Its that time again "Where Bloggers Create"
This year is the 3rd annual event, and you can find all this here in
Karen Valentine's blog My Desert Cottage
I took part in this last year and it was my first time to do so, and I loved it. Its a great way to connect with other artist and bloggers, and its a huge inspiration booster for someone like my self... Meaning, I was last year in the works of getting my studio space renovated and when I wrote about my work {get away} space, I really had the plan to make big changes. However, as you will see as you read along here, that I did a few changes and nothing what I had in mind. No new walls *sigh* and its still a huge mess *double sigh*...
So before I start scaring you with my studio pictures, let me just first introduce my self {I'm the one the left hand side, in my canoe tripping look and that's where I am right now after I post this}... And then there is Charlie {a.k.a Chuck} who is my secretary and mate, and as you can see he is hard at work warming up the couch for me.
Okay, so now back to my work spaces, yes, spaces... I'm a person who cant sit or be in just one place, I move around between different all the time. So I will start here, by my desk in the kitchen, this is where I blog, read, chat on the phone or look through my many cook books I have collected through out the years. I love this spot, its light and clean (best of times, when no one dumps their stuff on it). Then I like to work in the dinning room, living room (comfy chair) and or outside, either on the deck or in a park near by our house.
NOW HOLD ON TO YOUR SOCKS!!!! I'm now taking you down to my studio space... You guessed it, its down in the basement, the only place in the house that can house everything I have and the space I need when I paint {it was either this place or the living room, and I had a hard time selling that idea to my man}. Its a good sized space, about 8' by 16' and it stays cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Only draw back with it, is that I don't have any good natural light {only a very small window and its facing east}.
So this is what you are faced with when you enter "My Space" and as you can see, I don't have real walls yet and the floor is in a sad state. Above that round mirror on my cutting table is the small window. One of my new additions I got since last year, is this old 1930's dresser that I placed under my table and it holds my paints and tools. The old bench is going out, its not serving any good use and is just taking space.
And my other new item, is this totally fantastic easel I got from a friend of mine. It has two sides to it and I love this work top {I like standing up while I paint or draw}.
The desk area has two different tables next to each other, one is my old drafting table that's now serving as a sewing table. And the other one is where I draw and do most of my office work. Don't know if you can see it, but the small shelving unit on the right has most of my vintage books that I like to collect.Below, is a larger picture of my cutting table (also an old drafting table, and its going too and going to be replaced with a new top). Behind the dresser I store smaller canvases, other storage is the wire baskets behind it, where I store my lace collection (love vintage and antique lace), fabric and tons of paper stuff.
Here is the top part of the wire baskets, with more wire storage and more paper.
For inspiration, I like to collect different pictures, cut outs, photos and mailart. I love colour and I have a hard time with making up my mind with what colour I should keep my studio in when it finally gets done. So this kind of helps me see them together, and it kind of shows me what I'm more drawn too besides from whites and greys that I really enjoy. I love teals, blues, light greens and oranges. It has to be bright, light and fresh for me, it reminds me of air, water and warm sun and beautiful spring greens. Canoeing, hiking and gardening, peace and quiet yet still with hints of spice and energy.
The board by the sewing desk.
I have all kinds of different storage places through out my space, vintage suit cases, boxes and more shelving. I also like vintage type writers and right now they have to stay in their cases and kind of out of the way.
Oops, kind of jumping back and forth here, but here is the shelf that's above my two tables. Again, this holds my files for work and art groups that I belong too and work for, however between paper work, my old things are staying. Like Mr Happy, a troll {those were huge and hot items to own when I was a kid} and my favourite little baby doll in blue. Her I got from a very dear friend that was like my Grandmother to me and I still miss her some terribly. Beside her is my vintage ruler collection, including the light one {not as vintage as the other once} that belonged to my dad, he loved building and fixing things {really miss him so much}. So this is kind of my memory shelf.
So that's my "creative space" and this year, I am getting the walls, floor and new storage {or so I keep telling my self}. I drew this quick sketch of my space, so it kind of gives you an idea what it looks like if you were a bird looking down {or in my case, spider... they love crawling around the above floor boards and beams}. This is how it looks like right now, all that separates my work space from the storage area is some fabric and my iron fist... I got nuts if I see someone placing something on my desk or area and it has nothing to do with art {like laundry, camping gear or boots} and I'm not shy to let everyone know how I feel about it.
Oops, kind of jumping back and forth here, but here is the shelf that's above my two tables. Again, this holds my files for work and art groups that I belong too and work for, however between paper work, my old things are staying. Like Mr Happy, a troll {those were huge and hot items to own when I was a kid} and my favourite little baby doll in blue. Her I got from a very dear friend that was like my Grandmother to me and I still miss her some terribly. Beside her is my vintage ruler collection, including the light one {not as vintage as the other once} that belonged to my dad, he loved building and fixing things {really miss him so much}. So this is kind of my memory shelf.
So that's my "creative space" and this year, I am getting the walls, floor and new storage {or so I keep telling my self}. I drew this quick sketch of my space, so it kind of gives you an idea what it looks like if you were a bird looking down {or in my case, spider... they love crawling around the above floor boards and beams}. This is how it looks like right now, all that separates my work space from the storage area is some fabric and my iron fist... I got nuts if I see someone placing something on my desk or area and it has nothing to do with art {like laundry, camping gear or boots} and I'm not shy to let everyone know how I feel about it.
Mr B tells me its the Viking in me.
And here is the sketch of the plan of "what I want this space to become and be". First of all, it has doors that I can close and keep away people and "stuff" that don't belong in there. Instead of two tables, I will have one solid table that will seat two. The shelving unit will be built-in and beside it will be storage for my large canvases. The cutting table is going to be a bit smaller and turned around so there will be more space for working around it.
A new seating, a chair... A big comfy chair, where I can blog, sip tea, read and catch a some afternoon naps in between letting paint dry and set.
And here is the sketch of the plan of "what I want this space to become and be". First of all, it has doors that I can close and keep away people and "stuff" that don't belong in there. Instead of two tables, I will have one solid table that will seat two. The shelving unit will be built-in and beside it will be storage for my large canvases. The cutting table is going to be a bit smaller and turned around so there will be more space for working around it.
A new seating, a chair... A big comfy chair, where I can blog, sip tea, read and catch a some afternoon naps in between letting paint dry and set.
So that ends my studio tour and I hope I didn't scare you too much with the views : )
I'm looking forward coming back from my wilderness travels and see what everyone else who is taking part in this years "Where Bloggers Create". I really enjoyed it last year, so I cant wait for this years event.
Happy creating to all of you and I hope to see you here again soon, and a huge thank you for stopping by to see my crazy world!!
Cheers,
Mari the Viking & Chuck the secretary
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