Amy Abshier Reyes

Ian is here!

2009-11-11T09:56:00.005-06:00

Ian Lawrence Reyes was born November 1, 2009 at 9:28 am. He weighed 7 lbs, 11 oz, and was 19 3/4 inches long.
Labor and delivery went much faster than it did with Esther, and our doula and midwife were awesome (and Ricky, too!). Our hospital was awesome as well and respected all of our birth plan wishes with no problems. Even the mom/baby rooms were comfy and the nurses were all super nice. In short, it was a really good experience. (I'm glad all that's over with, though--and I am VERY happy to no longer be pregnant. I have ankles again!).

So our little man was born on a gorgeous, sunny, and WARM November morning--what a great welcome to the world! He's been a peach of a baby: he's been a regular eating machine from the get-go, is only fussy when he's wet or just about to fall asleep, and spends these wonderful, long moments just staring at you like you're the coolest, most amazing thing he's ever seen. It does wonders for the ego, let me tell you!

Esther has been really fantastic--she's excited about picking out his clothes for the day and getting to hold him and giving him little kisses and stuff. She's been a great help.

Pillows and Other Stuff

2009-10-22T08:48:00.004-05:00

I finished the pillows for the rocker last week and Ricky did some clever Ricky-esque modifications to the rocker's back to make it more upright. It's great for reclining as it was, but I needed a straighter back for nursing and such. Plus it can be returned to its original state with no trouble at all! He's got this knack for finding brilliantly simple solutions to things; solutions that would never have occurred to me. Mine tend to be much more elaborate and unnecessarily complicated.

Ricky built some new work tables for his shop and Esther helped paint them. Ricky was honestly surprised, I think, that her help was actually helpful and really sped up the painting process. She's an awesome kid. And she's a total daddy's girl.

We had our 8th anniversary on the 20th (I can't believe we've been married that long--it's wild). We kept it low-key, as is usual for us--a good dinner out makes us as happy as clams!

And today is my last day at work! (Well, til January, anyway) Baby stuff is going fine--I'm on autopilot at 38 weeks. Hopefully this little guy will hold out til his due date and I can cram some painting in before he's born. I think it's funny that my nesting instinct includes feverishly and frantically making art, like I'm never going to paint again (like THAT'S gonna happen!).

Oooh! Almost forgot--I'm having my last Etsy shop update (for a while) this Friday (um, tomorrow) the 23rd at 2pm central time. I'll have some original watercolor aceo's and one original oil aceo. Here's a pic of the oil painting (on illustration board):

Not the best photo ever, but at least you get the idea...

Yup, Still Pregnant

2009-10-10T07:57:00.005-05:00

I'm at that point in this pregnancy where people I haven't seen in the last few months say things like: "Wow! You're STILL pregnant?"

I know, I know--when you've been looking like a beached whale for the last four months, it's hard not to snap a little. And those folks mean well, I understand that. I'm just over it. Not exactly ready to have this kiddo, but definitely tired of being pregnant. Three weeks to go!

The weather's turned cold over the last week, and this morning we actually turned the heat on. I held out as long as I could, but when the thermostat shows the inside temperature to be in the 50s, I think that's hard-core enough.

My mom got me a killer rocking chair from Ikea--it's the Lillberg. It's a great chair for curling up in--very deep. It's hard to see that in this picture.

I'm making up some pillows this week for it with these Amy Butler fabrics. I'll have to post pics when it's all done. The chair's sitting opposite our large pink painting, so I wanted fabric that would pick up the pink as well as the green walls and curtains.

Minky Blankets

2009-09-12T14:31:00.002-05:00

During one of my frequent insane nesting fits I made a couple of baby blankets using this tutorial.

This is the bigger one, for playing on the floor and/or crib use for when the baby gets older. I used this fabulous octopus fabric designed by Heather Ross and some soft brown Minky plushy fabric. (This stuff is so incredibly soft--it's really wonderful).

And this one is much smaller, for the car or stroller or whatever. I used bright green Minky with little raised dots all over it and Juicy Jungle fabric on the other side.

Hmmm. They need to be ironed, too. But who has time to iron? That stuff's no fun, anyway!

It's Me Again

2009-09-12T08:28:00.004-05:00

Yeah, I've been busy. Work at the auction house has been crazy-busy and will continue to be so until December. Extra hours at work are not a bad thing. Hopefully I can continue working up until the last week or so before the baby's due. I managed to do that with Esther, and so far things in this pregnancy are totally fine, so...

Keep y'all's fingers crossed! I'm going to need that extra scratch while I'm on maternity leave.

And I've been painting as much as I can on my days off, while Esther's in school. I've got a commissioned portrait that MUST be finished and shipped off by October 1st. It's totally kicking my butt. I don't know why I have such a hard time with commissioned pieces. They're the most difficult things to finish, and I'm almost never happy with the finished painting. Any of you folks out there have this problem?

Last weekend Ricky's car club, Los Punk Rods, had their car show at the Boulevard Drive-In. It was the 9th annual Greaserama show and was their biggest yet. It's always a lot of fun, and the cars are just amazing. I took a ton of photos--you can see most of 'em on my Flickr.

Here's a few pics just for grins:

Ricky's newest project, the Crack Pipe (it's a long but funny story), and his Triumph. He set up a booth there for The Anchor Motocycle Shop, selling t-shirts, chopper parts that he fabricated, and other stuff. He's got some shirts left if anyone's interested...

Vintage helmets Ricky had for sale.

A bee-you-tee-ful Galaxie for sale. Someday I will own one.

Studebaker Hawks have just the coolest body style--there were actually TWO at the show. You never see these things.

And this Chevy has been my show favorite for a few years now--the green metalflake is just incredible. Love this car.

So that's what we did last weekend. This weekend we'll be playing catch up. Our yard looks like a jungle and there's lots of other housework to do. Bleagh.

Oh! And we found a doula that we really, really like. So that's one more thing to cross off the to-do list!

Le Sigh...

2009-08-16T13:35:00.002-05:00

We went to our good friends' house last night for dinner. Scott and Jessie are both fabulous painters and I always love poking my head into their respective studios to see what they're working on. They use wonderfully traditional (and super-luxe) materials and it fills me with longing...
They get this amazing Belgian linen by the roll--this stuff is so amazingly smooth and perfect! And heavy-duty custom-made stretchers, and all kinds of fancy paint and mediums.

I'm suffering from art supply-envy, totally! I just can't justify spending that much money on a piece before it's even started...

I'm discovering that as I get older, I get cheaper. It's not too bad, I guess. I mean, there's worse things to be, right?

New Paintings!

2009-08-15T16:05:00.005-05:00

I just finished a couple of pieces for the Blue Gallery portrait show, which opens the first Friday in September. I had to hustle to get these done in time, and now I just have to let 'em dry and frame them. I hope I have frames that fit--I seriously do not want to have to go buy frames.

"A Tiny Prison"
Oil on canvas board, 14 x 18 inches.

"Myocastor Coypus"

Oil on canvas, 18 x 24 (just finished today!)

(It's the Latin name of the nutria, a large semi-aquatic rodent from South America that was introduced to Louisiana in the 1930's for possible fur farming. They became established in the wetlands along the Gulf coast and have caused a lot of damage, as they feed exclusively on wetland plants, damaging root systems and causing serious erosion in the process.)

We took Esther to see Ponyo earlier today. It was cute and visually pretty amazing (which is typical Miyazaki). It was no My Neighbor Totoro or Kiki's Delivery Service, but it was fun and Esther loved it. I'm just happy to see another of his films, especially since he's said before that he's done with film making. That makes me sad.

I'm at week 28, fat and sassy, and doing well. I'm ready for fall, definitely--I'm tired of the heat, even though it's been a really mild summer. I should be thankful it's not a typical midwest summer!

The baby's an active little bugger, moving a LOT. There's something kind of creepy about seeing things moving under your skin, like sea creatures breaking the ocean's surface, and then sinking before you can identify them. And I swear sometimes it feels like an octopus is in there--he's everywhere at once!

Quick Trip to the Nelson

2009-07-31T21:12:00.004-05:00

My boss and his family are on vacation as of today and will be gone a week, so I'll be having a little staycation of my own while the auction house is closed. Today after my Etsy updates and upkeep were done, Esther and I ran over to the Nelson-Atkins museum of art. She enjoys going and, funnily enough, I do too. I haven't been in a while, and there were some new acquisitions and pieces pulled from storage to ponder.

It's always pleasant to wander through the rooms--as a student, I was over at the Nelson just about every chance I got. (It IS across the street from KCAI, so it wasn't difficult). So wandering among my favorite pieces was like visiting with old friends, comforting and familiar.

Here's some paintings that were new to me that I like very much. And of course I've forgotten who the painters are.

This is one of my faves from way back when--I love the light.

Yay for rekkids! In this case, nekkid rekkids, hee hee hee.

This is one of those recent acquisitions and I LOVE it. If I were going to break into a museum and steal a painting... But you didn't hear that from me.

Esther was NOT in the mood for picture taking. But it was a gorgeous day and I had to push the issue.

It's funny to think the ginormous shuttlecocks have been on the lawn for 15 years now--I remember when they were installed and people just thought they were a joke. I kind of like them. They're so vibrant and happy and fun-looking.

Some Paintings in Progress

2009-07-26T11:23:00.003-05:00

So here's a few new things that I've been working on (well, NEWER, anyway--I haven't been painting much this summer). Some of these will be for that portrait show at the Blue I mentioned earlier. It opens the first Friday in September.

This is 18 x 24, I think. Oil on canvas. I'm still working on the foreshortening on her arms--but other than that, I like how she's turning out. She's still really rough, but is starting to shape up.

This little lady is just about done--just a simple portrait. She's 5 x 7, oil on illustration board.

And this is just one of those weird accidents--she sort of just happened, but I like her very much. I think it's just about done--I like this one raw, and I don't want to overwork it. Oil on canvasboard, 11x14?

This one's done, and I'm pretty sure she'll go to the Blue as well at some point. 5x7 oil on illustration board.

None of these have real titles yet--they're still too new in my head.

Catching Up

2009-07-23T20:44:00.004-05:00

I think it's just about time for a little catching up. It's been such a busy summer: the auction house has been crazy-busy (which is pretty great, don't get me wrong--I'm glad they're doing so well), we're trying to get ready for this baby, taking care of Esther and making sure she's having a fun summer, trying to paint occasionally, reading and gardening as often as I can...

Speaking of which, here's some recent garden-y photos:

I love bumblebees. And my cosmos are as tall as me!

The front flower beds are nearly always my favorite. They're so easy--I end up doing planting the same annuals every year, some impatiens and coleus among all the perennials, but they all make me happy. And they all love this shady spot.

And here's that bed from the other side. Ignore those weeds, please. I'm really not a "kill kill kill" kind of girl. Unless there's poison ivy popping up. And then that stuff will BURN.

Some potted things on the front porch.

I need to take some good photos of the living room now that it's painted and done. These will have to do for now.

It makes our Barbara Coleman pop, huh?

These were taken right after we were done painting, so all the prep and painting crap is still laying around. It's gone now, replaced by other crap.

We found out we're having a boy and so far things are going great: I've been feeling good and trying to take it easier these days. Esther was hoping for a little sister, so she's not too sure about a brother. I told her both her father and I survived having a stinky little brother and she would too. She was not reassured.

I've been working on some new paintings for a portrait invitational show that the Blue is having in September--I need to post some photos soon! Maybe this weekend...

New Prints and a Winner!

2009-07-09T16:44:00.004-05:00

Congrats to you, fastercat6860! You win an ACEO print of your choice from my shop--either one that's available now or one of these newbies. Thanks to everyone who commented and helped me make this huge, momentous decision (haha, I kid. Sort of. I'm bad with decision-making).

So here's the winners in order of votes: 9, 12, 4, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 (there were several ties, so I'll do 8 new prints!). Hope your favorite was in there somewhere!

I'll place the order this week and hopefully will have these in the shop on the 17th, along with some new original pieces.

Vote for New Prints!

2009-06-28T14:10:00.005-05:00

It's been a long time since I had some new aceo prints made up and, as usual, I'm having a hard time making a decision about which 4 (or 8) pieces I want to have prints made of. If you could so kindly pick 4 images you really really dig, it would be a huge help to me!

And to keep things interesting, I'll draw a voter's name at random for a free aceo print. So be sure to either check back in a few weeks or make sure I have a way to get hold of you in case you are the winner!

So here's the contenders. Please choose 4!

10.

11.

12.

Memory Lane (House Style)

2009-05-25T17:27:00.005-05:00

So here's a little refresher for those of you who weren't on our house-hunting journey in '05. Our house was only the second we looked at, but we were familiar with the neighborhood and this block in particular (our block is fabulous--so many great neighbors) and the price had just dropped and was VERY reasonable. If you want to know the price, I'll tell you, but it might make you want to move to KC. But we had some work in front of us:

*this is the house as we viewed it for the first time--this isn't our furniture or anything. Just in case y'all were wondering :)

Look how little Esther was!

I seriously forgot how bad the yard was. Scary.

Next time: some after photos.

Painting and Stuff, but Not the Artsy Kind

2009-05-23T18:21:00.006-05:00

I've decided that we've lived in this house long enough, and dammit, the living room and dining room MUST BE PAINTED. I'm tired of the musty gross paint job we inherited when we bought this place. The interior was originally painted insane colors.
Wait, let me stress that: INSANE COLORS.
I guess after the house had been on the market for a matter of months, the sellers decided to paint over the insane downstairs colors and paint the trim dark poop brown and "leftover white paint surprise" on the walls. It's a sad greyish, puttyish sort of color that the paint manufacturer never intended, I'm sure.

So it's been almost four (FOUR!) years and I'm tired of not dealing with it. So it's getting done, sooner rather than later. Mostly because we're expecting a baby in November. SURPRISE!!!

(Yeah, it was a BIG surprise, considering we were only gonna have one kidlet. The universe likes to be funny). But it's all good, I feel great, we find out the baby's sex next month, and we're all excited.

Okay, now that's out of the way.

So yeah, we need to paint and here's a little preview of the awesome split-pea-soup-baby-barf green I found. It's exactly what I wanted and I'm gonna write Behr and tell them they should change the name to the one I coined. Hell, that's what Martha Stewart would do.

Isn't it purty? Don't you wanna just lick the walls? Hahaha, kidding, kidding.
Also, the trim is going to be the same pale pale cream color that's on the dining room trim. The dining room is going to be a warmer, slightly darker cream than the trim. It's such a sunny, wonderful room--it needs a light, reflective color. Especially in the winter.

Things are growing like crazy in the garden: the tulips and irises are long gone, and the peonies and roses are in full swing. Tomatoes and eggplants are blooming, the lettuce is almost done, and I still need to plant the green beans. I'll post some pics of all that soon. It's been a busy spring.

Hope you guys are all doing well!

Win One of My Paintings!

2009-04-30T08:34:00.003-05:00

This is pretty cool:
The owner of the Blue Gallery, Kelly Kuhn, is a guest blogger at The Katillac Shack. Kelly's latest post is offering up a chance to win one of two new pieces from the gallery--one is a new oil painting from me entitled "Tant Pis", the other is a mixed media piece by R. Sawan White. All you have to do is comment on her post and you're entered into the drawing. The winner gets to choose which piece they want! (You'll pick mine, right? RIGHT?!)
Here's that link again:
Kelly's post

I'm just tickled that she chose one of mine to put in! Also, there's a shot of my painting "Come Back, Come Back: You're Out Too Far" hanging in Kelly's loft.

Speaking of paintings, I'm super behind on posting photos of new pieces. I shall remedy that, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Spring is Under My Skin and I am Neglectful as a Result

2009-04-24T10:49:00.004-05:00

So Spring has finally decided to stick around here in Kansas City. The weather has jumped from the 50's to the 80's in just a few days. Arrrgh!!! I'm already running out of time to get green and growing things into the ground!!

Anyhoo, I'm focusing on the gnarly yucky side bed this season. When we moved here three (almost four!) years ago, it was overrun with virginia creeper, scrawny spindly rose of sharon, vinca, and basically a ton of other weedy, unhappy, ugly plants. Plus a bunch of broken glass and big chunks of concrete and trash.
It gets weird light (mostly shaded by our neighbor's house to the south, but full sun the rest of the day) and the soil was a mess. After one season I gave up trying to do things the natural way and basically just sprayed everything with Roundup. Now two seasons later, the soil is amended and ready to transform. This fall I planted five Sike's dwarf hyndrangeas along the foundation, and in the last few weeks have begun planting bronze, purple, and amber huecheras and bronze and black ajuga in front of them. They're all sturdy, reliable plants that have done really well in other weird light areas in my garden, so I hope they do okay here.

I've put in some more plants since these photos were taken and the hydrangeas have really started to leaf out in a big way.

Spread, ajuga, spread!!

My tulips are beginning to fade and look sad, but these pics are from a few weeks ago when things were young and happy. I have quite a few bare spots in the beds where the bulbs either got eaten or refused to grow. I don't know that I'll be ordering any bulbs from catalogs this year--last year about half the tulip bulbs I planted came from catalogs, and almost 2/3 of those haven't come up. I guess you get what you pay for.

I love species tulips--they just keep coming back. Yay! But I do like the fancy ones, too. Tulips are awesome.

And I've got new paintings I need to post here! Maybe this weekend...

In Anticipation of a Blizzard... Sort of

2009-03-27T09:34:00.002-05:00

It's already cold outside, and the rain that fell last night has become a thin sheet of ice on cars and porch steps. It's also encased all my hyacinths and daffodils in ice, and all my tulips that are about to bloom. They're forecasting a major snowstorm for tomorrow and some bitterly cold temperatures. I say "Boo" to that! I brought all my potted pansies and violas up to the porch to cover up tonight, and took a few photos of the blooming things because I'm afraid after this weekend they'll be flattened.

I snipped some muscari to bring inside--they just started to open up a few days ago. I love their smell. It's a subtle, grapey kind of smell--almost like grape soda. Plus they're just so diminutive and sweet.

My poor little redbud's blossoms are *this close* to opening up--we'll see if they make it through the ice.

Say buh-bye to the daffodils! I think their days are numbered.

Brr! I'm gonna make a run to the grocery store after getting Esther from school and do a little stocking up, just in case we do get dumped on. Then we can stay home and have cocoa and be cozy all weekend. I love snow when I don't have to go out in it. Although I do get a little stir-crazy after a couple of days!

Finally!

2009-03-15T13:17:00.004-05:00

Finally finished this piece I started months ago. I wish the photo were better. I'll have to take it outside on a cloudy day and shoot it again.

"She Could Hear the Shrieking of Distant Sea Birds"

oil on masonite, 16 x 20 inches

This will be going to the Blue Gallery as soon as it's dry and framed.

In other news, today I'm nursing a poor little sick critter with some sort of awful stomach virus. I guess there's a nasty bug going around. When I called Esther's doctor's office this morning to ask a nurse about her high fever, the nurse said she'd already had a ton of calls that morning about the same thing.
Her fever's down a bit, finally, and she's on the couch trying to sleep. Poor kid. We were all three of us up all night, and we all certainly look it!

Spring is... Springing?

2009-03-06T11:43:00.003-06:00

Well, after last week's snowdump, it's amazing to have a couple of days in the 70's.

Wait, let me emphasize that a bit: ********SEVENTIES*********.
As in: temperatures were above seventy degrees Fahrenheit, skies were sunny, the air was warm.

It's been pretty incredible to just sit in the sun and be barefoot and bare legged and watch the neighborhood kids running around.
And I've got things springing up in the garden. It's just the really early stuff; crocuses and dwarf iris. But the daffodils are really close to blooming and all the tulips are starting to come up. I'm so glad this winter is nearly over. But they are forecasting snow for next week...

Snow Day!

2009-02-28T14:35:00.002-06:00

This morning we woke to find several inches of snow on the ground, with more falling steadily in huge, fat flakes. We've had relatively little snow this winter, and certainly not this much at once, so it was a good excuse to go out and play in it a bit (then there was a mad dash inside for hot chocolate and dry socks).

I took this photo of the backyard earlier this morning--we've had a few more inches of snow since then, so you can just mentally add some more white stuff.

I need to make sure the birds have enough food on this cold, snowy day!

The Crooked Shmooked Interview

2009-02-19T16:01:00.002-06:00

The fabulous Heidi Jo was awesome enough to interview me for her blog Crooked Shmooked. Her blog is full of beautiful images, art, fashion, interiors, and cool stuff--y'all really should go check it out. Her questions for the interview were really fun to answer. Some of them I really had to give a lot of thought to, and that's a good thing. Thank you so much Heidi Jo!

A Question and Shop Update!

2009-02-11T18:36:00.002-06:00

I'm planning on putting this print in my Etsy shop, but I can't decide which version I prefer. #1 is a photo of the painting and #2 is a scan of the painting. Which do y'all like? Or maybe I should offer both and let buyers choose?

Also, here are the latest ACEO prints for Etsy. They'll be listed on Friday, February 13th, at 2pm central time.

Busy, busy, busy...

2009-02-08T10:31:00.004-06:00

The weather yesterday was absolutely gorgeous: unseasonably warm and sunny and perfect. I was just sitting on the porch, marveling at the warmth, and almost wanting to cry with sheer contentment. It was very surreal.

Earlier this week I was working on a painting that I started several years ago then abandoned, scraped off, started again, scraped off, and began again. I think this might its final incarnation. Here's a little rough detail:

And here's a piece I started a few weeks ago. It's relatively close to being completed. I like her expression--it's as if she's torn between a smile or tears. I think I'll do a little more to emphasize the light falling across her blouse. I like it.

I also have finally come to the realization that I want to paint from life and start using models. I'd probably just take photographs and work from those, since painting directly from a model could be complicated and expensive. And I'd need very specific costuming and hair, etc.
Needless to say, I'm completely broke and couldn't afford to pay anyone and have no idea how I'd go about finding people to model. I'm too shy to come right out and ask a stranger if I could paint her. I can't even imagine how awkward that would be.

New Prints!

2009-01-22T08:43:00.005-06:00

I just received the latest batch of prints and I think they've turned out fabulously. Allow me to introduce ( from top left clockwise):

1. "She Smiled 'Til She Thought Her Face Would Crack"
2. "Maneki Neko"
3. "La Mode Nouvelle"
4. "It Was as if, Very Faintly, She Could Hear the Sea"

And my first set of mermaid prints! I had a hard time narrowing it down to four. Here are:

1. "Oh His Bones are Coral Made"
2. "Irina"
3. "Sea Dreams"
4. "Lillian"

These will be offered up at my Etsy shop on Friday, January 23rd at 2 pm central time. I'll have more original watercolor ACEO's, a couple of miniature landscapes, and an original oil ACEO also.
Hope to see you then!

PS The weather today is supposed to be lovely--almost 60 degrees! Of course, I'll be at work in the warehouse, so I don't actually get to go out and enjoy the sunshine, but I'll be thinking warmer, anyway. Have a happy Thursday!

Some New Paintings in Progress

2009-01-17T20:25:00.004-06:00

And one new ACEO for my next shop update, Friday, January 23rd at 2pm central time.

"Valerie" oil on illustration board, 2.5 x 3.5 inches

And here's some pieces I've been working on recently. This first one is a really rough underpainting. It's got a loooong way to go. But I like to see other painters' methods and progression, so here's mine.

I'm not sure where this one's going. Still a very much unfinished painting.

This one I started last month and picked up again today. I really like how she's turning out--I wish the photos captured it better. I'll have to shoot it with film--my dumb digital does awful things to tone, values, and colors. I wish the digital SLR's weren't so ridiculously expensive.

And I've just discovered the author Jeffrey Ford--I found a book of his short stories, "The Empire of Ice Cream" at the library and I'm afraid I'm hooked. He's considered to be a science fiction and fantasy writer, but don't dismiss him based on that. His stories are surreal and dreamlike, but not sweet and pretty. They're chock full of amazing imagery and make me want to paint. I need to find more of his books!

And I'm waiting on tenterhooks for "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" to come out on video.