FiFi Flowers' Paintings Make A Happy Little House Even Happier!

I just realized that my first three posts were very yuckily "me" oriented. I promise this blog won't be all about me...it's more about finding who you are through what you love to do and realizing that something like decorating a little house with the things you love in ways that are cheap, easy and fun can actually lead you down a life path you never even imagined.

So, in the course of this little mid-life journey I'm on, and with the help of my Tybee Island vacation, my discovery of designer Jane Coslick and her restored Tybee Cottages, and the wonders of the internet, I stumbled across a fabulous artist/designer in L.A. named FiFi Flowers. I discovered that she had done a series of paintings of Jane Coslick's Tybee cottages and some were for sale on FiFi's website http://www.fififlowers.com/.

Her art is happy, whimsical and very girlie (like me), so I bought a little booklette of Tybee paintings and added FiFi as a Facebook friend. That led FiFi to look at my Tybee vacation album, and she told me that she loved my photo of the Palm Cottage (an adorable Jane Coslick rescue and design) where my family stayed. She said that the Palm Cottage was one she hadn't painted and she would like my permission to use the photo as the inspiration for one of her paintings. Of course I said, "Yes!" and I ultimately commissioned her to do the painting for me. (You can see all of my Tybee Island Vacation photos by clicking here.) Below you can see the evolution of the Palm Cottage painting from photo to first coat painting to final painting to hanging on my dining room wall (the final painting is also the first photo at the top of this post). I also subsequently bought her Tybee chairs painting, which is also in my dining room and I framed several of the smaller paintings from the booklette which are now happily at home on my mantle (which I could never figure out how to decorate!) and my little hallway. I hope you love FiFi's work as much as I do and I encourage you to follow her blog and buy some of her work. I promise your house (and you) will be happier for it!

The photo I took with my Samsung Moment smartphone camera...

FiFi's first coat of paint... The final painting at home on my dining room wall...

The Tybee Pier on my mantle...

And last but not least, the Tybee Chairs on my other dining room wall...

FiFi, thanks for letting me bring your happy vibe to my happy little house!