The big reveal

Hi everyone

What a lovely weekend we had in Melbourne, the sun was shining and spring is just around the corner. It was the perfect time to get out in the fresh air and do a bit of spring cleaning around the house and enjoy the weather. Come on Spring and Summer...

So I would like to finally show you my studio. 

I still have to sort through magazines but it I have been blissfully using it for a while now so thought I had better show you before it gets too messy.

So last week I finally made labels for my boxes, which are somewhat clear plastic, mostly with little wheels on the bottom for easy moving on the shelves, all with lids to keep the dust out. I made them out of shipping tags and inked, stamped, stenciled them.

 So this is looking towards the back corner of the garage. There is my clothes dryer and my fridge for refreshments :) and then a filing cabinet and storage cupboard. On top of that I have my Big Shot ready to use and next to that my TV. Since this photo I have replaced this old analog tv with a digital one so my favourite shows can keep me company and the little bar fridge is now in the caravan giving me more space.....

 

On the top of all the bookshelves are my blank canvases and plastic palette cases. In the bookcase on the left are my sketch books of all sizes, my art journals and my pads of watercolour paper, canvas pads etc. Under that are my paints and mediums and under that are my folders of patterns, lessons etc.

In the middle of the two bookcases are my reference books.

Can you see the lovely comfy office chair I bought from Officeworks? It swivels and reclines but is also supportive for my back. It matches the nice soft thick carpet on the floor.

In the bookcase to the right of my reference books is all my scrapbooking and other art journaling supplies from stamps, to papers, stencils etc.

The nice big desk is an old office desk  that I sanded back and re-stained years ago and has been in my sons room until recently. On my desk I have an overhead daylight lamp, my heat gun and of course for winter I have a nice little heater underneath to keep my feet warm. I also have some computer speakers so i can plug my ipod in and listen to my favourite musice or Hayhouse radio shows. 

The trolley beside my desk is also from Officeworks and has 10 draws for all my pens, sharpies and little bits and pieces.

In the large bookcase at the end is all my MDF pieces ready to be transformed, my paintings that are unsold or waiting to go to an exhibition and also half done paintings. On the right hand side is another little bookcase I had in my laundry and is great for my projects on the go.

These photos were taken with the doors closed so I didn't have reflections but there is ample light at the moment and when I open the doors I have lovely sunshine and fresh air.

It might not be the perfectly colour co-ordinated room, and it might look a bit like organised chaos but it works for me and I am very grateful to have this space that I can call my own. 90% of everything has its own space and it is very easy to keep tidy. I love just being able to get up and leave a project where it is, to have dinner or do something else, and come back and immediately be able to pick up where I left off. My family now have to come out and remind me that it is bed time some nights because I get so lost in what I am doing. 

Can you tell I am a happy woman?

I have a new page to show you this week so will leave you with a little tease....

yes it involves finger painting and a bit of fun.

Hope you are having a great week everyone. My bed is calling after a busy weekend of catching up with great friends and Monday back at work. Don't forget it is a New Moon today so make your lists for your new ventures and goals. Let go of what is not working for you and look forward to the positive and your dreams. 

See you all later in the week.

 My thoughts go to those affected by hurricane Irene and I hope you are all safe and sound.

Namaste

Lee

Another step closer...

Hi everyone from a cold, wet Melbourne. We have just had the coldest day for 12 months and tomorrow we are not expected to go above 11C so I will be rugging up for work tomorrow. Winter is well and truly with us.

I wanted to show you a couple of photos on the progress of my studio so you can see I haven't been curled up inside all the time :)

 First the empty garage at last. A clean slate for my storage cupboards.

And today the cupboard shells went in.
Just waiting on the shelving brackets to arrive on Thursday and shelving to be built in between the two cupboards, and this weekend I should be loading the shelves up with all my things.

A friend is building this all for me after he finishes at this day job so it will be done in bits at a time. I am so excited and happy at this stage alone so I think I will be jumping for joy by the time it is all finished.

Meanwhile I have completed another journal page and begun a birthday present for my eldest niece.

So I started with a background of leftover paint which was a mix of Atelier Interactives Mars Violet and Carbon Black.










I then chose my stencil, another Crafters Workshop stencil,  but decided that I wanted the opposite pattern to show so I picked out a blank page on another journal and with Jo Sonja Lilac and a sponge roller,















I rolled the paint over the top of the stencil,











 Flipped it over on my original journal page and used my brayer to transfer the paint to the page

Here is the page on the left where I sponged over the top and the negative image on the right where i brayered over the top.

 Why waste paint I say and such a good way to get two uses out of the same stencil.

I really like the look of the one on the right; how the paint is not solid, giving a real textured look.

It needed a bit of shimmer so I put some Jo Sonja Rich Gold in a Mini Mister with water and sprayed over sections of the same stencil but with a different placement.












To give this lovely shimmery effect in places on the pages.















Next it was on to choosing a paper to collage and i picked a circle pattern out of this stack of papers I bought ages ago.

 I cut out the parts of the pattern I wanted and adhered it to the pages with Atelier Binder Medium. This is a great fast-drying medium that you can use for collage or to prepare the surface of your canvases so the gesso sticks better.

 

So here we are at this stage. I am liking where this is going but still have no idea of the title of the page. 

I found an adorable little owl stamp from Kaisercraft and used a sponge with Jo Sonja Yellow Green to add him to the pages.

This photo is a bit blurry but I then stamped using the same colour with this border of circles.

I picked the words for the page from a sheet of text from Kaisercraft, cut them out and decided where they would go on the page. I thought they would fade into the background so decided that I needed a bit of colour behind the letters

I used the small sponge brush with Jo Sonja Titanium White and then YellowGreen over the top. I just swiped them on the page without to much concern and then adhered the text with the Binder Medium.

So here is my finished page. I also added a bit of shimmer but drawing around the text with gold pen and adding dots on the circle paper in gold.

Well it is hailing outside now so it is time for a nice hot cuppa. I hope to show you soon,  the finished canvas for my niece; for now here is what I am up to.

I hope you are all having a great week. 

I leave you today with the quote from my pages

"Live today fully and you create a lifetime of meaningful memories"

Sophia Bedford-Pierce

Namaste 

Lee

A productive weekend

Hi everyone, I hope you have enjoyed your weekend. 

It is Sunday night and I am just about to go into my neighbours house for a lovely relaxing dinner after a hard day spent in the garage, shifting, moving and throwing out. I mentioned a few posts ago that I am moving my studio out to our garage which I will share with our campervan. The cupboards have been measured up and ordered so it was up to me to make some space for them. 

 

Here is what I started with, minus the box trailer which used to live in here but has been relegated to the yard now, cold and lonely covered by a tarp. 

Oh well, all in the name of progress of my painting space I say.

So today I needed to clear the bikes and other paraphernalia that we had accumulated over the years. All of my canvases on the high shelf have to come down so the cupboards can go underneath then against the brick wall. The old desk is a lucky pickup when my husbands work was cleaning out their offices and this was going to the rubbish pile. 

So here it is now

All of my canvases are on top of our campervan, 3 bikes are up on the wall behind it and the space is nearly ready for the cupboards to go in. Just have to get rid of a weights bench and 1 more bike and take down the shelving. I have a great big pile of stuff to donate to the charity shop and I also chucked a lot away........ ahhhhh that feels so much better....

I must say that it has taken over 10 years for me to get my own space so I am really excited about it. I know it will be tiny but it will be all mine. I have some carpet coming, a new heater for my cold feet and a new light to go in overhead. I intend to have a big declutter when I finally move in here so that everything has its own place without needing a miners hat on to find something.

Needless to say there hasn't been much art journalling going on at the moment but I did get a chance to do a doodle while I was watching the last Oprah show. I am a huge Oprah fan, and credit her for changing the way I look at the world, at people and at myself for which I am forever grateful.

 

It is on a background of yellow paint then I drew with coloured pencils, then with Staedtler fineliners and again with coloured pencils.

So now it's time to rest this sore body of mine and enjoy some good company. I leave you with a quote from Oprah's last show.

"you.. have to know what sparks the light in you so that you, in your own way, can illuminate the world"

Oprah

For me, one thing that sparks the light in me is creativity

Namaste

Lee