The Bane of My Existence is Finished!

Many months ago, I took a few of my things to a quaint little shop up in Dallas, GA for the proprietor to put out for sale. While there, she asked me if I painted windows. My reply was, "Yes, I've painted a couple before." This was true, although I think I've only painted one other one in my entire life. So, we walked a couple of doors down to another cute little shop where she showed me this really old, sixteen-pane window. She asked, "If I buy this, will you paint it for me?" Like I was going to say no!

I carted off the window (no small task) and set it up in my tiny painting area in the kitchen. I used to have a nice, big craft room, but that all disappeared when Riley arrived. :-) Anyway, it was a pain to actually paint on. I really didn't have a great place to put it and, since I don't really like using easels, I tried to get creative. I propped the window up on another small chair and leaned the top of it against my kitchen windows to begin the whole process. Not pretty, but it seemed to work.

The owner of the little shop suggested I paint different varieties of flower on each panel and I foolishly agreed. I'm not really big on painting "true to nature" and have never painted like that "on demand." I began painting leaves and stems and the beginnings of wisteria, black-eyed Susans, chicory and the like, but I did not like the results. The paint wasn't adhering the way I wanted it to and I just got turned off by the whole thing! I decided I needed to rethink the process, so I took the window down and left it propped up against the kitchen wall--and there it sat for seven long months.

Many people have noticed it sitting there--my parents, Charles' parents, friends and neighbors--and they all ask about it. "Wow, this looks like it will be neat," or, more recently, "When are you going to finish this; it looks great so far" are usually the comments heard. In the last couple of weeks, my mom has been bugging me to finish it so we can take it back to the little shop when she comes for a visit this Thursday. At this point, I'm just plain mortified to face the woman. Can you imagine? "Hi, remember me? You bought this window for me to paint back in April and it only took me eight months to finish it!" Not finishing a project is so not like me. When I was working full-time, my co-workers used to make fun of me for being compulsive about wrapping things up on time and making sure everything I did was absolutely perfect!

I know this is a long, boring story, but I was so thrilled today when I actually completed the damn thing! I actually did a little happy dance. Here are a few photos of the "bane of my existence."

The entire window--boy, this was a pain to handle!!

Up close shot of the lower-left of the window.

Upper-left side of the window.

Lower-right corner of the window.

A slightly blurry shot of the middle portion.