Painted wooden lazy susan – acrylic
A recent trip with my sister to visit my nephew on Parent’s Day at Philadelphia University brought us fun, cheesesteaks and a visit to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. (I told everyone “Jack has two mommies”).
Parent’s Day started off with the two of us visiting Jack, a freshman, in his dorm at PhilaU. (I guess that’s better than P.U. which is what I was calling it.)
And what does a freshman want most? Food, and lots of it. My sister Alice did not disappoint, bringing frozen homemade meals, Ramen noodles, cookies, and a boat load of other snacks and toiletries including the “soft toilet paper” he specifically requested. I guess Freshmen tushes are very sensitive these days.
Turns out, we never even made it to any of the Parent’s Day activities. Jack wanted to go to Pat’s and Geno’s, the rival Philly cheesesteak establishments which are across the street from each other. We sampled both and I paid the price later on. PLEASE pass the Rolaids! Jack gave the thumbs up to Geno’s, while Alice gave it to Pat’s. I just had a stomach ache after tasting both and swore I wouldn’t eat cheesesteak again. After lunch Jack got a haircut ( #1 buzz ) and then we paid a visit to the Philadelphia Museum. The big exhibit was Rembrandt and “face of Jesus” and was interesting. To balance the viewing we then went over to the contemporary gallery. We saw plaster casts of people’s navels, saws with “saws” on them, a mobile of wax heads cut off at the necks and numerous other pieces that I didn’t get. But one of my favorite parts of the day was when we exited through the gift shop after the Rembrandt show. The gift shop had giant fake wheels of cheese, wooden shoes, tulips and some Dutch chocolate along with the usual books and other Rembrandt paraphernalia.
When we exited the Museum, there where two bridal parties taking pictures. We saw a couple get engaged on the steps as their friends & family looked on from the steps above and cheered. A group of school girls ran up the steps Rocky style. and we took pictures by the Rocky statue. Alas, we had to leave but a visit back is already int the works.
Above you will find a large lazy susan I painted for my sister-in-law Jeanne. I think she liked it, but I should have used gloss rather than matte varnish. The old lady in the window in Istria has finally been completed. I think she’s turning away because she just ate a Philly cheesesteak and now has agita.
33 comments
Comments feed for this article
October 2, 2011 at 7:33 am
jimmyboi2
A few things.
A) I am totally shocked– SHOCK-ED– that your nephew has started college. I will, therefore, meet you at Happy Acres this week so that we can reserve our double room because if jack is in college, clearly WE must be senior citizens.
B) The old lady– aka Strega Nonna– in the window does have agita, but it’s actually much worse; she has thoughts of revenge, because the laundry hanging upstairs, belonging to her tenant Madama Czxxydsxz, has been dripping onto Strega’s head for the past 75 years; Strega is upset and unwilling to put up with it anymore. She is going to get her ghhjyzxc, an ancient Istrian clubbing weapon made from the shinbone of a pyytzxxz.
c) Your talent is unstoppable. I love your work! This week we are FINALLY hanging the paintings you gifted us with, as Matt is moving out and we get that room back.
October 7, 2011 at 10:31 am
Carol King
O my, I laughed and laughed at your comment. That woman in the window probably is a strega! And yes, while not “officially” seniors, we are getting closer. (You faster than I!) Send me photos of the paintings once you hang them please. xoxo
October 2, 2011 at 7:35 am
jimmyboi2
PS I love the Lazy Susan even more than I love the term “Lazy Susan.” I think Matte is better than Gloss; Gloss reflects too many things and, combined with my contacts and / or close-up glasses, creates a maelstrom of conflicting images that give me a headache. matte is good.
October 7, 2011 at 10:32 am
Carol King
Everything lately creates a maelstrom of conflicting images for me. I need to shut my eyes for days and just sleep. Glad you like the lazy susan and the matte varnish choice. If I can find another one maybe I will paint it and send it your way.
October 2, 2011 at 11:33 am
Rhonda
Love the painting and the lazy susan (I think matte was the right choice, too); and loved the tale of the trip to PhilaU 🙂 FYI, the wax heads are probably a medical display of migraineurs (such a lovely word, yes?) who had enough and just asked the doc to chop off their heads and be done with it!
October 7, 2011 at 10:35 am
Carol King
Rhonda, thanks for your comments. I loved your explanation of the wax severed heads. I think you’re on to something there.
October 2, 2011 at 10:24 pm
Alex Zonis
Love the painting! It reminds me of streets of Rome, with laundry hanging from the upper levels and gnarly old ladies screeching something incomprehensible and very lively (and probably well peppered) from the street level.
The Lazy Susan is enviable. Beautiful! I agree with you and others about matte being better than Gloss. Also consider Semi-Gloss for things like that. Gloss is almost always an overkill, but Semi helps to deepen colors without making it overly shiny.
October 7, 2011 at 10:52 am
Carol King
I have so many photos from Istria and the rest of Croatia of buildings with laundry hanging. I was intrigued by the colors and textures against the stone buildings. I have a feeling there will be more of these types of paintings. Thanks for the suggestion of Semi-gloss. If I do another none I will give that a try.
October 3, 2011 at 1:03 am
AKLizzy
I wish I had been with you and the party crew this weekend!!! How fun!!! Love the lazy susan and the old lady! You are so talented!
October 7, 2011 at 10:53 am
Carol King
Hi Lizzy, thanks for your comment. You would have had fun with us in PA and PU. How are the girls? I hear daughter #2 is a handful. 🙂
October 3, 2011 at 7:40 am
lindahalcombfineart
Great post! You are really good at immersing us in your experiences. The lazy susan is really special and the painting (along with your comment) are priceless.
October 7, 2011 at 10:55 am
Carol King
Hello Linda, So nice to see you here. The lazy susan was great fun to do, although it was for my sister-in-law who waited a long time to get it back. The strega in the window was looking at us until my husband raised his camera and she turned away.
October 3, 2011 at 2:58 pm
napabelle
Oh ! WOW Carol ! It’s coming along nicely !! I love the colors !
October 7, 2011 at 10:55 am
Carol King
Thanks Isabelle! Glad you stopped by.
October 3, 2011 at 6:40 pm
Beth Parker
The paintings are wonderful, Carol! I love the sound of parent’s day, too. I’ve never visited a college student and it sounds way fun. 🙂
October 7, 2011 at 11:00 am
Carol King
I think visiting a college student might SOUND more fun than it actually is. We had more fun in Philadelphia. I found the dorms claustrophobic and kid all seemed so young…which then made me feel SO old!
Glad you like the paintings. thank you.
October 4, 2011 at 2:12 pm
Joan T
Beautiful lazy susan. I am sure she must love it!
Love the painting!!! You got really nice textures and light in this!!!
October 7, 2011 at 11:37 am
Carol King
Hi Joan, I brought it over to her and we used it right away stacking condiments and napkins on it when we sat down a delicious dinner she made.
thanks for your comment on the painting too!
October 4, 2011 at 10:31 pm
Valerie
Your work is awesome – and next time you’re visiting Jack with Alice, I hope we can meet up!
P.S. you might have passed right by my daughter and her friends acting the fools. I saw her pictures posted from homecoming at PhilaU and they were making quite a scene 🙂
October 7, 2011 at 11:38 am
Carol King
Hey Val, Thanks for your comments. I so hope we can meet up with soon, either visiting Jack or just visiting you.
I told Alice about your comment and she said she would love to be able to introduce Jack to an upperclassman who can maybe show him the ropes a bit.
Hope to see you soon. Will let you know when we are heading your way again.
October 4, 2011 at 10:55 pm
thepurpledogpaintingblog
Love the Lazy Susan! I agree with the other commenters, I like the matte finish.
Your old lady is excellent. Especially the laundry line, the clothes are so well done.
I wish I could have seen Rembrandt. I could spend hours just looking at that alone!. The last museum we went in the contemporary art section. They had a sculpture made of old books. I was looking at it so long one of the docents asked me if I liked it and here I was just reading the titles of the books to see what they had wrecked. I think they were offended.:D
October 8, 2011 at 11:48 pm
Carol King
Hi Virginia, The Rembrandts were fab! Made me want to hang up my brush and go home. Funny story about the books.
October 5, 2011 at 10:24 am
Debbie Adams
I love both the painting and the Lazy Susan. I love your artwork!
xx
October 8, 2011 at 11:52 pm
Carol King
Aw, thanks so much Debbie. I do appreciate your comments.
October 5, 2011 at 8:03 pm
Francis
Love to read your blog, always make my day with a big smile doing that. Nice painting on the old lady by the window. Love the colors of the colors of the flowers.
October 8, 2011 at 11:53 pm
Carol King
I’m happy I can make you smile Francis. I enjoyed you new painting very much.
October 6, 2011 at 10:57 am
Cathyann Burgess
PU!!!LOL
Sounds like you had an interesting trip in many ways!!! I love Phila almost as much as NYC. AND …Your comparative analysis of severed heads with Rembrandt. Love the strega painting, too. A very clever composition!
October 8, 2011 at 11:56 pm
Carol King
Hi Cathyann, I enjoyed Philly very much. So much so I can’t wait to go back, sans the cheesesteak. Very odd to see faces painted by Rembrandt and then severed wax heads. Thanks for your comments on the painting.
October 6, 2011 at 2:30 pm
lesliepaints
First of all. I think the wait for the “Woman in the Window” made the viewing even better. I really like the muted colors you used, Carol. It softened the whole piece and drew me in. It also gave me the feeling of “aged” so choosing to make the woman elderly was great support to the whole look of the painting. That could be my “Granny” but I don’t think she ever visited Istria, let alone lived there.
Never ceases to amaze me how you can paint useful gifts like lazy susans, plates and coasters as well as study watercolor and collage. Great lazy susan.
Sounds like a great outing with your sister and nephew (did I get the nephew part right?). I have never had a “Philly Cheesesteak” but it sounds heavy and beefy….perhaps I would feel the same after consuming one. Would have liked to see the art museum and taken in the paintings. Thank you for the link to the Rembrandt and a great post.
October 9, 2011 at 12:03 am
Carol King
Yes, Leslie, you got the nephew part right. And yes, heavy and beefy is an excellent description of both the sandwich and the person after eating said sandwich.
I’m glad you like the old woman in the window. And the laundry. I have so many pictures of laundry hanging from old buildings. I don’t know why. 🙂
October 9, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Androgoth
Another very nice entry here Carol
and thank you for sharing them 🙂
Androgoth Xx
January 4, 2012 at 8:40 am
Nick the Editor
great job with the painting of the old lady in the window – I love the attention to detail with the great shadows the laundry casts on the wall
January 4, 2012 at 9:28 am
Carol King
Hi Nick, thanks for stopping by and leaving an comment.