Another revelation!!!

I can't believe my luck that I happened upon the ad for the Idaho button show in June and connected with Simone Kincaid... I finished another one of the back issue bulletins she sent and it was just fascinating.  When I first started painting buttons they were all about 100 years old and I felt sort of guilty painting on them ...as if painting on them somehow diminished their value....  Not that it stopped me but it almost seemed like a crime to do it to a beautiful old button..
  So it was with some anxiety I approached the button society and not sure how they felt about painting on old buttons.  Now I know they not only embrace what I do, they actually have a category for it.... studio buttons.  Buttons created or embellished by studio artists which include handmade buttons of ceramic, polymer, porcelain, metal, wood, leather, glass, enamel, cross stitch, fabric, raffia and even pine needles.  It also includes buttons embellished with paint, carving, laser cutting, transfers, etc.

Many of the techniques lend themselves to producing a particular design in multiply numbers.  Once a mold is made or carved it is just a matter of reusing it...  I was particularly drawn to the ones that weren't conducive to mass production. And of course I especially loved the ones that were hand painted like the one lower right below and that is where I have found my "spot" so to speak...

I have been wandering from place to place in the house and there is so much that needs to be done that I haven't focused on anything but last night I finally picked up a brush and started finishing some woodpeckers buttons I started in December.

 Mother Nature has tried to dump an entire winter in the month of February.  First we were buried in snow and now we're going to have some subzero temperatures.  This old farm needs lots of care during this time..  All the older outbuilding like the chicken house, gazebo, etc. and even the barn and house need the snow scraped off to keep them from collapsing from the weight.  A vigilant watch is needed to keep pipes from freezing....no fleeing to a warmer climate for us and I'm no help with snow removal this year.