Bedroom Makeover

I moved into a new house about a month ago now and I am STILL painting my new bedroom. Today as I was painting over silicone-filled nail gun holes and touching up the edges of the trim with white paint I was reflecting on how I have been using skills and knowledge that I learned in elementary and high school art to makeover my room. For starters, I learned that when painting you should never use a paint brush that has just been washed with water if you want to achieve bright and bold colours; a water-downed paint brush could change the colour of paint you are using by diluting it. As I have been painting my room I have had to wait about two hours before using another colour of paint (altogether there are three colours in my room: 'sea haze' grey; 'blue lagoon' blue; and white for the trim, door, and window frame). An example of a skill I have been using that I learned in art class is how to hold a paint brush with a steady hand. I am a perfectionist when it comes to many artistic activities and painting a bedroom is no exception. It drives me nuts when paint is on the floor (I have already spent four hours scraping paint off the floor from the mess the previous owners made); when it is on the ceiling (I painted the ceiling before painting the walls...well, my dad helped me by doing it); and when the paint is blotchy and not a solid colour or tone (I do not even know how many coats of paint I have done so far but it is a solid colour). Here are some photographs of me painting the trim! I am planning on writing a 'before' and 'after' blog once I am all finished my bedroom.

Loading the Paintbrush

Touching up the Edges of the Trim

Art Battle 169

Willow encouraged my class to step outside our comfort zones and go to events and places that celebrate the arts this semester. She told us this would enrich our experience in the arts. I felt inspired so I decided to go to Art Battle 169 last Friday on September 19 at the Groop Gallery downtown on third avenue here in Prince George. It turns out that I had friends outside of the class who were also interested in going to the event so I went with my long-time friend Julie. I saw classmates Kristen and Byron when I was there there, too. Kristen was actually the one who recommended Art Battle 169 after Willow suggested the class should celebrate fine arts.

I had never been to such an event before and I was very impressed by the production. I did a wee bit of research on what Art Battle was and this is what I found. Basically, Art Battles are live competitive painting competitions held across the country every year and artists are chosen by popular vote to compete in a national Art Battle in Toronto. (Click here for more Art Battle information.) Last Friday, eleven painters competed in Art Battle 169 and the crowd chose local artist Cliff Mann to represent Prince George! Below I have posted photographs I took of Art Battle 169.

Round One

Round One Paintings

Round Two

Round Two Paintings

Crowd for Round Three

Round Three

Second Place: Amy Stoltz

Winner: Cliff Mann!

  

PG's Got Talent 2013

Two summers ago I went on stage in front of a large crowd for the first time since I was a child. I competed in PG's Got Talent here in Prince George alongside my then-boyfriend (and now fiancé) Gerald Rosenau and our friend Celina Jarales. The three of us named ourselves "Paula's Friends" because we had a mutual friend named Paula and we performed a mash-up of "Little Talks" by Of Monsters and Men and "Ho Hey" by The Lumineers. I played ukulele, harmonica, and sang; Gerald played kick drum and tambourine; and Celina played guitar and sang. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves in the month it took us to prepare before the competition.

The day of the big show everybody who was competing in PG's Got Talent were treated like celebrities. Loxx Academy did all of the performer's hair and make-up was done by a professional aesthetician. Paula's Friends did not end up winning but we had no regrets that we put ourselves out there and shared our talents with Prince George. Since the competition, I have been on stage many times with other friends and have grown to absolutely love entertaining people with a ukulele and my voice. Music is one of my passions and it was reignited the summer of 2013. To watch a video of Gerald, Celina, and I competing in PG's Got Talent as Paula's Friends, you can click here.

PG's Got Talent Poster

Paula's Friends