Studio update.

Several weeks ago a friend 'dobbed me in' to do a painting for a lady we work with who is expecting a baby. I had been making a cute little owl toy as a demonstration for a class that was doing a textile project. We started talking about toys and nursery decoration and she mentioned that she would love a cute owl picture for her baby's room.

"Dette can paint you one!" ....indeed. I couldn't say no but in truth I felt happy to do it. Or so I thought.

I started to worry that she wouldn't like what I did.

That was weeks ago and I've had a hard time getting into it. I procrastinated and watched a complete 4 series of Sanctuary, did quite a bit of crochet. Finally i thought it was time to start. It was the impetus for the studio clean out and finally today I transferred the sketch to canvas an made a start at last.

It shouldn't take long to finish, just as well as the baby is now due in a week or so! The best thing is I can leave it all set up and ready to go again tomorrow.

 

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Step by step, little by little

Today I had Tim help me finish sorting the stuff we liberated from the studio a few weeks ago. It has been sitting in unruly piles in the patio area between the lounge and studio. We sorted threw and donated the last of the junk that came out of my space. There is one little corner to sort still but it is actually quite a usable space now and I can now walk into my studio without distraction or guilt that I should be doing something else.

Once it was done I sat down and made a sketch of a painting I am going to do for a lady from work who is having a baby. I should have done it weeks ago but haven't come close to deciding quite how to do it but now I am clearer on the composition. She wanted a cute painting of owls, I'm going to do something inspired by the work of Rebecca Cool using floral fabrics glued to the canvas and painted around. Next Tuesday I'll aim to put paint brush to canvas.

 

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Rose hips sketch number one.

 

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It gets worse before it gets better

This is the mess I have created this afternoon. I'd planned to do it on Sunday but I had a bit of the flu and spent most of the day in bed. I didn't feel well this morning either so I spent most of the morning in bed, but by mid afternoon I started to feel better. I enlisted the aid of tim the toolman and braved the black hole of junk that was my studio

For a few years it has become the dumping ground for stuff no one wants to deal with right away. Like old stuff tim has well meaningly bought home...but truely I don't think I'm going to make my own sausages with the old home sausage making machine. Then the kids would clear up the patio area for a party and cram stuff into the studio - like some plants that looked a little less than well, certainly they were very unwell when I moved them out today. There were boxes of bits and pieces, I've sorted through them quickly and roughly chucking the real junk and doing a preliminary sort.

We've swept, dusted, fixed door handles and blinds. I used an axe to scrape a big dollop of dried up paint from my work table. Now the patio is a bit of a mess but tim took a trip to the Good Sammy's and there are piles of things that need to go in the garden shed or the storage shed, then perhaps a bit of a furniture shuffle and it will be ok.

I've even hung up some cute little flying birds above the door and made a very simple curtain to filter the harsh morning sun that has faded the floor rug. It needs a lot of work still finishing off the building, window edging and putting an insulated ceiling in. Because it is very very very hot in summer and a little cold in winter, though give me a Perth winter any day over the heat of high summer!

As it is almost my birthday tim has bought me an online art class, ode to nature by Alisa Burke. It is about finding inspiration in nature. Mostly for me I'm interested in it to use as a prompt to get me back into it. Also I could do with a bit of exercise so a walk around the park or river with a sketch book has got to be better than nothing at all! Then it won't be exercise it will be for art's sake. ;)

 

This clean out is the beginning . One of the ladies I work with is having a baby and has asked me to paint something for her baby's room. I should have done it weeks ago but I've had nowhere to do it! So hopefully I'll be able to post my progress at getting back to being creative here. I really don't want to waste my day off doing non arty stuff so having somewhere to work is important.

Now I'll have to be really firm about not letting anyone pile junk in my studio!

 

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Hooray for holidays!

 

Right I really have to figure out how to do this more successfully!

Take two.

I've been thinking that this is the first time in ages that I haven't felt really exhausted and a tad unwell at the beginning of my holidays. I think it's because I've made the decision to work the 4 days next term rather than full time. it means that I drop two classes that I teach subjects other than art so as I have a pretty good outline of what I want to achieve next term in art I don't have to spend a lot of time planning over the holidays, I can fine tune my art programme towards to end of the holiday.

I've also booked a couple of nights for tim and I away in this first week. We are heading north up the coast to the Pinnacles it's only about two and a half hours drive from Perth. On our big trip last year I realized how important it is to get away from home every now and then. Away from the house work and odd jobs big and small that call to you while you spend your holidays at home. Last year I bought a new car so that I could take mini breaks like this without having to worry about the car conking out part way there.

I plan to take some photos, maybe do some drawing and painting and read a bit. Not sure what I'll read just yet but I have a rather large stack of books to choose from. Reading is another pleasure that I am beginning to enjoy again, that's one of the things that told me I was really depresses and stressed. I loved reading and would devour books and since my depression got very bad and until I went to Europe I couldn't manage to read, I couldn't get into a story. I struggled through one book over months and months and left the last chapter unread, that's very unlike me! But I think I'm really on the mend. I read a book over the last month and I finished it today, relaxing in bed with a cuppa this morning. Definitely holiday mode!

This after noon I baked bread to have with soup for dinner tonight. I used a bread mix with lots of seeds in it. Mmmmmm, yummy. The kids were starving but I wouldn't let them eat until I took a photo of it. Bantam Boy decided to play stylist and added a pair of glasses to the loaf!

 

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Untitled

 

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Equilibrium.

 

Ok ...the last attempt didn't work at all!

Recently I bought myself an iPad. I really like the way it feels to hold and to flick through. I used to be quite addicted to magazines. I loved them, it was quite an expensive habit and I loved them so much I used to keep them all so I could flick through them whenever I got a chance but they threatened to overtake the house!

Anyway I haven't quite worked out how it works just yet.

I've also bought myself a new bright yellow couch and two red chairs for my loungroom. My old lounge had cushions and made you slouch and sit crookedly which was most uncomfortable and made my back ache! The new one is very comfortable and I love the colours, they are so bright and cheery. Luckily I bought them before deciding to drop down to 4 days a week at work.

I've had a couple of challenges at work that have been quite draining both physically and emotionally, it has consumed my thoughts and each week I would dread what was to come, I spent hours trying to problem solve and finally I've decided to drop some work time in an attempt to find some balance between work, running the house and my desire to create my own art work and nurture my creativity.

Work has been leaving me with very little left over for my home and my art has become a distant third after everything else. I am a little worried about the drop in income but at this stage it is a temporary thing just for the rest of this year so that I can see how we manage. The kids are all working now so they are able to look after their own wants and I've told them that they will have to be responsible for their own phone bills now so that will help. Most importantly I am looking forward to a little more space, not only in my lounge room but also in my head allowing me energy and balance in order to find a little more peace and balance in my life and hopefully a little more productivity.

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