WordPress has a fun Daily Prompt, which states, “Now that you’ve got some blogging experience under your belt, re-write your very first post.”
Ladies and gentelmen: I present to you the revised first page, posted about a year ago this week! Thank you for your tireless and amazing support! Z
I love the challenge of transforming ugly-duckling floors into lovely swans!
Someone asked if I would paint stripes on a mirror! Ha! If only all tasks were so easy!
Custom designs add a lot of character to a room. Stroll with me through a few creative projects and see if you agree!
Originally a dirt floor in an old Ecuadorian farm house, this hand-painted concrete floor ‘sweeps clean’ in a matter of seconds!
Most people have to touch the ‘grout lines’ in order to believe that the floor is painted and not real tile! An artifact in the Gold Museum in San Jose Costa Rica inspired he shaman’s circle (bottom right, above).
Custom art for kitchens challenges my creative skills. Many people say that I bring the outdoors inside, and the project above illustrates Costa Rica’s flora and fauna.
The hand-painted wooden floor (below) features the Lighthouse Reef Atoll near Long Caye, Belize. Many hours of research went into this work before the first stroke of paint was applied. Fishermen, divers and boat captains helped with trivia and details.
(Above) Long Caye/ Lighhouse Reef Atoll – Belize; Hand painted map, border design, accent tables and benches. (Whew!)
A friend’s cat captured this skink; while nursing it back to health, I used it as a model. The painted image often frightens many people who look down and gasp!!
This old wooden floor (above) received a facelift, which worked well in the rustic kitchen. Concrete counters provide challenges, and these two reflect an outdoors theme. (Below)
Mirror Designs – Costa Rica
Heliconias often find their way from the gardens into my paintings!
Scan your surroundings and see if you might have space for a touch of custom art! Personal details add character and soul to living spaces!
Which of the above images did you enjoy most?
Thanks for your feedback!
Z
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
These floors are amazing! You can’t even tell that they are concrete.
I have been hired to do my first “painting” on a concrete floor surface and I have some questions about prep and materials. Could you give me any information? My client is wanting a simple sports team logo painted on his garage floor.
Thanks,
jt
hi!
thanks so much for your interest and for subscribing to the blog! presently i am in transit and am on battery power so will write back as soon as i’m back home!
z
Stunning! Simply stunning! i especially love the hand. So much energy. So much movement is something as solid and static as a floor. What a surface for ones sole to walk on–pun intended.
Hugs,
Kathy
thank you so much! many people step inside and attempt to wipe their feet! it’s so funny to watch their reactions! z
Gorgeous…. I will spending some time catching up on all your posts! Glad to find you.
Thank you! I’ve been out of town and returned home last night. I, too, am playing catch up! Z
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Hi there – as for the rewrite, too bad about the glitch that prevents our comparing, but it’s not important. These are gorgeous – what a lot of work went into them! I love the tile floor & skink, the reef floor, the counters…they all (obviously) reflect a keen sense of place. The idea of bringing the outdoors in & vice versa has interested me for a long time – years & years ago I was struck by the outdoors “leaking” in to a friend’s barn-like old home in upstate New York. There was even a tiny mouse perched on the sugar bowl one morning – yet all was clean and smoothly tasteful. That summer my friend & her partner had achieved a perfectly beautiful life up there. It didn’t last, but the idea of permeable inside/outside boundaries stuck. Love the photo of you painting the counter.
What a lovely comment! Thank you so much, it’s as if you are sitting here having a conversation in person! Art has a way of capturing the memories of that moment, and years later when we view them, we recall the day, the weather, the people who were touching our lives – the good and the bad are recorded. How great that your friends’ work touched your life, even if they weaned away from each other!
Thanks again for sharing, and I am glad that you liked the images!
Z
How beautiful. What a great gift you have… thanks so much for sharing it. 🙂
Thanks so much! I’m glad you liked the designs! Z
Wow you are brilliantly creative!!! Have you been an artist all your life? I can only imagine what your house looks like!
Hey! I’ve been creative all my life, though when young I was always outside/immersed in a ‘Huckleberry Finn” life along the Mississippi River.
The house has been a great creative challenge, and it evolves ‘little by little’ when time permits!
Thanks!
Z
I wish so bad I was artistically creative. My mother is but doesn’t use her art anymore. What did you do for a career? Now you’ve got me really curious. Were you always an artist or did you do something else? Sorry if I’m prying! 🙂 I just like to know about my blogging buds! I still hope someday to take some art classes. I really love the painting style you do! 🙂
thanks, amiga. i suspect that you would do well if you ever focused on drawing and painting. in the past i did a lot of workshops and loved my beginners’ classes. people would come and say, ‘i’ve never painted in my life but would like to try.’
the new ‘i can do this’ approach is relaxed and so much fun!
i’ve had a typical right-brained mix of professions.. thankfully i had strong math and business skills/balance and in my younger years focused on that (the 100-hour weeks!) at the time my husband managed the aerial services for a 100,000 acre farm, and i took care of the the office end. i’ve always relied on art as an escape/balance, though the outdoors trumped everything!
there are so many chapters of my life, and that’s just one of them!!! more installments soon! thanks for asking! Z
Sounds like you have many stories to tell! 🙂 I’ll stay tuned! 🙂
Beautiful art work you have done, Z! Very impressive. Thanks for the link!
Absolutely beautiful artistry. Appreciate how you share your creativity. This is a great hindsight post.
Thank you! How can one not smile when replying to a comment from ‘happy flower word zoo’?!!!! thanks so much! Z
You are such a gifted artist Z, just brilliant. 🙂
Thank you so much, LuAnn! I’m glad you enjoyed the post! Z
I love the painted skink on the floor. The way you can give a sense of three-dimensionality in two dimensions is amazing. After the holiday madness, I’m going to pass your blog on to a friend in Florida who’s just retired and wants to “do art” as a business. She paints, in acrylics mostly, and I think could be quite good. Maybe your story will give her a push!
Thanks! The painted skink also links me to the memory of Marie bringing the almost-dead reptile to my door. With an apologetic shrug she said, ‘The cats…”
Because I was working on the floor, I placed the skink on my wrist/pulse, and worked while it balanced across that point. How surprised I was when it slowly came back to life – I now think that it went into a hibernation/laying possum mode. I’ve seen a big iguana do that when threatened.
I hope that my posts will inspire your friend. She is welcome to write with as many questions as needed!
z
Hey Sis, you never cease to amaze me with your talent!! Love you bunches. You are such an inspiration to so many people. Donnie K is too, just in a different way. So proud of both of you!
hey! it’s good to see you online! my thoughts have been directed to you lots lately. be sure to let me know when you head west! giddye-up!
i am proud of you as well!
love,
lees
Brilliant and stunning! I am in awe 🙂
thank you, amiga! i really love the challenge of an ugly concrete floor! z
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I love this post and the colorful patterns in your work… still catching up and haven’t forgotten you dear Z. TY for your patience! 🙂
tis the season to be busy!!!!
thanks, i’m glad you enjoyed the post, and you’re forgiven for not rewriting yours!!!!!!
happy holidays!
z
Backatcha! Happy Holidays! 😉
Amazing work! I thought the rugs were real.
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I wanted to see your very first post. I thought those were really tiles! Beautiful art all around!
thanks! i was quite the newbie to the blogging world. i’m glad you like the floors! z
Stunning! I love them all but I love the pictures of the brown tiles with the rugs on it. Beautiful!! The skink was so real looking. It is all amazing. You are VERY talented!