Debra Conrad.com

Do you remember the day you figured out who you were?  Maybe you haven't had that day yet, but it's coming…. and soon!

Let your brain wander to that "what if" space, and you will find many ideas trapped inside.  Now… What If you could do just one of those things?  Holy Cow… you could be an ____.  (Fill in the blank yourself)

I grew up with a father who could make and fix anything.  He never purchased anything that wasn't a bargain and usually it needed to be fixed.

We had an antique store…my mother was the shop keeper.  I had so many dusty corners to explore.  But… the real treasures were in the storage area. Broken bits of furniture and rusty curly items to were all stacked up for me to rumage in.  Some might call it junk, but I always thought they were treasures.  

I still glue and nail and paint pieces and parts into some nonsence or other.

Many ( so many I don't like to count) years ago… I picked up a book.  You have to understand something first, I was always artistic but…. I was brough up to believe that art wasn't going to pay the bills.  "Go to school, get a business degree… it will last you a lifetime" YUCK!  I did go to school, and I did major in business, and it has served me well.  I hated every minute of it!

Now, back to the book.  This book is huge and not like any other book I had ever had in my hands.  Published in 1990 so you know it was one of the first of it's kind.  The author of Decorative Style - Kevin McCloud is a master in his field.  

The pages are full of many decorating styles - from Sante Fe, Miami Deco and French Country.  The photographs are huge and so many options for creating a style are pictured.  All the materials, tools, and techniques are listed so I could re-create each fantastic style.  

Here is the kicker:  All the materials and tools are inexpensive and creative. The techniques are so easy to follow and master.  I learned to create beleavable fresco's, wheatherd wood, rusty iron, verdigris copper and a ton more.

Some of the rooms featured in this book are, medieval bedroom, Sante Fe dining room, Gothic Revival study, New England living room and a Venetian studio.  This book goes way beyond any magazine or decorating book I had ever seen.

After using some of the techniques in my own home, friends and neighbors began to notice.  They of course… wanted some of this art in their own homes.  

Holy Cow! I was now an Artist!  

Make sure you browse around some of my other websites listed in the sidebar–>

Have fun and Let's Go Paint! 

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 7th, 2007 at 12:35 am and is filed under Debra Conrad. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.