Tropical Skies...

Okay, I managed to clear-out the greenhouse this past weekend so I can stow my Tomatoes/Peppers/Squashes in the semi-warmth of the greenhouse (whew!). I'm still not hooking the heater back up, but the GH manages to maintain temps appx 5* above ambient - so the plants oughtta be fine...

So NOW I get to shift my attention back to The Studio!

So, I'd hired a Pro to come in and do the priming and base-coat painting. Then I ran over to Home Depot and raided their "Oops" pile to find cheap deals I could f*ck around with for background colors and glazing/faux-painting. I scored a few gallons and a couple of quarts in varying shades of beige and brown. No blues or greens, unfortunately, so I had to pay full bust-out retail for custom colors for my sky and Caribbean Sea.

Score!!!

In the meantime, I'd purchased a couple of basketweave kindsa stencils. This was The Winner.

And I also picked up a couple of squeegees which I will modify so I can do a faux bamboo wainscoting kinda technique. Only my "stripes" will be vertical.

I also picked up a laser level that sticks to the wall using 3M Command Strips (which, supposedly, won't stick permanently and won't damage your walls - WRONG!!!). So I figured I'd mark out my lines-of-demarcation using the laser-level hoo-haw. I decided my horizon-line (for the back wall sky/sea/sand scene) would be appx 40" off the floor. I stuck the laser-level to the wall and used some Scotch Painters Tape to mark the dividing line... Okay, fine. Then I go to remove the laser-level and it took the freaking paint and texture clean off the wall!!!!

"Sh*t!"

So then I texted P and asked "If you happen to have an extra 15-20 minutes free, can you come help me put up level, horizontal lines with masking tape?"

Thankfully, she came over this afternoon and helped with said task. Annnnnd, we hung out for about half an hour (or so) and chatted a bit.

After she left, I wandered out to the shed - only to discover that 80% of the freaking masking tape had FALLEN OFF THE WALLS!!!

I swear, I wanted to cry!

#$%^ "Command" product isn't supposed to stick to the wall - but DOES.

%^&* "Scotch Painters Tape" is supposed to stick to the wall - but DOESN'T!

WTF?!!

So *then* I went back and attempted to re-tape the walls again (at least I had some cheesy pencil scritches to kinda/sorta follow).

I *almost* gave up at that point - but DAMMIT - I wanna see some progress!!! So I opened up a couple of paint cans, grabbed a couple of brushes, and started tackling the back-wall (which is totally free-hand work).

Here is "The Inspiration" (mostly - I am exercising a lot of "Poetic License" - so to speak!).

And here is what I ended up with (so far).

Getting started...

Almost done...

Sky is done!

I have to say, I am surprisingly pleased with how it's coming along. I am not normally one to "pat myself on the back" when I create something artistic. But this actually came out pretty damn good - if I do say so myself! Yes, I have a few minor touch-ups to do, but those'll be quick and *now* I'm actually feeling motivated enough to maybe tackle "The Ocean" part of it tomorrow!

Yay Me!