As I've mentioned on social media and in prior posts, I've been in the throes of trying to convert my "storage unit" back into a studio. It has been interesting, challenging, annoying, and an adventure!

Part of what makes this situation so interesting is finding all the cool things I've bought over the years...you know what I mean, all those have-to-have-it-right-now-art-supplies because you took a class or saw a demo online. The problem with this is I've already moved on to the next-new-thing-bright-thing or life interfered and I didn't have time so I set them aside. Out of sight, out of mind! 

The challenge to finding all these fun toys is you want to stop and play with them RIGHT NOW. But if you do that, you don't get anything done in the studio. Well, you might. I don't. So I have to rein myself in and keep me on task. Much grumbling can be heard from outside the door.

Other challenges include figuring out ways to organize and store all the goodies in a way I can find them when I want them without having to dismantle half the studio to get to them. When I go looking for ideas out on the internet, I often find "pretty pictures" of magazine-cover-worthy studios. They're all color coordinated and every.single.thing.has.a.basket. They're gorgeous. But I cannot help and wonder about the function. 

While I like pretty things, what I like/want/need most is a studio that is going to function for me and the way I work. If a solution isn't exactly pretty, but works like a charm, count me in! If it's pretty, but is a pain to use...it's not going to last long. This has turned out to be a daily, ongoing challenge with the storage unit/studio and probably always will be. 

Did I mention annoying? Yes. I did. 

So you might be wondering what could be so annoying about cleaning up the studio...oh, let me count the ways! There's the annoyance of discovering you have seven rolls of certain kind of tape because you couldn't lay hands on the rolls you'd bought in the past and thought maybe you had imagined buying them. There is also the "what-was-I-thinking" purchases that make absolutely no sense at this stage. In some cases, I don't even know what project I had in mind!

But I think the biggest annoyance, or maybe I should say the one that is bugging me most today, is finding a piece of artwork I thought was finished, and finding it's not done. At least, it's not now because I've grown as an artist and when I look at it, I see ways to improve it. Then the debate begins: do I fix it or do I put it in the drawer with other completed works and go on with organizing the studio. The key thought here is, "I'll come back to it when the studio is finished." The problem with that thought is the studio is not likely to ever be finished!

Much time is spent considering what the right thing to do might be. Finally, in the case of the Easter eggs, I decided it would be worth it, mostly due to the timing of the holiday, to take time away from cleaning and organizing to make the changes. Another reason I decided to go for it is because I had set the piece to the side and I bet I've come across it three, maybe four times now and had the same debate with myself. Make a decision, would you?!

So...ta-da! I sat down last Sunday (which has become known as "Studio Sundays" and is always said in a deep, masculine voice from the Monday night football games on national television) and worked to finish this piece. It took a little over an hour as I stopped several times to make sure I was liking the changes. After I felt it was finished, I scanned it and then filed with the rest of my completed pieces. 

From there, I added the finished artwork to my Zazzle shop, Painted Thoughts Studio, as a greeting card and showed it on social media. So despite the delay of working on the studio, I managed to get at least one thing finished and added to Zazzle so it could live on outside of the studio! Not too bad for a few hours time.

Now, onto the next 394 million pieces of paper that need to be sorted, organized, stored and/or finished! 

I suppose it was only a matter of time before I became infected with the organizing bug as so many others around me have been. I mostly "blame" two close friends for my infection as they often regaled me of their efforts and eventual triumph over the clutter and disorganization of their homes. 

Sketching New Additions To The Studio… While Tired From Moving

If you read the prior post about 13 Things I Wish I'd Known When I Started Journaling and you kindly refer to number 12, you'll note that I mention every page will not be a winner.

When we're tired, stressed, sad, mad, distracted, worried or otherwise challenged, it's a bit much to think we're going to turn out pages we like (again, please note, I did NOT say pages that are perfect).

Does that mean you shouldn't sketch?

It means you absolutely should sketch. Quite often, when we sketch under these conditions, it becomes more about the process rather than the end result.

It also means you should manage your expectations.

When you know you're sketching under adverse conditions, set your expectations to match and then sketch away.

Do not mistake this approach for an excuse to sketch halfheartedly. Do your best even under these circumstances.

If it turns out not-so-good, you won't be surprised and you might just find yourself with a real, raw page that helped you process the emotion of the moment.

The sketch above was done after some intense moving and shuffling of furniture and all the shi...stuff piled around it.

I recently found myself to be the proud owner of two new-to-me oak printer cabinets. They used to store type and logo blocks in these cabinets. They're heavy, cumbersome beasts.

I'm thrilled to have all those fabulous drawers to stash supplies in. With any luck, I may just get organized! Oh, what a thrill that thought brings. (Seriously.)

However, I can't say I'm thrilled with the sketches above when I evaluated just the quality of the sketches and page. It's okay and it certainly hold a likeness of each cabinet. I'd like to think if I had not been so exhausted I wouldn't have smeared the ink and the page would have held more appeal.

Still…am I disappointed in the page? No. It wasn't about the end product so much as a record of the cabinets and the day.

Why not? Because it's a record of what as well as of the exhaustion. It's got grit.

Is it pretty? No, but then a lot of life isn't pretty. Instead, it's real.

It is more than a record of the cabinets, when we bought them and their sizes.

(It also gave me the opportunity to test drive an Eversharp nib seated in a Noodler's Flex fountain pen—more on this after I do a bit more testing.)

I haven't yet decided if I'll add color or not. It would go a long way towards making the page more appealing, but as is, it speaks to my exhaustion which is part of what I want to remember.

What's Your Approach?
Journaling can take many forms for each of us during our journeys. Sometimes, it's about the pretty page as near perfect as we can make it. Other times, it's about sketching because we're learning or bored or trying something different.

And then there are those sketches that come about under adverse conditions. As an example, I sketched in my MIL's hospital room because that was how I dealt with my fear and worry. We knew she wouldn't recover. Talk about stressed? Oh yeah.

I'd not trade those sketches for anything. They're not pretty. They do, however, convey to me what words cannot. It helped me to process the emotions of that time just as the sketch above allowed me to process my exhaustion…and my excitement to have these two cabinets.

Do you sketch under adverse conditions? How does the process change for you?

I've always heard size matters.

However, in the case of our studios, I'm not sure it does.

Above is a photo of my desk's current state. The greenish colored cutting mat is 3 feet by 2 feet and it's on top of a desk that is 5 feet by 3.5 feet…and yet, I work in an area that is maybe 14 inches by 10 inches!

The area where the glasses and pen rest are the only clean horizontal area on the desk! (Actually, in the whole studio, but that's a discussion for another day.)

What's odd (to me) is that this desk was "mostly" clean last weekend. I think.

I had a pile in the upper left corner, my palette on the lower right along with my journal.

What happened!?!

Looking at the image, you can begin to get an idea of what I've been "messing" around with this week.

I've been working on learning and practicing pointed-pen lettering, working in my journal with some different ideas that include stamps and various pieces of paper as well as a hodgepodge of stuff that has accumulated on the desk.

For whatever reason, the desk is the landing place for just about any and every item that finds its way into the studio.

I have to say it's getting a bit crowded.

My husband's off to play with his dad and uncle tomorrow and while he's otherwise occupied, I see a big clean up in the very near future!

Normally, I'm not a huge fan of clean up time (you'd never have guessed, right?), but one thing I do like is the discovery of things forgotten.

Those items that have been buried at the bottom of the pile that I had big plans for when they first landed on the table.

And with that mess, who knows what I might discover!

So what's on your desk? If I were to walk into your work area, could I tell what you've been working on lately?

If you have a photo of your desk, please share! I'd love to know that I'm not the only one who suffers from pile-itis!!

Below is an image of my studio as it looked back in January, all clean and tidy after the big remodel....
....and it was working fine. Well, kinda. Ummm, well, no, actually it wasn't. Not if I wanted to work on more than one project at the time. Because I only had one work surface. That meant I had to move the current project to start another one and rotate them back and forth. With more than two things on the go, it could get kind of confusing, not to mention messy!

Comfy Studio Chair

 I could (and do!) climb up in my big, comfy chair in the corner to paint or go to the breakfast nook and paint at the table (which I also do a lot). Something had to change, but what? I didn't want to give up my antique drafting table!

I don't know if you've picked up any of the Where Women Create magazines or Cloth Paper Scissor's Studios magazines, but they're full of artists' studios and are quite inspiring. Chris and I have both found some cool ideas for storage in our studios:

An awesome storage solution!

The new Painted Thoughts Studio……



All because of a bad light! The work will be continuing in the background as there is still much to be done. Installing the crown molding, working on the fireplace, window treatments, painting the taboret (which is not in the photos) and recovering the chair, are just a few items still to be done. If you're interested in the old studio, you can click here as I haven't had time to update the photos.

Hope you enjoy and please share your thoughts and comments!

Still working on the studio and the progress is one step forward, two steps back, as I continue to purge and pack. Only to turn around and unpack. And then repack. My focus has been on getting like items with like. Once everything is grouped, I'll go through and systematically eliminate. Sounds easy, right?

We'll see.

I love boxes. Especially unusual boxes or if they're square. Or red. Now this is not a newsflash to me as I've known this for years. I have a thing about "square." And red, but that's another discussion. I have a lot of squares in my life. Knowing this, I've tried to be careful to "collect" only special, prime, unusual or pretty (square) boxes. It would also seem that Yoda was right - there is no try. You either do or you do not.

I did not. Be careful. Careful enough, anyway. What is a newsflash to me is that I've boxes coming out my ears! Some red, some with handles, some unusual, some pretty, some are even square, but for crying out loud - there's nothing in them! Except maybe another box or two. How many (empty) boxes does one soul need?? Egads, I do wonder about myself sometimes, but you knew that already.

Since you probably wonder about me too (I saw you nodding your head–stop that!), I'll go ahead and tell you the other hugely annoying behavior I've discovered. I have found dozens of these cryptic notes, usually on Post-It note paper all throughout the sh…stuff in the studio and most of the time I have NO idea what I was talking about!

It's my handwriting, which would suggest that I wrote them. Makes me wonder though. Occasionally, after much brain digging, I can figure it out. It helps if the note was attached to one of those unfinished pieces of art or project, but not much. I would suggest to anyone that is contemplating cleaning out, moving, rearranging or otherwise modifying their studio, to arm themselves with a dust rag, a heap of patience and a good dose of humor - you're gonna need it!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more "reading and cyphering" to be doing…


P.S. Pictures will be forthcoming, I promise!!!

It's cold, y'all! Is it snowing with whiteout conditions and 18º below here in Florida? No! It's in the 30's up from the 20's and that's cold by Florida standards!! We never made it past the 40's (for our high) yesterday. As I sit typing this I have on two sweatshirts, LOL, I'm just not used to this!!
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I was tempted to title this post "Can I have another week, please?!" as I'm not really ready for the new year to start rolling! Whereas the studio is coming along nicely, it's not quite functioning - yet! I'm in the throes of purging, organizing, purging some more. This is the hardest part for me as I am packrat. My mantra for today is "I must let go to move forward" and this is making it much easier to let go of things I've held onto for years. The studio will be up and functioning by the end of the day. There will still be more work to do. The work that's left will be done in little bits and pieces as I go along.
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Donna, The Happy Painter, posted "Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go! Bring it on, 2010!" on Facebook this morning - what an outstanding attitude to start the new year with!
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I had a sign in my studio that said "There is time enough." I created it back when I was in school, working in Corporate America, trying to be an artist, wife, daughter, employee, sister, and friend (and not necessarily in that order). I recently put it up in a new location in my studio - on my cork board. A couple of hours later, I found it on the floor. I set it aside, wondering why it didn't stay up. Later, I put a framed snowflake in it's place, a much heavier piece. It stayed without any issue.

This made me start thinking about that sign, and I came to the realization that it doesn't serve me well. It says there is time enough as if there is just enough time to get everything done. I am choosing to cultivate abundance in my life and so I will be throwing the sign away and creating one that says "There is more than enough time."
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Hope you're having a fabulous, first Monday in this new year!!

I must be mistaken, but I've double-checked the calendar twice and it still says it's December!! Can that possibly be right? Egads, if it is, I'm already behind. Not that it would matter or be any different than usual. 


This little tree is gracing my studio at the moment. It keeps saying it's December too. If you look closely you can see the green wall is now in the studio, complete with blue painter's tape - the latest in home decor! Well, at least at my house, it's the "in" thing. 


I ran across the tree while I was pushing things back and forth across the room (not literally!) so I could get some painting done this weekend just past. I decided to decorate in the latest color incarnation of the studio. The photo doesn't really do the tree justice (not to mention the image is lopsided. Which is the fault of the photographer and not the tree).


We've put in half the floor in Chris' studio and hope to start on mine this weekend. I'm thinking it will probably be mid-week, next week. We still have work to be done in my studio before the floor can go in. The work can't be done until there's room to work in there. Since our house already looks like a storage unit with Chris' studio stuff piled everywhere, my studio will have to wait until his is reassembled. 


Then there's the small matter that I haven't made up my mind what flooring I want yet. I think now that all that fabulous color is in, I can make a better decision. I hope–as I'm gonna be stuck with this stuff for a long time to come!


Hope your Thanksgiving holiday was wonderful with lots to eat, family to visit, friends to catch up with, shopping to do, places to go and whatever else there is that makes it a great holiday for you!


P.S. Does anyone have any idea why Blogger is suddenly adding double spacing and small type in the posts - that look normal in the composer???

It has begun! Well, actually it began two weeks ago with replacing the light. The painting began this past weekend. One wall is painted. Unfortunately, no matter what angle I took the photo from, this was as good of a photo (of the wall color) as I could get. The color is much deeper and richer and not nearly so pink. Nor is it rose. Once the sun comes out, I'll try again. Probably Friday as we're expecting rain for the next two days.

Below the wall, you can see the flooring choices I am currently entertaining. The two dark woods are hard to tell apart, but Number 3 is actually bamboo stained to an "expresso" color. Number 2 is "Sangria" oak that is lighter with more wood grain showing and plays well off from the reds and pinks in the wall color (which may change. Eventually.). Last but not least is Number 1, a Natural Red Oak - finally, a regular name! It too plays well with the reds and pinks in the wall color.  The trim is going to be painted white to unify the room somewhat. Which one would you choose?????

In the second image, we see the test wall. Again, with photography being a challenge, this wall has six different colors of green on it. Along with cast shadows. Four of the six colors are store made. The last two are Laure made. I have not made a decision on which one to go with, but I have narrowed down the field - Numbers 1, 4 and 6 are out. Most likely 5 is out too. That leaves 2 and 3. Both Laure made colors. Go figure.

Once I narrow it down to the winner, I'll take my sample board back to the paint store and have them scan it and make the new color up. Whichever color I decide on, it will be called "Sass!" Because man, it is very sassy and the color practically vibrants off that red/pink wall! LOVIN' IT!! (You can see the edge of the "Bookcase of Knowledge" on the right edge of the photo. You can also see the green reflections on the white! (eeeeeek!!) This is what concerns me. Whether or not I can handle that reflected color. More about that later.)

This will be the last update for a while on the studio as the focus will now switch to Chris' studio to get the new floor installed in there. I asked over the weekend if he would mind if I posted images of the new floor. His reply was that we should post before and after shots. Except we had already pulled the majority of his studio apart and taken the carpet out. Guess that means yes, I can post images of his new floor. So, we'll have some "after photos" anyway!

Two years ago, when we visited the Artist's Loop just outside of Gatlinburg, we stumbled upon a gallery called "In the Wild." When we walked in, I could almost feel my blood begin to fizz and hum and fill with energy–the walls were a brilliant shade of green, not quit lime but close. The store owner, Doreen, and her daughter, were the artists of all the fabulous artwork. Black bears with magenta and electric blue in their coats and poppies of every possible shade–all of them brilliant in tone! Raku pottery, altered books, handmade jewelry! Art quilts that would just make one fall in LOVE. Instantly and irrevocably. And I did! With all that magnificent color!!!!

But……

On the long ride home and in the weeks that followed, I talked myself out of painting my studio any of those rich, luscious colors. After all, being a watercolor artist I was very concerned what those colors would do to my art as I knew color that BRIGHT was going to reflect LOTS of color around the room. In addition to that, I could not imagine the hassle of dragging everything out of the studio to paint–no matter how bad or how deep it was getting in there! And what about my sanctuary? What would happen to the peaceful, calming, soothing, environment in there?

Fast forward to last month. While we were in Gatlinburg, we went by to see Doreen and those rich, fabulously luscious walls and vibrant artwork and art quilts. I visited the gallery twice, the first time just to see if the reaction would be the same–the quickening of my blood, the hum of energy in my mind, and sure enough, there it was! I could just feel this surge of creativity bubbling up and wanting to explode onto paper! It was an awesome feeling! As Doreen had customers, we wondered away to visit other shops. On our return, the gallery was empty and we went in to speak with Doreen. The hum and fizz returned–even stronger than before!

And you know, if it hadn't been for that blinking light in my studio, this never would have gone anywhere at all. But the light was blinking. And needed to be replaced. And we went to every Home Depot and Lowes and hardware and flooring and lighting store in the county. And they had paint departments. With luscious green paint. And lots of other rich, luscious colors just calling my name! Begging to be looked at, to be chosen.

And this time I decided to go with my longings for a bright, energetic environment in the studio.


But, what color(s), I wondered…………

We all have different ideas and definitions of the word "studio" and how we make that word fit into our lives. A studio can be a place more in our minds than of this physical world, it can be a something to hope for, a place to work or it can be a place to pile all the extra clutter when family comes to visit.

I am learning that my relationship with my studio is more complex than I originally thought and the definition is evolving. In evaluating the changes that we're going to be making in the next six weeks or so, it become apparent that the studio was quite a reflection of "who I've been" for the last ten years or so.

The first image of the studio is from Christmas 4 years ago. The set up is basically the same, but a lot of "stuff" has been added - mat board, foam core, paper, etc. Stuff stacked everywhere. Most of it tools of the trade and necessary, but highlighting the need for better storage and organization.


 The next image gives a good idea to the color scheme - calming, relaxing, soothing. And that's what I needed when I came home for Corporate America, strung out on stress, fatigue, and caffeine. A place to retreat to. I realized that the studio is (and was) as much about being a sanctuary as it was about being a place to create. It is my nest, full of objects and art that tickle my fancy and make me smile, my place for contemplation and for journaling. And for creating.

And make no mistake, this studio serves me well, but in the last few years, I found myself wanting something a little…different……more energetic, alive, more vibrant. These thoughts have teased around in my brain for a while, but I just couldn't quite see clearly what it was that I wanted to change or do differently. I kept thinking that if I made the changes that were floating in my mind, I'd lose my sanctuary. The question then became about balance. Then about change. Then balance. Then, oh, never mind! I decided it was fine the way it was. Except it wasn't and the Universe decided I needed a nudge.

To be continued . . . . .

I've recently been having a problem with my light/fan combo in my studio. A few months ago, Chris came into to talk to me while I was in the studio and I asked him to turn off the overhead light. When he flipped the switch it threw an arc, shocked him and blew the bulb. Or so we thought. The light went out and would not come back on.

We replaced the bulb - no go, wouldn't work. And then it came on. Then off. Drats. Suddenly the bulb came back on. Then off again. Then it was on most of the time. Occasionally, it would blink on and off of its own free will in the most haphazard, irritating way possible. This is not desirable in an electric device. At least not at my house. So we started to replace one thing and then another trying to isolate the problem. Still hadn't found it and I'd began to get a bit concerned about a wiring short causing a fire. We decide to replace the light/fan combo all together. We went "looking" shopping, not "shopping" shopping.

When we left the house, I was thinking track lighting. After all this is a studio, right? There is now a bendable track lighting that you can bend around a room in whatever configuration you want - perfect! I thought. We looked and discussed the pros and cons of more than a dozen light set ups. We looked at light/fan combos, we looked at spot lights, can lights, and just about everything else you can imagine. Everything seem to have more cons than pros. Since the studio has become a video production studio in addition to being a painting studio, I was looking for something that would be useful in both scenarios. I couldn't find it.

Finally, Chris said, "Since what we had in mind is not working, you might as well get what you want." It was as if a chain dropped. I knew what I wanted. Immediately. Instantly. And it's nothing like me! Really. I don't do glitz. Or glam. Or bling-y. I don't do plaids, or pleats, or ruffles or frilly or fru-fru or cutesy or, or, or……or so I thought. Ummm, what happened? I've no idea. Dunno. Really. (Perhaps Sam, my alter ego, could explain it if she wasn't over there on the couch laughing herself silly. At what, I don't know and I don't think I want to know!) What I can tell you is that "this" is now hanging in the studio……
And (Sam and) I love it!! It makes (us) me smile every time (we) I see it or (we) I turn the switch on!  I think what appealed to (us) me most is the fact that the frame is rusty and that gets to (us) me on so many levels that it's impossible to describe! I love rust, just adore it, and I especially love rust in unusual combinations––so add some bling to it and I'm all over it. Really.

I'm sure adding/using chandeliers is now "just so last year" in the decorating/designing world and that's okay as I really don't much care. I'd much rather have something that makes (us) me smile and makes (us) me happy then to be up with the current fashions. There are also some other changes underway in both my studio and Chris'. I'll be sharing more about those as the week goes on. Let me just say that Sam's been busy. Very busy. Meanwhile, I think I need to go have a chat with my alter ego and find out what else she's up to……sneaky little wench! "Oh, Sammmmmm……"