Pigments were a flyin'

I'm on a total Painter's high. Probably should clarify that a bit least someone gets the wrong idea. Flying pigments NOT sniffing pigments. It's like a Runner's high. You know, a natural high. Anyway, I'm still too wound up to write so here's the visual scoop.

Art Cart locked and loaded.

5 foot by 12 foot canvas stapled in place. Art Cart in position.

Breaking the ice. No more dreaded blank canvas. Plus I got to try out my new paint marker.

Oops. Pigments miss their approach during landing attempt.
 (Why yes, that's some Air Traffic Controller Speak I picked up from The Husband.)

Hi!

Proper working setup and ....

.... a peek into my journal.

Brushes, paint, water jars, journal, and feLION Studio Assistant. Why yes, there were tiny little black hairs in my watercolors. Why do you ask? 

Gratuitous feLION Photo Friday

Lou (left) and his friend Sara (right).

Virtual Studio Shopping Saturday

Saturday is an excellent day for a little shopping. Because I've got the love for all things Studio going on, let's shop for Studios. Please fasten your seatbelt, keep your hands in the vehicle at all times, no screaming, no crying, and remain seated until the ride comes to a complete stop. Wheeeee! Okay, we're here at Kanga Room Systems. Enjoy! I found the kitchenette and bathroom layouts and all the pricing information very interesting and helpful.  

Modern style. Photo "borrowed" from Kanga Room Systems' website.

Country Cottage style. Also borrowed from Kanga's website.

Presenting The Ultimate Lady Cave/Studio

I mentioned that I've learned a lot in the first thirty days of having a studio.  What I really need and want in a studio is slowly unfolding and revealing itself to me. One of the biggest surprises has been how much space is enough space for me. Studio 319 is HUGE. I'm only using the front half of the building. I hung the canvases on the wall, parked my painting cart within easy, convenient reach; and the area just swallowed them. Space is good though. I feel like I need space to think, create. I especially appreciate space above my head as if that's where the ideas are all floating around. Studio 319 has tall walls. Every studio is unique to each individual artist. Studios are VERY personal. If you ever have the privilege of being invited in to see an artist's work space, you should proceed as if you are peeking into a boudoir. I'll be sharing more of my discoveries, but for now, I present The Ultimate Lady Cave/Studio.

Photo: www.mikedeanphoto.com

Big, happy gasp. Girly squeal. Ooooooooo. All that's missing is the little cardboard sign with "No Boyz Allowed" scrawled in black crayon.

Photo: Martha Garstang Hill

Gasp. Ooooooo. LOVE this layout.

Photo: mikedeanphoto.com

Kitchen! Nap spot! Pigments could really fly in the Studio area. For my needs, the back wall would be my painting wall; no desk; no book shelves and put the windows up higher where the shelves are currently pictured. 

Photo: mikedeanphoto.com

Indoor facilities! The Husband would never see me again. Yes, I realize this makes me the perfect wife. There is a loft over the bathroom too. I would use this for finished works storage. I'd be tempted to add a little green house room off the bathroom for a claw foot tub. Sigh. I'm in love. Totally.

For the full article in Fine Home Building Ultimate Lady Cave/Studio

NEVER pull a loose thread and....

Isaac Newton's First Law (of three) of Motion. The Laws of Motion describe the effects of forces on the movement of common objects. Every woman being a force to be reckoned with is familiar with these laws. The first law, which takes Galileo's inertia concept further, states that an object at rest, remains at rest unless it experiences a net external force. In other words, don't pull the loose thread on your sweater and it won't unravel. This also apparently applies to string that one might find laying amongst the weeds while spiffying up one's studio. I was pulling weeds like a machine and then, I found a string. Pause. Look around. Don't be obvious about it. Make sure no one is looking. Pull the string anyway. Pause. Look around some more. Still, trying not to be obvious. Schew. Everything seems fine. The Thurners Building, which my studio is in, is for sale and gets a little more attention. That's good motion. But then, about a week later....

CRASH! The roof of the beautiful and historic sandstone building next to the studio caves in and takes the second floor, first floor, and the facing on a small section of the sandstone down with it. Oops. Kind of feeling a teensy bit like Cat Woman where the building is blowing up behind her. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? Anyway, in all seriousness, it's terrible. Calumet has these beautiful, historic, architecturally significant sandstone buildings. The tourists go nuts over them. They stop, get out of their cars, almost get hit by traffic as they are drawn in for a closer look at these buildings, snapping picture after picture of them. And then there's the memories. As I was weeding, quite a few people stopped to chat and I was privy to the stories of this particular building. It used to have a bowling alley in the basement. A lot of the locals used to bowl there or worked there as kids. Unfortunately, this is just one of quite a few of these buildings that are in serious need of hitting the lottery. The Husband and I looked at what seems like all of the buildings that are available on 5th Street. Nothing is within my budget. By the grace of our Main Street organization, I was able to rent the north garage of the Thurner's Bakery Building. I'm coming up on having had the studio for a month. This whole first month has been about creating the space for me to paint. I can NOT believe how much I've learned in just a month. It's been amazing. I'm beginning a project in the studio on August 26th. I've got a couple more things to do to prepare. Definitely nothing that involves string.

Evolution of Studio 319 Where Pigments Fly

Once Upon a Time, in a land way Up North, there was a sad and lonely building. The Thurners Bakery Building to be exact. 

"Boo hoo, nobody loves me. I'm weedy and trashy," said the sad and lonely building. 

Then one sunny, cloudless day, a sad Artist with no place to paint waved her magic paint brush around and knighted the North garage of the Thurners Bakery Building as Studio 319 Where Pigments Fly. Cue the Angels on High track.

"Cripes, seriously, somebody hug me," cried the sad, lonely building.

"You see a wall, I see a CANVAS," said the Artist.

"Huh?" said the sad, lonely, now worried building.

"NO!" said the Artist's stick-in-the-mud Husband.

"Oh. Feeling a little less lonely," smiled the still worried building.

"OMG! THAT'S UGLY! We have to cut the weeds down from the side of the other building," said the aesthetically offended Artist.

"NO!" said the Artist's stick-in-the-mud Husband.

"Dang, I'm looking good," said the happy building.

"Definitely a CANVAS," said the happy, excited Artist.

"NO!" said the Artist's stick-in-the-mud Husband.

"Flowers! I'm totally styling," said the happy, loved building.

"Ah, color," said the happy Artist with a place to paint.

"You were right about the weeds on the other building," said the Artist's stick-in-the-mud Husband.

And despite the Artist's stick-in-the-mud Husband, the Artist painted happily ever after in the styling, smiling building knighted Studio 319 Where Pigments Fly.

The Beginning....