Hot, sunny watercolours

Today was hot enough for the air con.  

Unfortunately the studio is not air conditioned, and still has rollar doors - which means it is hotter ( or colder  in winter) than the rest of the house.

So - in light of these hot days, and hotter coming... I have taken over part of the dining table

A little spot to doodle, draw, or get out the watercolours.

I am trialling this little set-up with the wooden carry box... if its successful I'll let you know!

For Sunday Sketches - this little sweet butternut pumpkin that I just harvested.

It may well have grown bigger, but the vine was dieing,  and just taking up dead space in the vege patch. 

I don't often just doodle, or art journal anymore... was relaxing and just perfect for a Sunday!

After a busy couple of weeks with Art Every Day - it feels somewhat empty today!
 I have big plans for the house (read it needs a thorough cleaning), Christmas planning, shopping & cooking (so I'm a little late making the pud this year - really no-one will notice!), and three or four major works to start (and finish).  I also have a really interesting book project I am working on... but won't say too much until I have it finished! :-)
So things around here will go back to normal... whatever that is!

Some favourite posts from last weeks:

Whats for Breakfast?

 

 
watercolour with mixed media

Have really loved all your fab comments this week... I am a bit behind it replying to you all, and Thanks for the MS blogs tips! xo L.

Not a life on repeat

"It’s true that some risks are not worth taking, but most risks will mean the difference between living a life on repeat and creating a life forged in sweat, on the steps to a breathtaking summit. " 

Raam Dev, 2012

I love this quote I share from Raam - more on this further down.

Some of the things I love...

Taking over the double garage to set-up art, painting, and sewing areas...

crystal and glass containers...

recycling an old massage table into a printer and scanner workstation...

 

pinning altered pages swaps, random, vintage and found objects on the newly created pinboard...

collecting gumnuts, and feathers...

I have spent the past several days sorting, re-organising, and re-arranging the 'stuff' in the double garage.  It is now mostly the way I want it - but things never stay the same do they?  I have loved supplies within arms reach, space to spread out, nice natural lighting from the window, the easel in a prime location, and even the sewing table and ironing board is all ready to go! 

It's not perfect: the rollar doors let dust and the northerly winds blow straight through, with only one window half the space is a little dark, the floor is painted concrete, and has a slight slope!   But what it lacks it makes up with by being almost 36m squared of space that we can now all use to be creative without fear of making a mess, it has easy access to water for cleanup, and I am still within coo-ee distance of the family.

Actually I have made this room so nice and inviting, when I come in here to work ( or escape) they usually follow me :-)

But sometimes I feel a twinge of guilt.  All this space is just for me?  All my art, and paints, and quilting, and altered books - all just for me? ( well I do sometimes allow the family to visit - but you understand, primarily this is for me). 

But back to Raam's quote.  It would be normal to have the car in the garage, and not an art studio.  That would be conventional.  Normal.  But because I don't want to live a life on repeat, and because I would rather live a life richly filled with color and creativity, risk and extravagance, I choose that over convention (or guilt).

Using collage elements

The start of a new work, using the collage sheet from previous post, and some original ephemera, and own artwork...

I'm not finished yet... but this is a good start!

Steps so far:
- tear collage sheet into strips as you feel
- assemble other collage papers - I used old library tags, old book text, mulberry paper
- add your own drawing - I like drawing over watercolour or acrylic, then tearing that up
- arrange, then glue down using gel medium.   I liked gluing straight edges to the straight edge of the board today - but sometimes I leave it ragged too.

I love the freedom of being creative in a 'go with the flow' moment.  I have some cool ideas to use the dates from the library tags - those details will come in the next post!

Inspiration board and Art desk organisation ideas

A quick view of another area in my studio. My pinboard - well its really a white board, so I'm using pretty washi tape to 'pin' up ideas, sketches, etc.  Along the front are some 1/2 finished paintings too.  My laptop lives here, and there is a stack of art books waiting to be put away!    I'd really like a proper board I can pin into - maybe covered with cream calico... and nice glass pins...

The art desk... where chaos usually reigns, but this is a rare moment of tidiness so I thought it warranted a quick snap!   I am so lucky to have this space, and  I try and tidy after each project.  

organised: stacked. labelled. sorted. contained. required. useful.

That last one is interesting - what is useful to someone interested in mixed media?  other than everything? I prefer to have things I use all the time right at my fingertips - that way I can save my energy for the actual drawing or painting rather than getting up to find something I want.     For me, out of sight too easily becomes out of mind, and I forget where I put it - or even worse that I even have it.  So I try and keep things really organised where I know where they are, and favourite items are within arms reach at best, or super easy to get to.

The dvd camera is setup ready to record - but at present I'm not doing much in that way as I need a new cable to connect it to the laptop. Plus it takes a long time to edit and upload!  However, I get so much out of watching others create and so appreciate their time  and generosity in sharing, that I will record some more projects - as soon as I get the cable!

simplicity: to have what I regularly use easily accessible.