Tour of My Art Studio!

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.

The New Art Studio






Took this shot yesterday. Then the Preacher got up this morning, repaired and repainted all the walls. Then he helped me move a sewing cabinet, desk, office chair, comfy video production chair and new backdrop; he moved shelves, my stool and my art table which he also elevated for me, up to countertop height.

Been working all day today, on filling up this room (it was a lot of work, but it wasn't hard to fill the entire room with tools, furniture, and supplies...things stashed all over this house have been long awaiting the day I could trick out my own art studio.)

I am so exhausted, there are no words.

I am so ecstatic and sloppy blessed, there are no words.

Pictures forthcoming tomorrow, dear friends. Can't wait to show you, in detail, my new creative space!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

"66/1" is Born (New Design)



Finally, the first version of my "66/1" design is birthed!  She's a necklace, instead of a cuff, which is a surprise even to me.  But she wanted to be a necklace, for her debut.

The first charm is hand stamped "66/1", as in "66 books in the Bible, 1 message".  The second charm is a cross, the last charm is a key.

"66 books in the Bible, 1 message, and the cross is the only key to understanding the message properly"...

...is the truth behind the symbolism that is this piece of jewelry.  The word "GRACE" is hand stamped on the leather pendant - that one word encapsulates the one message of the sixty-six books of the Bible.

The pendant is finished in torn fabric, for a vintage, edgy-yet-feminine sort of look.  Comes with a long silver chain, can be simply slipped over your head, no fastening or unfastening necessary - which is my all time favorite length of necklace!

Available in my shop, as soon as I get the time to take better pictures!

Email me, if you wish to pre-order.  She'll be priced at $35, shipping and handling included in the lower 48 states!

Going Local




Four hours spent cutting paper backings, gluing them to canvases and frames, and hammering on hangers. Then, I had to make prints of my smaller paintings, and print samples of other larger paintings, as well as some of my photography.

A. Lot. Of. Work. And I'm still not done. My Restored Soul Poppy mixed media painting still has to be framed and finished out, and my business card attached to the back. So much detail.

But worth it. Looks like my art is going into a local boutique!

Wish me luck...I am so excited and grateful to my daughter Sarah for putting in a good word for me with the owner.

I'm Pretty Sure...




...nothing else needs sayin'. Just sayin'.

#mostblessedwomanontheplanet


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

W.E.L.L. Being - A Video Weblog (Women Equipped to Love and Lead)

I've been a week, now, without a voice. I hate being sick. But I didn't make this video this week. I shot this W.E.L.L. Being Series video a couple of weeks ago...and then I sat on it.


 Why, you ask? Because I was afraid some friends of ours might feel I was directly referencing them - they have recently moved to the country. I wasn't thinking of them when I made this piece - I didn't even find out where exactly they actually live, now, until a day or two AFTER I finished it.


 I am going ahead and publishing this because...well, because first of all, it is the truth. Secondly, I have been "all about" this message since the turn of this millennium - I wrote about it in a series of essays that date back to the year 2001, and I can reference blog posts right here on this blog beginning in '08.


 So there you have it. Anyone who has moved to the country since 2001...I am not talking directly to you.


 But if anything I say in this video applies to your life, then heck yes, I am talking to you.


 Deal with it.  (Not really...I only say that for fun.)


 Without further ado, here is the video...and please excuse the too-loud music. I'm still deep in Beta Mode, when it comes to creating my weblog videos. Many thanks in advance for your patience!


 

PS.  I am laughing out loud (well...croaking out loud) - please also excuse "The Hand" that pops up, now and again, with the air quotes and other such gestures.  I don't know who that is.

Just kidding.  It's me.  But it looks like someone is hiding just below camera level, mocking me...

Now that I've ruined this for you.  You won't take it seriously a'tall.