My Day Job...

This is (happily) what I do to pay the rent!

Some of you have known me for a very long time, and know what my day job has been

for the last 25 yrs.

However, others may not know that I'm a professional decorative painter.

I paint murals, faux finishes, stenciling and specialty finishes on walls and furniture.

And while I've scaled down the number and size of the commissions I take on...

I still paint for a living.

You can see more of that here...

cerrohome.com

If you've been following my blog posts lately though, 

its mostly my artwork that I share and that I'm most excited about.  

In the meantime...

I pay for my art supplies, art classes, art workshop experiences

(that bring me so much joy)...

by continuing my work as a decorative artist.

It's a wonderful line of work that keeps me painting, and has also kept me from being a starving artist for many years!  For me stuggling as an artist was not an option...I needed to make a living.  Finding a way to have my talents earn money for me, painting other peoples visions,  afforded me the opportunities to create my own art on the side.

It was not always an easy choice, or a steady choice...

but always the right lifestyle choice for me.

This week I painted a front entrance for a longtime client,

bougainvillea over their new front door.

I enjoy working for repeat clients as they know my work,

give me artistic license and are as excited as I am with the outcome.

On this project I started by laying out the big shapes and background colors, 

and built up from there.

It took me two days (about 10 hours) to finish this project... 

and my client was very happy with how it turned out...me too!

Happy Client...Happy Me

I even sneaked in a few little hummingbirds...just for the joy of it.

Then added a painted tile doorbell surround...

with another little hummer looking on when quests arrive.

I'm thankful everyday for my creative life and the gifts that I came here with...

I can't imagine it any other way.