paying attention). Again, I ask you to overlook the size jumps because I really have no earthly idea how to force this blog to behave properly.

I almost typed a whole paragraph of excuses but got a grip!

Goose is more defined, porch posts and arches show, sunburst is white, side wings have a roof, ribbon shows more, oval is in front door.

When all this is dry enough, I’ll go over it again and tighten it up more and add more detail, and the first layer of the American flag.

Mr. Communicator:

I would have never accepted your excuses!  You’ve done magic thus far so I expect nothing less than miracles! No pressure 🙂

It gets more amazing with every picture.

The flag will definitely finish it off. And I’m glad you kept the goose. I’m waiting to see who points out the goose, flag and ribbon first – Mom or Dad. They’ll be touched by the detail.  You’ll finalize it all with your signature, right?

So glad your expectations aren’t too high – I might just collapse under the pressure. Be prepared – your Mom might cry. And I had thought I might sign it “Norman Rockwell”, but if you want my signature, your wish is my command!

Mr. C:

Don’t kill me. I noticed one small thing that had confused me and I only now put my finger on it.

If you continue to scrutinize the painting to this level, then we won’t ever finish! That’s because you will see that I have stylized and simplified much of what made that house so special.

Your life is safe. But now I am wondering if you are an artist yourself. Or an architect? Or an accountant, perhaps? Maybe a homicide detective?

Haha. I promise that is the last little change!

I swear this thing looks so much better in person! There all these reflections off the paint thicknesses in the photos that are just starting to tick me off! And please pretend with me as if there are stars and the correct number of stripes on the flag (eyes squinched shut, hands over ears, LA LA LA LA LA)

Okay, tantrum over.

Now that I am looking at the photo, I am making a small list of touch-ups.

1. rafter tail from porch on the right (it was too wet this a.m.)

2. show the bottom sill of the window directly to the right of the porch – got the far right one, but sort of lost it on the left.

3. even-up the blackness of the windows – can’t tell if this is reflection problem, degree of wetness problem, sloppiness problem or no problem

4. straighten up the left blue edge of the house

Do you see anything else?

I know: you are a micro-biologist!

Ha.  Now that we’re playing the “what do you do for a living” game, I’ll let you keep guessing.  I’m certainly not brainy enough to be a micro-biologist!

I love that you communicate like you’re a business woman and not an artist; you send lists and detailed updates!

BTW, I wasn’t even going to count stars and stripes.   I know you were joking, but I think you secretly thought I might!  ;P  And certainly, if this were a bigger painting, I would have counted and measured each stripe and star!

With each email I keep trying to figure out if you are going to hug me or slap me when we finally meet and this is all over.  The next week will be telling.

See you soon!

And I have been reading the blog. You’re quite the entertaining writer!

What a supreme compliment – “a business woman”! Always my goal to have a superior product AND to sell it well. Otherwise, I’d have to get a job, and I really don’t know how to do anything. Sigh. I can proofread pretty well, but no one cares about typos anymore except me. And with me it is sort of like Tourette’s, except instead of bursting out with obscenities, I shout “TYPO” in  the most inappropriate places. My poor husband just can’t take me anywhere.

But I do love writing and am having a blast with the blog. So glad you are enjoying it!

Microbiologist brought to mind microwave (“How fast can you do this?”), microscope (“What is that little thing right there?”) and micromanage never mind. . . JUST KIDDING!!

Now I don’t know if you will slap me or hug me!

Okay, enough blather. I’ve got some items to fine-tune on an ornament, and all I want to do is read a bunch of blogs while sitting by the wood stove with my 3 cats.

The conversation between Mr. Communicator (aka The Customer) and The Artist (aka The California Artist) continues: (Please excuse the size jumps – can’t figure that out!)

Mr. Communicator:

I tend to over-communicate, but only to ensure it all gets said.

The Artist:

Quick, tell me if the back is okay! If it isn’t, I can wipe it off with turp before it begins to dry. I abbreviated. My printing looks childish, so it won’t bother me if you nix the back.

And the front has been repaired with the yellow ribbon, pedestal and goose added (and a plant, sort of rough right now). After this layer dries (and it doesn’t seem to need to dry completely as the first layer needed) I can add the American flag. And, I hope to tighten up things a bit more.

Mr. C:

I think the back is fine. It’s definitely needed to complete the ornament.

On the front of the porch, can you add the oval window on the front door?

And can you also add in the 2 white pillars that flank the front steps? I think they need to stand out a bit along with the supporting arches.

Also the sun burst above the top window is actually white. Can you just lighten that up on the next pass?

Good, yes, yes and yes.

Mr. C:

One last thing. It appears there’s no roof on the top of the extension to the left. Not sure how to do that because it’s behind the tree, but it does have a brown shingles roof.

Artist:

Yes, I saw that and tried to coast. . . 😎

I answered the “good, yes yes and yes” too soon – here is a bit of disclaiming and whining and self-excusing just in case I can’t deliver on all of yesterday’s optimism.

The goose and pedestal look dumb because they are too small for my brushes. Will try again but may have to eliminate.

Didn’t see oval window on front door – hidden behind wreath! I’ll try the oval – if it doesn’t work, I’ll put the wreath.

That sunburst – I didn’t see it as white – only saw the dark spaces between the slats! Will lighten the slats around the dark spaces.

Will work on the porch posts to get them to appear better along with the “arch supports”.

All of this tiny stuff is really too small for my smallest brush, but I will go to Visalia tomorrow and see if I can locate a one-hair-brush. (You’re killing me!!)

Mr. Communicator aptly pointed out that the ornament is the antithesis of the mural I just finished. Oh so spot on! The word means “opposite” or “in stark contrast to”.

I’ve tightened things up even more. First, the photo. Second, the list of thoughts.

1. This thing is almost impossible to photograph. Can’t hold it in the light because both sides are wet; the flash is too reflective and wipes out some of the detail. But, I rose to the challenge, time and time again, both for you and for Mr. Communicator.
2. It is wet on the back because it has the family name, address and years of living in this house. You don’t get to see that part. Remember, this is a secret operation!
3. I found a smaller brush!  Must have been saving it for this very project.
4. I may not have charged enough. On the other hand, I may have overcharged, because Mr. Communicator has had to listen to a fair amount of whining.
5. Can you see the goose?
6. Some of the fuzzy/wobbly looking lines are because the paint thickness varies and the light reflects off of it unevenly.
7. It looks better in person.
8. Isn’t my fireplace mantel/surround pretty? It is one of the 4 things I liked about this house when we bought it 13 years ago this very month.
9. Notice the yellow ribbon.