neutral walls for artwork

I have lived at 206 West Hogeye Dr. for 40 years, and in all those years there have always been colors on the walls. We've had yellow, turquoise, blue-grey, cookie crumble brown, peach and moss green. For a long time I really liked the last two in combination. After threatening to make a change for years, it finally happened. And just in the nick of time! For years my daughter has been greatly offended by everything being painted in semigloss and the ceilings being painted the same color as the walls! Horrors!

Thanks to a timely visit from my son, I now have neutral walls in five continuous rooms of my house. There are blond bamboo floors in these same rooms. The visual flow is very pleasing.

The house feels bright and airy with duck white ceilings, alpaca gray walls, and wind-fresh white trim. My daughter does have better taste than I do, but in this case, I think I did pretty well on the selection of neutral colors. The artwork looks great and I am feeling inspired to create a new simple abstract piece, in the Modern style, for over the stairs in the kitchen. (The term Modern is used to describe a quilt style that has solid colors, neutrals, and simple strong design.)

I was very happy that someone else stood on the special ladder on the stairs to paint the hard to reach corner in the kitchen. I am thankful that the warm days were not crazy hot yet, but were plenty dry. My son skim coated a textured wall to make it smooth, and repaired a crack in the ceiling, using joint compound. The Wyoming weather helped it dry fast! 

Changes inspire more changes. In the playroom I added a couch, and table & stools. I subtracted a bed, mirror, and door. There is more artwork in the room.

All of the contemporary art quilts are hung with fishing line from tiny nails about 2 inches from the ceiling. The nails have been painted the wall color. Each art quilt has a sleeve and a stick with holes on the ends. I change these quilts with the seasons. It's so easy!

The cartoon piece below was created in 2008. It is a self-portrait titled Late Bloomer Learning to Surf. I still have a love/hate relationship with the digital age! Removing the door to the playroom created a wall for displaying art. This piece makes me smile. She has flabby arm fat jiggling and in one hand holds a bar of special dark chocolate!

And now a recipe for summer. I prepare this ahead of time and chill it for a cold slice later. Hearty Cold Fritata: Cook an 8 oz. box of Banza pasta in chicken broth. (I put the uncooked pasta in a large deep pan, cover with broth, bring to a boil, turn down to simmer 8 minutes.) Drain off any extra liquid if there is any. Stir in a large handful of dried sour cherries. Remove from pan and set aside. Add olive oil to the same pan. Saute generous amounts of chopped chard (or/and beet greens), parsley, and basil. When greens are cooked, add pasta to the top of this (no stirring), and then 7 large beaten eggs. Place lid on the pan and cook at medium low temp until eggs are set. Cool and then refrigerate in the pan until cold. Slice and enjoy later.