What can you do with an old stool?

Last year I was fortunate enough to come across a mass of old wooden stools that had lost their way in life.  They were destined for the skip and were probably going to be thrown away, but I offered to save them and I'm so glad I did!

Here are a few pictured in my back yard after I'd managed to bring them home in small batches, probably about 6 at a time, the number you can fit into the back of a Skoda Octavia (they have a fantasticly huge boot for anyone looking for a car based on boot size). 

Anyway, I have slowly made my way through them, painting them in various colours including duck egg, sage green and I'm currently painting a few in Union Jack designs.  The reason I am telling you about them today is that my good friend Rosjke Hasseldine, creator of Women's Power Circles (www.womenspowercircles.com) commisioned me for a pair of stools and asked for them to be painted in Duck Egg...so that's what I did, just in time before her packers get to her house tomorrow and ship them to New England, her new home L

I painted the first coat at my workshop the other day (after my radio interview about the Norway shootings as blogged on my 'black' blog), but had to bring them to my flat to paint the second coat as I knew I couldn't get back to my workshop before she came to pick them up on Friday.

So I laid some paper down on the coffee table in the lounge and got to work.  The trickiest thing was trying to keep my two wee kittens away.  Their names are Flossy and Otter and they are bound to pop up every now and again, cause they are a big part of Origin HQ...

Here they are looking like butter wouldn't melt. They of course had to be locked out of the lounge otherwise they would have ended up duck-egg.

I lose myself when I paint.  I really do find it so meditative and relaxing. I've painted (paintings...like the sneeky one in the background in the picture below), since I was very little, and whenever I find the time I try and squeeze in some time to do it.  In fact in my up-coming month off from work I intend on painting some pictures which I will show you of course so watch this space.

So, here they are finished...Rosjke was really pleased with them and I can't wait to see them in her home when I go and visit next year...hope that's ok Rosjke? J

Anyway, we had several cuppas, some chocolate smartie cakes and put the world to right, as we usually do.  It was a lovely afternoon, tinged with sadness and ended with me saying 'see you later'.....goodbyes are awful sometimes.

So again, see you later Rosjke...I'm going to miss you! 

Serena

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