18″ x 12″ acrylic on cradled birchwood

©teresa kogut all rights reserved

This was the first original that sold at Market Square last Sunday. Love, love, love it!!! The colors are so yummy and warm……does anyone else find it hard to part with your original paintings? Another one that sold ….one I almost didn’t take with me because I loved it so much…was USA. It was the coolest piece of antique wood. It had a scalloped “shelf” at the top of the painting. I had collaged papers on the wood then painted over top of it for texture and pattern……hard to see it go…….but that is why we create art, right? to share with the world!!

I almost forgot to update y’all on lil‘ precious. The day before I left for Pennsylvania, I got an email from Sassy’s family. It is a young family with small children that live a couple miles away. She had finally told the children that Sassy must have been hit by a car since she had been missing for three weeks. A family friend saw the ad I had put on Craig’s List and called them with the contact info.

Here’s the kicker……….while driving to Pennsylvania, I got a call from Sassy’s mom. She said that she wondered if she did the right thing taking Sassy back. When they left our house, Sassy stood in the back seat looking out the window and barked all the way home. She also said that their older dog was not happy to have Sassy back home and would fight with Sassy. Her husband said if the fighting didn’t stop, Sassy would have to go. She wanted to let me know what was going on and that if they couldn’t keep her, she wanted to offer her to us first since we had bonded so well with Sassy. I told her I was out of town until Wednesday and to hang in there. I figured Sassy just needed to re-adjust to her environment again but if they weren’t going to keep her, to call me back. Well, it is Friday and I haven’t heard anything, so I guess Sassy is settling back in to her home. I hope I never come across a lost puppy again…..this has been a heart-wrenching experience :'(

What a week it’s been……as you know, for the past several weeks I have been working like mad preparing for the Market Square wholesale show. The Wednesday before we left, I became ill with the flu and spent the day in bed feeling miserable. My poor husband had a strange “plague” (I call it a plague because we don’t know what it was…..a strange combination of cold and flu) that made him feel miserable for several days…but it really hit him hard with a high fever the same Wednesday that I was ill. So as you can imagine the following day, feeling up to it or not, we had to finish preparing for the show…..he still had to finish painting the booth and I had to price, pack, gather and load the truck. We worked Thursday until midnight getting ready. Friday morning, I was off to pick up my dear friend Renee and we hit the road to Oaks, Pennsylvania to the Market Square show. The first six hours of the trip, Renee and I didn’t stop talking…it was great! We hadn’t had much time together lately so we had a lot of catching up to do. Unfortunately as the day progressed I felt more and more ill….little did I know at the time I was coming down with the same “plague” Kevin had caught.

We arrived safe and sound Friday night around 8:15pm. Went straight to the room for some much needed rest. We had the entire next day to set up the booth. It was a new booth and it was also larger than any other booth I had ever set up, but we managed pretty good…..although I did miss my husband’s strength when it came to using the screw gun! Renee was a God-send on this trip. She really took good care of me. After setting up, we went to Target and got some Theraflu, cough drops, and herbal tea in hopes to knock this plague out of me.

The show was a great success and I am very excited about the connections I made. I wish I would have felt better so that Renee would have had a better experience. She had never been to a show and loved every minute of it despite my being ill. We agreed she will have to go with me again (next year I am getting a flu shot!)

I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me when I arrived at the show. Our booth was next to John & Cathy Schneeman’s. They are friends we made way back when we did the show 13 years ago!!! They now have a beautiful 8 year old daughter that has all the charm a young girl could have. It was a delight to see them again and play catch up after all these years. Check out their amazing reproduction lighting here.

“A Friend Loves”

22″ x 28″ acrylic on canvas

©teresa kogut

Love, love, love this one!!!! Must be the muted colors…different for me, but I am lovin’ it! The dresses are scrapbooking paper and I painted a brownish-goldish wash over the top before applying the crackle finish. Takin’ it to the Market Square show Friday! I am so excited about returning to “where it all started”. This is the show that launched my career in 1994. I haven’t been back since Ryan was born in 1998! I am looking forward to revisiting “old friends” and seeing how things have changed. Please pray for the roads to be cleared by Friday. We are expecting 12″ to 16″ of snow tonight. It hasn’t even started snowing yet, but the schools are already closed for tomorrow. I am also praying that we don’t lose electricity as I have a ton of work to do in the next two days before leaving for the show. I will take tons of pictures and tell you all about it when I return! Blessings for now…….

“Wisdom”
18″ x 36″
Acrylic on stretched canvas
©teresa kogut

I still have not found the owners of this sweet 4 month old puppy. I am guessing at her age, but she is loosing her puppy teeth and found out via the internet that puppies loose their teeth at approx 4 months of age. While searching for the owners, I have fallen in love with her. She is very sweet, smart, funny and brings so much joy and playfulness to our home. I just can’t imagine that the owners aren’t missing her and frantically looking for her. If they are…….I wish they’d hurry up because every day she lives with us, we grow more and more attached.

Most people we talk to about this situation say “just keep her”. Those of you who know me know we already have two dogs…..they are big and hairy……they shed…..they can be expensive between the groomers and vet bills……..need I say more. It’s not that simple. The biggest problem is vacations. We take our dogs to Missouri and up north and stay with family. They are generous enough to let us bring Buster and Daisy….how can we ask to bring a third dog? Any other time we are out of town, my parents take care of our pets……the list goes on. My heart tells me “keep her, it will all work out” and my head says “what are you thinking…are you insane?”

Ryan’s birthday (at least I hope so) was a blast! It started with cupcakes at school with his classmates. After school I picked him and 4 friends up and took them to Rollhaven for a few hours of skating, laser tag and arcade games. (and really loud music)

Then to our house for a sleepover full of pizza, video games, ping pong, air hockey, Foosball, cake & ice cream. (Oh and see that jar of candy……let’s just say they were on a sugar high 🙂

What kind of parent gets their child trick candles that re-light themselves over and over??? ME!! It was so funny! He blew and blew and they would re-light. LOL! Anyway…..I’m pretty sure Ryan’s 13th birthday was fun for him and his friends and that’s all a Mom could ask for. But omg….he is a teen now!!!

“HARMONY”
22″ x 28″ x 1.5″ acrylic on stretched canvas
©teresa kogut

“HARMONY” (detail)

LOVE this one! But boy did it give me fits! I used a crackle finish that nearly ruined this painting. LeFranc & Bourgeois 3 step crackle finish is what I used….I have used it before and liked the results but those paintings were on wood. Not sure if it was because this painting is on canvas or not but I will NEVER do that again.

First I applied the aging varnish….which I love because it “yellows” the colors making them warmer. After 3 hours I applied the crackle varnish, then was done for the day. The next morning I couldn’t wait to get to the studio to see how it crackled but instead was shocked and very disappointed. The crackled varnish had flaked and was “milky” dulling all the colors. I wasn’t sure what to do so I tried sanding it off…..that got some of it off but if I sanded too much I could possibly sand some paint off in the process. I read in the directions that water would take off the crackle….so after much scrubbing, I got most of it off……..now what??? I wasn’t sure where to go from here. Finally I decided just to put another coat of aging varnish over top and call it good. That worked but it was very glossy….not my style.

I was petrified to put anything over top of the varnish but I couldn’t leave it like it was so I took a leap of faith and applied a matte varnish over top. It was a different brand name so I wasn’t sure if they would have a reaction (I have had varnish get gummy before). Anyway…all it well. I love the matte finish, the colors are still vibrant and some of the crackle shows on the lettering. Live and learn, right?