Art in the Baño

As I've mentioned before, I've been dragging out the apartment decorating process for some time now. It's been nice to make the transition from student to adult, but I still find myself fighting my underlying, and perhaps child-like, instincts more often than not. I had a long love affair with all things polka dots from freshman year of college until I gave myself a talking to about a year ago and decided it was time to refine my tastes and no longer live in a rainbow. Don't get me wrong, I will still stop and gush over a good dot ensemble more often or not, but they will no longer come into the home with the same level of dominance they once did. 

So, seven months after moving in, my apartment is slowly starting to come together. The effort is being helped along with the addition of several new works of art created by yours truly. The third work to be debuted in my home landed on a barren wall in the baño (I took Spanish for about 6 years and this is one of about 5 words that I retained). This painting was also a lot of fun to make and a prelude to a much larger version I hope to create some day when I have many more walls to work with.

Backstory: A couple weekends ago, TF and I decided to trek out to the Home Depot (or the HD as I so fondly refer to it). I love a good trip to the hardware store, seriously, I could stay there all day. We went with the intention of getting a couple pints of paint, but ended up finding some even smaller (and cheaper) tubs. I was like a kid in the candy store (enter my above referenced love of color as I scoured the paint sample wall trying to limit my selection to a mere 3 colors...talk about a difficult task!). My three favorite base colors for decorating right now are plum, charcoal, and black, so ultimately I went with those. I also got a canvas tarp as I was quickly getting tired of spreading my Sunday Post out every time I wanted to paint. Plus, the canvas just made me feel more like a real artist! After a somewhat messy afternoon of splatter painting by us both, my newest work of art was complete.

Close Up

Full bathroom shot

A Budding Artist

I started this blog with the intention of writing about several topics. Cooking adventures will always be the main focus, but since I'm currently saddled with more black bean soup than I can handle (despite TF joining me for dinner and actually liking my creation...a rarity that I'm still thrilled about), it's art's turn.


About two months ago, TF and I took a wine and painting class (thanks to my groupon obsession). It was a delightful time (as are most things when wine's involved) and we were both instantly hooked. Despite my best efforts, my painting from the class turned out absolutely dreadful (see below). I do not have a steady hand and really have no interest in recreating pictures. Freestyle is my jam. I love modern art. My dream adult house is covered in modern art from local galleries. Since I'm still a few raises away from fulfilling that dream, I must improvise. 


I moved into my studio apartment in June and for various reasons, didn't really get around to decorating until a few months ago. I was determined to make grown up decisions this time and spent a lot of time really thinking about what I wanted my new home to look like. Because the space is so small, I was determined to keep the walls as de-cluttered as possible. I'd taken the painting class with the vision of hanging my masterpiece up and building the living room around it. As you can see, my painting from class was way too dreadful to hang in my home, but at the same time I didn't want to throw a perfectly good piece of canvas out. Thus, I decided to make some modifications to it, save the canvas, and create something I was actually proud of. After about 30 minutes, I had a painting I actually wanted to hang up! And so began my newest obsession...painting. I've made two other works since and will post about them soon! 


My first attempt at painting:  (I won't post a picture of what it's supposed to actually be, but just know it's not that. I basically sensed things were taking a turn for the worst early on and just decided to go down in flames, using every color they gave us along the way)

And, after some revisions, what currently hangs above my couch...