Another year at the carousel wrapped up!

This year's carousel touch ups have come to an end. I had the opportunity to add back some missing flourishes, as well as do more restoration work on the Armored Horse, and the Stork. 200,000 riders per year enjoy this carousel, and I love making it look new again for them! Restoring these treasured animals is something I look forward to every year in Greenfield Village's off season. If you're a fan of this carousel, please feel free to write the museum and let them know what you think of my work on it! I'm fairly anonymous otherwise. Knowing that so many people make lifelong memories is very special. I've posted several videos of the painting of the different animals on youtube, I'm easy to find there at juliekfournier. I hope you enjoy them! Make sure to like and follow me there and on facebook, it all helps me to continue to make art that makes people happy! You're special and deserve to be happy. I am honored to play my small part!

Let me know what you think of the Sea Monster in the comments below.

Sunday again already?

Sunday again, and I'm thinking about the carousel that I have been working on at The Henry Ford museum aka Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI.

People really love carousels, it brings so much joy! I'm very lucky that I was chosen over ten years ago to be the one to keep it looking "new". I've had the chance to restore many of the animals and repaint them so that they're closer to their original 1913 appearance.

I post to over a dozen social media sites, so as many people as possible can enjoy this carousel; there are very few wooden antique carousels left in the world now, most are fiberglass and mass produced. The one I work on is art. I'm looking forward to going in to work tomorrow and doing more paint repairs on these precious artworks carved over a century ago. Let me know which your favorite animal is!

I have to go finish posting videos of the painting process. See it all on youtube!

Ever get a rejection notice but not the reason WHY?

Yup, it's frustrating to get a notice saying your blog or page or whatever "violated" some policy, but then have NO IDEA what violates what. How hard would it be for say, google, to tell you what you did wrong that they find offensive and won't allow you to put ads in your blog.

That's my evening. I hope yours is relaxing, and without frustration. My favorite way to unwind is to play pool, or catch up on emails, there's nothing like cleaning something to give a nice sense of satisfaction! Take out the frustration on piles of papers, and feel good after. Am I venting right now? you betcha. That's another way I release pent up frustration. As an artist, I need to be relaxed to let inspiration and ideas flow, but just like you, life happens and I have to deal with it, too. Sometimes that involves a glass of wine, most of the time my go to is chocolate, oh my poor hips hah!

Have a great evening, and share your tips for relaxing in the comments!