School at my age???

Hi it's Jill!School, am I crazy??? NO, just excited to see what the future holds. The Lord has helped me discern a new and fresh direction  in my career. I started Interior Design School in April, here is an example of my work so far... Drafting!!!

April was an exciting month... I started school at the NYIAD AND moved into my new studio in Bibb City, Columbus GA!

Southern Supper with James Farmer

Thursday night, my mother-in-law, Frances, treated Margaret and me to a fabulous dinner with James Farmer at Millstone Market & Nursery.  (If you live in Memphis and haven't checked out this nursery, it's a must!!  So inspiring, and much to see!)  While we didn't get any special tricks or tips from James, we did have a lovely evening with cocktails in the courtyard and dinner in the nursery's greenhouse.

 Margaret and I had a good time chatting with James Farmer.  He's from Perry, GA, went to Auburn, and worked at Alpine Camp, so we had plenty in common.  

Dinner was tasty and beautifully presented.  A salad (pictured below), braised short rib and polenta, and PEACH cobbler and ice cream for dessert, of course!

 James shared that he was blessed to have parents who nurtured his natural gifts, rather than pushing him down a particular path.  It was clear when he was making arrangements with grass and flowers in the outfield that he wasn't going to be a ball player!

I love a goody bag, and we each had one hanging on the back of our chair.  We received a signed copy of James's newest book, "Wreaths for All Seasons" as well as a bag of Billie's Spiced Pecans from Crenshaw, MS. Maybe I'll make a wreath for my door this fall?

What a wonderful night... Thank you, Frances!

As Promised...Nude Painting

Ten years ago, Jill and I studied with Timothy Clark in California, and decided that it was past time to give it another go. We headed to NYC for 11 days in June to the Art Students League of New York for two life drawing and watercolor classes. Yes, that means live models. No, they do not wear clothes. Yes, it was extremely challenging for the novice (me) and the professional (Jill).  But we had a great time!! 

You could scroll for hours reading about our trip and looking at pictures, but here are some highlights:

Where we spent the weekdays 8:45 AM - 4:30 PM.
Pretty exhausting when you're doing a new drawing/painting every 10-20 minutes!  

We worked in both watercolor and black&white (charcoal pencil). Here are some examples of paintings (Jill) and sketches (Chancey):

A lesson from Tim Clark about how to draw the eyes!

After class, we still had time for great eating and entertainment.  A few of our favorite spots: The Standard and Orsay for brunch after church on Sunday, Eatery, guacamole and sangria at Rosa Mexicano, Saturday brunch at Balthazar, and our favorite little spot, Noodies (so new they don't have a website!), pictured below. The Thai food was delicious, it was so close to our apartment, BYOB, and well, the name was just so fitting... 

 We got standby tickets to the Late Show!  Saw Jane Fonda, Boris Johnson (the mayor of London -- hilarious!), and Jimmy Cliff, special musical guest.  Groove to his reggae tunes, here. (You can see mom and me in the back, middle, if you look closely around 4:13 :)

On the in-between weekend, my MIL and sister-in-law, Frances and Margaret, joined us for some fun -- we had drinks at the Carlyle Hotel, shopped, saw "Memphis" (not to be missed!!), and had dinner aboard Victoria and Richard Mackenzie Child's ferry boat "Yankee", where mom and I stayed for the weekend. (An entire post to be dedicated to that!!)  TUNE IN TONIGHT (7/23) on TLC at 10/9 CT to watch "Four Houses" where Victoria (and Yankee) will be a contestant! 

Victoria Mackenzie-Childs

Yankee Ferry

My mom (Jill) is so hip!! 

We were in town for the Tony Awards, so we camped out near the red carpet, and saw lots of stars!!

A lesson from Tim Clark: carry a sketch pad with you at all times, and practice, practice, practice!!

Overall, a fabulous trip!!  We learned so much and enjoyed wonderful time together.  Hope to make it happen again soon. 

Revamped Lamps

My grandmother recently moved out of her apartment, so my mom and aunts spent the spring cleaning and dividing some of her things.  When I was there in April, I noticed some unclaimed brass lamps in the corner, so I decided to take them and see if I could freshen them up a bit to match my decor.

After an hour and a can of spray primer and a can of "Make it Stone" paint, I had a new pair of  bedroom lamps!  (Hope you don't mind, Mimi... :)

Check out the close-up before and after:

It's amazing what a different look a can of paint creates!

Patio Re-do

Since we updated our master bathroom last summer, we decided to tackle an outdoor project this year.  Our patio had gradually become more and more of an eyesore with moss/weeds growing through the cracks and bricks beginning to come loose on the sides. We decided not to do anything major, but rather, freshen it up and expand the patio space a bit.

The bricks were removed and the area cleaned and then concrete expanded several feet on each side.

Laying the bricks... We love the way that the patio now connects to the driveway!

Before

After
might move the table to the front corner to open up space in the middle of the patio for my newfound love of hula-hooping...

I'm loving the cleaned up look and the new porch swing.  Just need the temps to drop about 20 degrees to really enjoy it.  

Next project: pressure washing the house!!