2013 HGTV Dreamhome Sweepstakes: Blessing or a Tax Burden?

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Okay. If you haven’t heard so far this winter, HGTV is running their annual dream home giveaway. This year the special home is in Kiawah. I have been entering to win this home ever since the Sweepstakes was launched back on December 28^th. I enter twice a day (once on HGTV and secondly on Frontdoor.com). I have viewed this home numerous times observing the different panoramic photos and wishing daily I will be the lucky winner. A 3,000 square foot coastal retreat seems like the great getaway from the rat race. As much as I covet winning this contest, the numbers guy in me encouraged a further drill down of the prize (benefits and costs). This analysis revealed painful expenses that hide within this too good to be true prize.What does the lucky winner get? Grand prize is of course the Indigo Park dream home on Kiawah Island ($1.700,000.00 approximate value). Adding to this prize is $500,000 cash and a GMC Arcadia valued at $53,565. The total prize package is valued at $2,253,565. Then there is the cash option in lieu of accepting the home. The Cash option substitutes $1,000,000 for home, additional cash prize of $500,000 and the GMC Arcadia valued at $53,565. The total prize package valued at $1,553,565. The substitute cash option is a difference of $700,000.But, there is more to it than that. The federal government is going to get their fair cut. Sweepstakes always appear sexy and enticing, but the winners will surely get gouged by federal taxes. This lucrative prize is considered taxable income. For simplicity, let’s say the feds will tax about one third. We will ignore the additional possibility that you have to pay state income tax (depending upon your native state).  Let’s revise the prize picture.You just won the HGTV dream home in Kiawah, $500,000 cash and a vehicle. You can expect to pay in taxes about $743,676 (one third of $2.2 million). That is an extremely heavy tax burden requiring liquid cash immediately. You already have $500,000 covered per the cash prize, but now you need an additional $243,676 to pay that immediate tax burden. I guess one option is to sell your other home and move to Kiawah full time or take equity out (cash out refinance) on the new Kiawah home to pay the initial taxes. Now you have a mortgage payment again. Then there are the excessive real estate taxes and payments for assessments and services (Kiawah fees).  Seems like a lot of stress to endure that gets lost in the beauty of that large expansive deck, pool, game room, and beautiful marsh view from the back.. So suppose you opt for the cash option. Your total winnings are $1.5M (car included) but you will get hit with tax of about $512,676 which leaves you almost a million. As dreamy as this Indigo Park home is, I think I will take the $1.5 million cash option. Even with the tax hit, I would still have  close to a million bucks to spruce up my current home, purchase a Kiawah villa (for about a quarter of the dream home price) and enjoy driving down to the low country three or four times a year in my new SUV. So I will keep entering every day!

Celebrate Inspire Your Heart with Art Day

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'All Is Right in my World'          8x10           pastel      ©Karen Margulis
$145 in my Etsy shop

Inspire Your Heart with Art Day!  Now that's a great holiday. I didn't know that it was a holiday until I got my Cesar Milan newsletter and he was sharing dog art.  So I looked it up and thought it would be a good thing to share with artists and art lovers everywhere!
"Inspire Your Heart With  Art Day is a day to celebrate all forms of art and the effect it can have on your heart. Regardless of the piece, Art is valued and appreciated for all sorts of reasons by many different people."
Take time today to look at a piece of art and ask yourself these questions: What is is telling me? How does it make me feel? What emotions is it evoking inside of me?By the way, if you are an artist these questions are excellent ones to ask yourself BEFORE you start on the painting. If you can't answer the questions for yourself then it will be difficult to get your message across to your viewers. 

'Wander Through the Daisies'      11x14       pastel
$155 in my Etsy Shop

'To Dream Among the Aspens'         8x10         pastel
$75 in my Etsy Shop

Whether you're an artist,  art lover, or enjoy a piece or two, take time today to enjoy art in all of its beauty and enjoy it with all of your heart. 
If you are looking for some online galleries then I highly recommend visiting both of these Daily Painting websites.  Artists (including me) post new work every day. You can get a daily  email showcasing all of the latest work.www.dailypainters.comwww.dailypaintworks.com

Love Pastels? Here's a Great Way to Show it

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'In My Box'          6x6          pastel    ©Karen Margulis

I try to be a Pastel Ambassador.  There are so many misconceptions about the medium. You've heard them. "Pastels aren't as good or valuable as oils"  "Pastel paintings are very fragile"  "Pastels are the same as chalk" "Pastels are pale colors"  Whenever I have the chance to talk about pastels or do a demo, I like to share all of the wonderful things about pastels.....

• Pastels are made with the same pigments as oils and other paints....just made with a different binder. Simply put we are painting with dry sticks of pigment.
• Treated properly pastels won't dade, crack or yellow and will remain as vibrant as the day they were painted.
• Pastels do need to be framed under glass but they are a lot more resilient than many believe. You can't just blow a pastel painting off the paper.
• Pastels come in hard and soft and in all shapes and sizes. Best of all they are made (many by hand) into the most brilliant and beautiful colors. They can be an addiction for the pastel artist!

Last week I had a thought....I need to design a sticker or button that will help me promote pastel as well as show my love of the medium.  So I came up with my 'Get Dusty' Collection. Here is the sticker.
Pastel Artist Sticker by kemstudios
More Pastel Stickers

I used a photo of my own pastels and designed the sticker at Zazzle. I just received my order and I am thrilled with the color and quality of the sticker and the button. I put a sticker on my Heilman Box and I'll put one on my car and on my suitcase. I put the little button on my painting apron.  If you share my love of pastels and 'Getting Dusty' these items are available in my Zazzle store.  I'll be adding more items to my Get Dusty collection. I am also working on stickers with some other art sayings.
A Get Dusty button or sticker is a great icebreaker and will open up the conversation about pastels. The perfect opening for a pastel ambassador to share the wonders of pastels!

Put your 'Get Dusty' sticker on your pastel box

Put your 'Get Dusty' button on your painting apron

It's Only Paper! Paint without Fear

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'Fire and Ice'         12x24        pastel       ©Karen Margulis

I got the nicest compliment at my demo last night. The artist said to me "You paint with so much confidence. It's like you aren't afraid!"  And she was right. I'm not afraid ...usually. Because I know it is only a piece of paper.  But sometimes I have to remind myself. Sometimes I have to convince myself to try something because I have nothing to lose but a little of my time and a piece of paper.
Take today's painting of Bryce Canyon in the snow. My husband and I took a Winter trip to the Southwest  several years ago before I started painting. We had snow the entire adventure. We even got snowed in at the Grand Canyon!  But the snow turned the landscape into a a magical wonderland. The red rocks covered in snow was a sight to see.  I took photos. But I haven't had the nerve to paint them. How could I possible capture the beauty I experienced?

close up of'  Fire and Ice'

The other day I was flipping through my winter photos and the one of Bryce in the snow caught my eye. Should I try to paint this? Dare I give it a go?  I had been avoiding it for years never feeling capable enough (sound familiar?) But This time it was different.

I had given up my fear of failure. What did it matter if the painting didn't turn out? Who would even know besides the dog? And who would care. Not the dog.  It is only paper and if I din't like it I could brush it out, spray it or do any number of things to play with it.  The most important thing is that I tried and that I had fun doing it.
So I put on some Native American flute music to get me in the mood. I cut a long narrow piece of paper. (the scale of it doesn't read well on the blog) I chose to do an oil stain underpainting. I let it dry and kept on painting. At some point I realized I had finished. I was so involved that I had lost track of time. Sure, there were things that needed fixing but I felt a sense of accomplishment that I didn't let fear stop me from painting.

'Bryce Canyon Snow'      5x7    pastel
available in my Etsy shop  $75 buy here

Sometimes you have to trick yourself into believing that you are confident.....that you CAN paint. Sometimes you just have to throw caution to the wind and just do it..... after all it is only paper!

Painting Shadows & Light in Snow ...Part I

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'Winter Stream Study'           8x10          pastel        ©Karen Margulis

Snow Week continues in my studio.  I love painting winter landscapes but I am snow challenged here in the south. We haven't had a good snow in Marietta in a long time.   So I have to rely on photos for my winter scenes. Working from photos always presents challenges but especially with snow photos.

Our ordinary point and shoot photos of snow just don't do a good job of capturing the colors we see with our eyes.  The light snow often looks pure white and the shadows look black.

Color in Snow. Bottom shows how many poor photos capture snow.Top photo shows color in snow and shadows.

When we paint what we see in the photos we end up with boring and flat looking snow.  We have to introduce and exaggerate the colors to make our winter/snow paintings more authentic and interesting.

So how do we know what colors to put in our snow and shadows?  Living in the south I can't even observe snow so I have to rely on other artists and instructors.  One of my favorite resources for information on painting snow is Doug Dawson's excellent book 'Capturing Light & Color with Pastel'.  Doug has a chapter on painting snow and I'd like to share a few of my favorite bits of advice from his book.
Let's begin with Shadows on snow. (since I usually paint the shadows first) Both the light areas of the snow and the shadows have color. Snow reflects the color of the light in the 'white' areas and the color of the sky in the shadows.

Snow Shadow Colors ...Great American Artworks Pastels

• Shadows in snow reflect the color of the sky. They are usually cool ...blue-green, blue-violet or blue.

• The color in the shadows get cooler as they go into the distance. (They follow the principles of aerial perspective) 

• Shadow colors shift from blue-green to blue-violet to blue as space recedes. This is because yellow is first filtered out of the light, then oranges and then reds.  See the photo above for some of the pastel colors I use for snow shadows starting with blue-greens on the right to blue-violets to blues.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:  Snow is not white and shadows are not black. Snow is the color of the light and shadows are the color of the sky. Shadows are cool colors and shift and get even cooler as they recede.
In tomorrow's post I will share tips for painting the light on the snow so be sure to come back!  I'd love for you to sign up for blog updates. Sign up on the right!

What I'm Loving Now

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I LOVE the knitted coffee cozies I am seeing all over Etsy right now! Not only are they so cute, but they are great for the environment instead of the cardboard holders and will keep your coffee or tea warmer longer. I really like this one shop Natalya's Studio. 


 She makes these adorable cozies in several colors.

She also has patterns you can purchase to make your own. So maybe it is time for me to get the old knitting needles out and make one for myself.  Check out her shop for knitted cowls also.. I have really wanted one, but it hasn't been that cold here in the South the last two Winters. Hopefully it will be this year so I can buy, or make one for myself.


Have a wonderful day!





Linda

UNIFORM | Kapital scarves

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The Japanese have a way of making almost everything consumable so much more desirable and exciting. The American heritage and workwear-based label Kapital is no exception. Their name is derived from the city of Kojima, known as the denim capital of Japan. Kapital has been in business for almost 30 years and makes men's, women's, and unisex clothing and accessories, but I have yet to find any of the women's stuff on the internets outside of Japan. Unionmade carries some of their men's collection here in the U.S. (including a few of the above scarves) and Anthem of London retails a selection as well. As much as I'd love one of their scarves, I'm dying to get my hands on some of their past catalogs, especially Surf Cowboys and Colorado Hippies (!!!). Their women's and men's lines are wild, definitely worth a look online. But seriously, two tickets to Kojima please.

Update: Reader Martha B. of Nibsblog just sent me a photo from a Kapital catalog she kept. Incredible.