Monday, August 2, 2021

studio changes

hi friends!  i hope things are going well for you; that life, or even just this minute, is peaceful and you find some joy in each day.  that's my wish for you.

this post was written over a period of time, so you will see some past tense along with present tense as i wrote and re-wrote things.  time frame is a little off.  i'm just leaving it.

there has been some excitement in my little world of late.  i had a bit of money in my art account and thought a treat was in order for Heavenspirit Creations to get me back to adventuring with creativity, so i ordered a huge moleskine sketchbook and a neocolor set.  i'm excited to get to work with these new products!  of course, i made a bit of a mistake and gave sweetie the wrong neocolor link so we ordered the non water-reactive set instead of the water-reactive set.  sweetie helped me out and ordered the correct item so i can get it quicker than waiting to return the wrong item and re-place the order, and it must have come from a different dick blick warehouse cause it got here two days before the first order was to arrive (and my first order seems to be stuck in fedex limbo instead of arriving at my door)!  i was dancing around and hugging the beautiful colored crayon set, joy, oh joy! 

now to decide if i want to just keep the other set or if i will be returning it...

 

the other shipment arrived the day after it's delivery date

 boy they werent kidding with the "xtra large" on the moleskine description!

and... i decided to keep the other neocolor set, big surprise

 

the bigger (HUGE) piece of studio news started with feeling a bit of "grabby hands" for the studio of a favorite artist of mine on youtube.  her name is sandi hester and she has a wonderful, genuine and fun personality.  her videos are engaging and beautifully edited and her art is colorful, really loose, and kind of folk-art-ish.  she is a joy to watch and learn from!

anyway, i was watching sandi create in her beautiful studio and started dreaming of a "not-in-the-cold,  messy cellar" studio for myself.  my studio gets way too cold for me in the wintertime, even with a heater, it has gotten that damp smell in the spring, and we've blocked the entry with cellar junk.  it's not been conducive to creativity and i end up bringing bits of supplies into the main house and making a mess for a few months before having to bring it all back down to make room for family gatherings, only to start the migration again when the holiday blues get me needing to create.  it's gotten to be a huge drag.  so... i was dreaming.  and my dream took me to creating my studio with the living room/tv room i was in.  we have a larger room we can do our daily living in, that i had dubbed "the christmas room" for all the time we (don't) spend there, but we'd have to do a lot of organizing, purging and (sweetie, anyway) heavy lifting to make it all work.  i did my "honey? i looove you..." opening, and sweetie was on board with the re-arrangement, cause he knows it would serve me better- he tries to make my life better every chance he can- and he likes it when i'm creating (i got a good one!).  

hubby needs his 'geek room' organized and cleared of non-essentials for his gaming, then we can more easily move things out of the way into his room while figuring out how to consolidate the two living areas into one.  the 'christmas room' might be larger, but there is little wall room in which to place furniture, so thats a big issue.  i'll be cleaning out and purging items from a cluttered room upstairs i lovingly call my 'crap room' that has a lot of craft supplies and just junk, and hopefully creating a spare bedroom and game library from some things in our living area now that wont fit in the new living area.  my new art studio will have the essentials; paints and other mediums i'm currently using, easel, desk, and a small couch that lucy-pup and i can snuggle on where she can look out the window (cause i'm mean and her favorite spot on her comfy couch by the window will be gone).  the cellar studio will be my art supply surplus like canvasses and mediums i'm not currently using and the stuff from the 'crap room' like my beads and fabric.  

 

 
lucy in her favorite spot

 doggie tv will not be the same, poor girl
this weighed heavily on my heart during the whole change 
"how to make it work for lucy?!"

 

"Operation Re-Arrange-the-Whole-House" was started over the weekend of july 25th with the big job of clearing out sweeties geek room that consists of a heavy gaming table that needed to be moved several times to put a large rug underneath.  he was a tiny bit sore after that!

but the results are fantastic!
(dont you love the gaming table he built a few years ago?!)


i only have 4 more rooms to go!  (whomp-whomp-whomp)


here is the little area i've been creating in,if you can spot it in the mess.  this used to be the "christmas room", soon to be the living room...

sooo lovely... 
this was during the transformation, dont judge.
artwork was done under the paintings to the right.  
notice pixel-kitty in the box?  he was 'helping'
 
 
and after, august 2nd, the new living room, still in progress...
 
 
i had a belly ache over the living room for several days, because everyone was unhappy about the lack of space.  pixel kitty adored his huge cat tree in the middle of the room, now he barely uses it.  so, now i've upset dog, cat and hubby!  pixel and lucy have to get used to being in the house as a whole together, where lucy pup would guard 'her' small tv room from the cat.   it's been... an adjustment, but things are getting better by the day.  pixel was running through the house this morning, and loves being in my studio without harassment from lucy.  lucy likes being in all the rooms and is getting more exercise.  keeping my fingers crossed!

we still have lots to find places for, but on whole we're getting used to general furniture placement.
 
 
before, the second floor 'crap room'...

this room you can judge, it was naturally a pit
again, pixel-kitty 'helping'

 
soon to be a game library, and to have a bed for spare bedroom... 
 
no photo yet, will update later. it still needs a lot done to it, but some has been purged, and some has been moved already. 


before (but after clearing a path to get in), my cellar studio...


just a heap of mess!

and during, august 2nd, my studio surplus room...

 
lots of organization needed here!  the two big shelves in the soon-to-be spare bedroom will be coming down here for art supply storage.


and, now, the main event...


before, the living room (with a lucy in her spot at the window)...
 

 and after, august 2nd, my main art studio...

(lucy is currently in the new living room, under the blankets)
 

 
 

the main studio is pretty much done, though i want to get each art medium organized in a better way.  this room is perfect for me!  it's big enough to hold all the supplies i work with; it has space for personal books i hold sacred, and my incense type things; and i have space to do workouts and yoga as well as a little loveseat for me and pup to relax on!  (and, yes, i made sure lucy is comfortable and can look out the window)

i might make a proper studio tour later.  right now, i need to rest after all that switch-a-roonie (switch-a-roomie?) we were able to do!


until later,

jenny