Studio Friday: Studio Summer Brunch

CHILL! is the motif for my summer snacks and also the cover of my new home-made journal. you can't see it well in the photo but there's a found beer bottle cap that says "chill" on the palm of the hand. I've got to fight that summer heat with cold stuff. My favorite snack is fresh mixed berries when I can get them with yogurt and poppy seeds on top. I also love "nutty buddy" frozen ice cream cones. In the meantime I drink a lot of lemonade or iced tea and maybe an occasional iced coffee. If I get a really big craving for cold coffee flavor I might make a "colorado bulldog". Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a glass, saturate with kahlua, and fill glass with ice cold diet coke. yummm.

Here's a friendly visitor with his snack of choice - a black-capped chickadee with sunflower seed.

Studio Friday: SP(E)ACIAL!

Take a look around your at your studio space...how much space do you have?
Take a look at your art...how does your space influence your art in any way? Do you create small or large art works? Do you see a parallel?
Take a look at your dream studio space (yippieh!)...what does it look like? What is the layout? Is it big or small? And most important of all: What art do you create in it? Will it be on a larger or smaller scale than before? And what can you do to get closer to your vision this week/month/year?

I don't know if you can tell from the photo, but my office/studio is a long narrow room that was a porch once upon a time. Before we moved into the house I pictured it as a cozy workspace; now I feel hemmed in. It may be partly because of the shape, but it's probably more from the clutter that I just can't keep in order. As we're remodeling, this room becomes the catchall space for stuff that's in the way elsewhere, so I end up working at the kitchen table. I have to go through my mom's bedroom to enter this space and that can be limiting, as I sometimes like to work late at night and I don't want to disturb her sleep. Overall, my creativity seems to be hemmed in; that part of my brain is a narrow cluttered place without easy access.

I know the situation will improve and that I will have to be patient, so instead of an ideal studio, I'm dreaming about how to make my existing space work. This old window that is currently the wall between the office and the sunroom will be removed and replaced with a french door. That should allow more natural light to immediately begin streaming in. The opening from the office to my mom's bedroom will be walled up and I'll be able to put up another set of shelves to contain the clutter. I'll then be able to lower the work surface so I can sit instead of stand while working. The carpet will be taken out and hardwoods installed over the old porch flooring. Updated wiring will provide me with good lighting and enough outlets to power all my doodads. And proper insulation in the walls will ensure it's a comfortable place to work year-round!

I've got to finish the bathroom first, though!

Studio Friday: RE-Cycle

This is a no-brainer for me. The majority of the paper I use in my collages is recycled. When people clean out their offices at work I'm there scrounging for paper samples, cards, anything that looks interesting. I pick up used lottery tickets and bottle caps when I'm out walking. In this corner on my workspace are some good examples of things I use, which include clippings from catalogues and old magazines, receipts, price tags, paint chips, and leftover wallpaper from a home remodel project. I save boxes, too, to house my clippings. Part of this is because I like to save money, but as long as I can remember I've clipped and saved pictures or articles that I liked. When I started collaging I realized I could actually use some of those things instead of hoarding them.

Studio Friday: May's Studio Treat

Treat yourself to something your heart desires, maybe some chocolate or flowers or new art supplies... a nice little something (no spending of a fortune involved). Celebrate yourself !!

I decided to treat myself to a subscription to Somerset Studio magazine. It's such an awesome combination of eye candy and tips that I still thumb through the one issue I have that I bought almost two years ago. It's a little expensive at $7.95 a pop (anyone remember when magazines were cheap?) but hey, I'm worth it! I got a better price by ordering online from Stampington. I missed the deadline for the July-August issue, so it will be a bit of delayed gratification and a wonderful surprise in the mailbox when I finally get my first issue.



I've been working on several home improve- ment projects which include such glamorous things as sheet rock repair, texturing walls, and removing old curtain brackets. One of the fun projects was making these curtains to hang over the kitchen sink. They're made from an old broomstick skirt that I bought at a thrift store several years ago simply because I couldn't resist colors in the fabric. It was really too small for me but I couldn't part with it. I didn't want to use the sewing machine on this fabric, as the loosely-woven cotton is a bit stretchy, so I stitched the curtains by hand while listening to "Grey's Anatomy" on tv last night. I hardly ever watch that show, but I know who the main characters are, so I could get what was going on, at least for the duration of the episode.

have a great weekend; after two or more inches of rain yesterday we're gearing up for yet another line of thunderstorms today.

Studio Friday: 3 Wishes

If you had a magic wand what 3 creative issues would you solve? Maybe they are space issues that you are experiencing in your studio or issues about creating itself?


Only Three Wishes? well, I'll try to whittle down the list.

Number One Wish would be for a more ergonomic work space at home. I seem to end up doing most of my work at the kitchen table since moving to this house. I used to stand up and work at a glass-topped light table, but my back doesn't like doing that anymore. My mom is out of town for a week so I'm making the kitchen table my studio for a week - getting stuff laid out as you can see.

Number Two Wish: more time for art. I was going to say to get organized to to be more focused, but I think if I had more time those two things would naturally follow.

Number Three: Some hands-on learning with like-minded artists. I get tips and tricks from books, experiments or online, but it would be really nice to attend a class and connect with local artists with some similar interests.

As a postscript to this - as I was thinking about my wishes and what to say about them I realized I was simultaneously thinking about how to get the things I wanted. I'm thinking about some workspace solutions that will work temporarily until my office space is remodeled. I'm thinking about how to make better use of the time I have now so I'll be able to do better with any future extra time I may get. I have a week off from work and have been a busy little bee as I continue to throw out old stuff and arrange my supplies more neatly. Finally, I began searching for any craft classes nearby that I might attend. I may have to wait until September, but at least I know there are a few options out there. As for community, I've begun to better appreciate all of you at Studio Friday and Inspire Me Thursday. This online network is teaching me a lot about how similar many of our emotional and creative experiences are, even though we are working in many different areas. Thanks for sharing your experiences!!

Studio Friday: Seven Deadly Sins (Pride)

Number 7: What feeds your desire to feel that you are more important or attractive or better or more special than others? How does this excessive feeling of pride feed your Ego and distort your reality? How does its shadow become your downfall? Is there a way that you see towards a healthier way of being?

My first thought was that Pride is not a big issue for me. I take pride in my work, so I try to do a good job. I'm proud of my accomplishments, but I try not to brag about them too much.

I think where my pride really injures me is when it comes to asking for help. I've always been proud of my independence. Since I never met "Mr. Right", I learned to do many of the things my friends always had their husbands do, and felt really proud of that. The unfortunate consequence was that when I met with something that was too much for me to do it was nearly impossible for me to humble myself and ask for help from my friends. I thought it would puncture my aura of the-woman-who-can-do-it-all. I've mellowed a bit over the years, and now that I have a tricky back, I have the ideal excuse to ask for help.

I want to thank Tine for coming up with this Deadly Sins series. Even though I came in at the third or fourth one it's been a worthwhile project for me to re-examine my motives for some of the things I do. It coincided nicely with my reading of "Hooked!", the collection of Buddhist writings on greed and desire. I read something yesterday which is worth considering: The Seven Deadly Sins only become deadly when they become indulgences.

Studio Friday: Seven Deadly Sins (Envy)

Challenge #6: What do you desire that you are lacking and someone else has? If you could have it would you really want it or is it just a notion? How come you want to have it? What can you do to still that desire so that there is no need to be envious of any thing or anybody?

How do I envy? Let me count the ways....

This is a hard one to write about. I could do a humorous take-off on greed and sloth, but I can't find a way to mitigate the deadliness of envy.

The enviousness I see myself feeling repeatedly and most often have to do with health and time. I don't think a day goes by without me thinking about someone who is in better straits in these areas and wishing I was not in the shape I'm in. My health issues are twofold: physical and mental. I have severe anemia, which limits the amount of energy I have to expend on projects; and a bad back, which limits the length of time I can spend standing or sitting in certain positions. Mentally, I suffer from lifelong chronic depression. The medication I take to alleviate the symptoms tends to block my creativity. I so often wish I could be like "normal" people, that I could work ten hours instead of six without feeling exhausted, that I didn't have to fight medication as well as the usual mental blocks to creativity. As for time, it seems there's never enough of it. I spend almost two hours a day commuting to work, which seems like such a waste. Of course when I have the time I don't have enough energy to fully take advantage of it. If I had the energy I probably wouldn't appreciate it.

In Buddhist thought, desire is often tied to the suffering we experience in life, and desire is one of the key words of the definition of envy. I've been reading Hooked!, a collection of essays on desire and the urge to consume, and the solution proscribed to combat desire is to just let go of it. One writer calls it "Freedom through Non-clinging." If you cling to your desire, or to your envy, you'll inevitably be unhappy. I'm trying to apply the idea to my own urge to consume, and now to my envy.

Studio Friday: Seven Deadly Sins (Wrath)

Challenge #5: Wrath. Anger. Hatred. Prejudice. Discrim- ination. Not...good. How does it show up every now and then in your studio? Do you break things just because you are in its grip? Why? Do you smash your last creation and destroy it? How do you deal with it?

I'm rarely angry because of my art. Maybe it's because my studio is my "happy" place.

I think anger mostly appears in my studio after it has lost its brute force. In its aftermath I'm able to think through matters more clearly: to masticate my thoughts before spitting them out. I may rant about my dissatisfaction with politics, or social situations, or corporate stupidity in my blog, but I try to couple my anger with humor. It helps keep me sane.

I don't usually bring anger into the studio because my anger doesn't usually foster a creative atmosphere. I remember the outrage I felt at the treatment of the New Orleans citizens stranded in the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina. I tried to channel my anger into a collage and became frustrated because it didn't do much to alleviate my outrage. I felt less anger but more hopelessness.

The photo above is one of the few times a satisfactory creation came from the midst of anger. About five years ago my office was working ten hours a day seven days a week trying to meet impossible deadlines. After six weeks without a day off most of us were very tired and very angry. A co-worker suggested we all create a piece of art express our feelings. I created a digital collage with a scene from Fritz Lang's "Metropolis" to depict our daily drudgery and used Jose Guadalupe Posada's portrayal of the infamous General Huerta as a representation of our company's CEO, who seemed to be the only one profiting from our labors. That one felt really good.

Studio Friday: Seven Deadly Sins (Sloth)

Challenge #4: "How do you fail to utilize your gift and talents? How do you feel at those moments? Are you unwilling to act? Is it that you are afraid? What is really going on? How can a few simple steps change you? What do you need for that to happen?"

I am woman: hear me snore! Yes, it's the deadly sound of sloth at my house. I'm guilty of slacking more often than I like to think about.

Look at this corner of my workspace. It's a fair representation of what seems like my whole life these days. My desk, where I delayed doing my taxes, and tend to put off paying bills, doesn't look much better than this. Stacks of art stuff have crept onto the kitchen table and into my bedroom and sitting area. We've packed a few boxes of extras to donate to charity, but they are likewise scattered about. I like to use the excuse that it's because we moved into a smaller house, that I haven't unpacked and found everything yet, or that things are continually shifting locations because we're renovating. Those things are all true, but it's been four months and it hardly seems things are any better now than they were in December.

I'm overwhelmed by projects pulling me in all directions. I'll walk in, look at the mess, and stand transfixed until I throw my hands up in despair and walk away; or I'll rummage through the piles until I find enough interesting pieces to create "accidental" art. The act of rummaging results in more stuff piling up and the mess gets worse.

I think the trick is not to let myself become overwhelmed. Something I read a while back said if you looked at a pile of food, which was all the food you were going to be eating for the rest of your life, you'd go crazy trying to figure out how you were going to eat it all; but you don't have to eat it all at once. You're going to be eating it one bite at a time, one meal at a time. I'm trying to apply that parable to my messy house. One paper at a time, one pile at a time. I tried this yesterday and was amazed at how far just a little bit of organizing and rearranging went to clear up our living space.

My own workspace still has a ways to go.

new project

I decided that participating in some challenges from other bloggers might be a good way to spark my creativity. I found Studio Friday from tine sparkles which is a weekly challenge related to your personal workspace. The topic this week is "Greed."

Here's my take on Greed. I love the miniature art of stamps and matchbox covers. I think it stems from a childhood phase of stamp collecting. I have kraft envelopes full of stamps that I've been acquiring for many many years and a while back I started acquiring matchbox art. I love looking through my collection which I usually do on the pretense that I'm going to use some stamps in a collage. (Stamps are copyright free, after all.) Then I decide the stamps are too pretty to be taken out of their "natural" environment (my desk drawer). Lately I've managed to use a few stamps in projects and it hasn't hurt, so I hope to continue the trend.




Here's the third and last page I did with my "little princess" pic. This time I covered the stark black and white Asian written characters with a thin coat of white gesso, which softened them but still let them show through. It also added some substance to the page I used a few pieces of fabric in addition to the paper cutouts to add a different kind of texture. I was really happy with the fabric bits although the scan doesn't reproduce the texture very well.

After doing 3 pages with this image I ran out of ideas for it. That was one of the things that prompted me to start looking for some challenges from other bloggers. I sometimes do better when I have a deadline!