“Yes, I’ve made a great deal of dough from my fiction, but I never set a single word down on paper with the thought of being paid for it … I have written because it fulfilled me … I did it for the buzz. I did it for the pure joy of the thing. And if you can do it for joy, you can do it forever.”
Stephen King
I’ve spent months painting the floors where I live, and I often chuckle and say, “I spent X-amount of time on a painting I can never sell!” That’s OK, because working out the design, the correct proportions and building layers of colors are all important challenges, and I learn what works and what does not work.
The center section is 4-feet by 4 feet… The side panels are 2 x 4. Acrylic on plywood over old hardwood floor.
The floor is not finished due to technical difficulties! Will share those details later, as it’s raining pretty hard*, and I need to get home!
Plastic lines the outside of the window, as the rainy season is here, and the carpenter never returned to fix the leaky window!
With or without the plastic, that’s not a bad view, is it?
*We received our first true ground-soaking rain this afternoon, and surprise surprise, we lost power!!! I am in town to upload these images and publish this Timeout for Art. Will be off line until tomorrow night.
Thanks everyone for your support! Z
Zeebra Designs & Destinations 
😉
Wow, you made it, it looks fantastic.
thanks amiga.. there’s still more to do! am in gye now; the tour arrives at ten… i’d best get some sleep! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Gorgeous! 🙂
thanks, pat! you’ll have to come back and see the improvements! z
It’s beautiful. Full of joy.
thank you! i’m glad you see happiness in it! sometimes it takes a neutral eye for the best feedback! z
Mmmm….not sure about my neutrality. I am rather biased towards the vibrancy of your work.
By the way, I have been looking at the subject of colour, as perceived by old and young, and especially older people with dementia. It strikes me that the vibrancy of your artwork might be well suited (and enriching) to aged care facilities. Have you ever tested it out in that kind of environment?
You never cease to amaze me! And, yes, it is a beautiful view!
thanks, hugh! i like to take the ugliest part of an area and make it the happiest.. i enjooy doing that in garden areas as well.
how’s the winter treating you?
It’s been a fairly warm winter, as winters go. We love the seasons and since as a retired fart I rarely have to drive anywhere it makes it easier to take the bad weather when it comes.
Incredibly detailed work. Very beautiful. well Done
if only i could figure out in advance which side is the right side before the drawing and painting begins!
Lisa, your floor is incredibly gorgeous! Painting for the joy of painting! Life can’t get any better than that! Yea for your ground-soaker. Boo for losing power.
thanks.. yes, we’re just starting to get the rains (over a month late_) and you’re heading for the dry season. hope the winds get quiet soon! z
Wonderful! It’s true… Like Stephen King I write for the pleasure of it! People think I am “working” when I am just having fun!
speaking of stephen king.. i had just read ‘the shining’ a few months ago, and i painted a feline skull that a friend had found on the beach.. at last minute i painted dark swirls in the eye sockets.. it’s spooky – i blamed/credited stephen king!
That is one beautiful floor! Just beautiful!
Alison
thank you so much! i’ve enjoyed the challenges of transforming ugly floors into pretty ones. they’re also very easy to keep clean!
How beautiful! Good luck with the rainy season, I guess you will use it for something good.
i love the rainy season as long as the river doesn’t get too high and bravo. when it’s rainy and very muddy, it’s easy to stay inside and ‘just paint..’ or read… how’s your winter?
Z, it looks grand. I love the combination with the wall and, of course, the marvelous view. Well done, amiga. BTG
the view is addicting! the birds are ALWAYS moving thru the scene, and at sunset, it’s hard to describe – so many returning while others are just leaving for the night shift.
Z, my wife loves bird feeders, so we have one right outside our kitchen window. We love seeing the various types of birds pass through – chickadees, orioles, finches, etc, I think the are mesmerizing. Take care, BTG
I want one of those symbol-charged floors! Pity our house is all carpets…and yes, creativity of any kind for creativity’s sake is a value we need to hang onto in an increasingly materialist/reductionist world…
i suspected you’d enjoy seeing this project! thanks! it’s been a rewarding project, and yesterday before i left home, i sat in the middle of the circle, closed my eyes and did nothing but smile!
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This is so stunning, Lisa. I could definitely live with these wonderful colours and patterns. 🙂
thank you – i suspect you could plot out your own design and do a good job.. it’s a matter of working out the details on paper and then transferring it via grid.. i marked it w/two-inch grid – the math was easy… then choosing the colors, easier than the math… then it was a matter of painting between the lines!
You make it sound so simple, Lisa. 🙂 Painting between the lines needs a very steady hand indeed. 🙂
I got fired from my first real job because I literally couldn’t stay within the lines! How about that? I was in training to be a service representative for Southwestern Bell. It’s just as well I was sent packing.
Since I’m here, I’ll add my kudos for that floor. But you know what I really love? That swing! I had one just like that in our basement when I was growing up. I’d go down there in the winter, swing between the coal furnace and the wringer washing machine, and sing things like “Lady of Spain” or Gogi Grant’s “The Wayward Wind.” Good times!
would you believe that this is just now coming thru the drop-down comment optoino? am at a restaurant with rain coming down hard outside. am about to head to a drawing class and then to the bus to gye.. it will be night before i’monline again.. tomorrow i have the entire day free – will hopefully catch up… thanks for all of your support and for the smiles and joy that you so easily share! z
Pretty wonderful view. Pretty wonderful floor!
thanks, amiga! it’s been a good challenge, but finally i said, ‘lisa.. this is a floor.. stop being so meticulous!’
Absolutely beautiful, my talented friend!
thank YOU amiga! hope the weather’s being kind up there!
Lovely floor. These kinds of designs always remind me of the Alhambra in Granada. I could never do this, even if offered an outrageous sum of money! The fact that you can do it for simple joy is testament to your creativity. My version would look like all the lines got too hot in the sun and melted into random curves and corners!
thank you so much! the floors are challenging yet fun – once the areas are mapped out in pencil, it’s pretty easy.. just meticulous. you could surely ace this!
It’s that “mapping out” part that’s my downfall!
Not again with the power! Send that rain north. January is the driest month on record for the State of CA. Looks like our drought is continuing…
Love the floors! Just beautiful! I would not want to walk on them….
thank you! the painted floors, once varnished with many coats, are really easy to maintain.. they’re much easier than rugs and carpets, which catch dust, or even tiles which have those little dust-catching seams.. these floors sweep clean in a jiffy, and they’re easy to spot clean when necessary – just a damp cloth! thanks, and when i left home late friday afternoon, the power was still off… 😦
😦 Here’s to hoping that you get your power back on!
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love your use of color. The floor (and wall) are exquisite.
Awesome Z, the design is extraordinary. You’d have to stay pretty focused to mange through this one – love it!
it was a great challenge.. you’re tackling some impressive challenges as well. if you can master the human form (like you are!) then you can surely master the orderly precision of these geometric drawings! z
Ha, I’m leaving the geometry to you – hope you have a wonderful week!
Wow, Z this looks fantastic!
Hi Lisa — It’s those little touches like a swing inside the house that have me wondering “Why have I never thought of that?” Those are the creative strokes of genius that my mind does not see — yet appreciates beaucoup that your mind does.Brava! Floor most pleasing to all the senses — well maybe not the varnish smell — but everything else. Love ♥ Alia
Beautiful!
much love,
tomas
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Your design and colours gave me a buzz and I am sure you did it for the joy of doing it.
Stephen King’s books gave me a buzz.
The work I chose earned me enough to meet my needs but I would have done it just for the buzz.
The way to find happiness is enjoying what you are doing.
You picked a great quote, Thanks Lisa.
Beautiful, happy floor I could sit on that swing going back and forwards just looking at it Lisa and listening to the symphony of rain on the roof after a long dry spell is music to the ears
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