Well, my daughter, her husband and our grandson have completely moved into their house...across the cul-de-sac from us. The guest room/youngest son's room (when he is home from college) has been transferred over to what was Hannah and Justin's old bedroom, the grandson's nursery has become The Preacher's home office (finally...we both hear angels singing the Hallelujah chorus...after over two years of working from home, his home office is out of our bedroom)....
...and my art studio is up and functioning!
She's not
completely finished...I will be tweaking for weeks, and my mood board/inspiration wall isn't up yet...but I am already painting in her, so I thought I'd take you on a tour...
When you walk through the door, this is what you see...
my art table, elevated, in the very center of the room...with a huge four foot long canvas, already started! (I was itching to get in here and work!)
Over under (...over under?? Just roll with me, don't judge my grammar) the window you see...
...my sewing cabinet...underneath, is storage, on top is a french bottle-drying rack used as storage for thread and my leather cuffs and vintage rings...for now. Eventually, I want simple wall-mounted wooden pegs for my threads and things.
...the video production nook...
chalkboard ("He makes beautiful things..."), video production, and shelf - soon to be shelVES, plural. When Hobby Lobby runs their next 50% off sale on these shelves I will get one more, to be mounted under this one. Here, I store paints and inks and extra gesso and ribbons and fabric swatches and..and..and...
The other side of the room...my desk/laptop/printer area, and more metal shelving for photo props, mixed media papers, laminator, paints, goodness...details I shan't bore you with.
Next, looking straight down, is the only thing (so far) I have purchased for this room. (Everything else has been stashed here and there, throughout my bedroom and whole house, for months and years)
An antique Coca-Cola crate, purchased at Granny's Attic for 60% off, for a grand total of $9.
(Granny's Attic is, sadly, moving to Clinton, TN, and selling off their store at a deep discount, so as not to have to move as much stuff...I weep, I weep, I weep. This antique store has been
minutes up the road from my house, for years and years. My checkbook rejoices...I weep.)
Crate sits atop a cool storage unit, on wheels, that spins around. In it, I have my art reference books, my antique books and hymnals I use for my mixed media backgrounds, and my larger acrylic paint bottles.
...the art studio closet...fabrics are hung, my trade magazines stored, my tote that holds all my leather stamping supplies, my camera bag and boxes, my sewing box, and a hanging mannequin (for the tops I will someday be both designing, and upcycling from vintage, and selling in my shop!) The hanging mannequin was a gift from a dear friend who believed in my business before it was a business, and before I believed in myself. She knows who she is.
My daughter Hannah's old spice rack...she didn't want it anymore, and gave it to me. I have utilized it for findings, beads, and the tiny hardware involved in jewelry making. I have even left the stickers on it that say things like "celery seed", "cumin", "cinnamon", etc. I absolutely LOVE them, and want them to stay. It speaks to the repurposing that IS creativity and art and soulful living...
bottle drying rack, threads, cuffs, rings, embroidery threads...love!
And so, before I shut the door on this space for a few hours, and actually go buy things like toilet paper and food (hey...creativity and art are my soul-food, but I can't do the "other thing" with them...) I leave you with a last, backwards glance...
So blessed. I am just so blessed.
The best thing? Seriously, the best thing? It is this....
Through that window, as I paint, I have been watching my grandson play in his front yard, and I can easily see how my granddaughter is being held in her momma's arms...
...the sisters - my beautiful, identical twin daughters, both married to wise and Godly men - are visiting with each other. These things I can watch, as I see birds alight on branches, and hear the pond waterfall,
directly under this window. All these elements softly relax my whole being.
The tears have rolled down my face. I am living a dream I have not earned and do not deserve.
The Grace of God is amazing. I will speak of it my whole life long.
