One thing I did do is sign up for a very cool event. It's called The Creative Connection, and it's put on by Jo Packham and Nancy Soriano. Nancy is a former Editor-in-Chief of Country Living Magazine. Jo is the President of Chappelle Publishing, and Editor-in-Chief of Where Women Create magazine, as well as author of the books that inspired it. This is a Somerset Studio Publication, for those of you who are into altered art, art clothing, or art dolls, and may be more familiar with that masthead.
The event is in mid-September and features keynote speakers, seminars, and workshops from some of Somerset's most popular contributors. I'm signed up to attend one day, and got an email today saying they are still trying to figure out if they have a vendor's booth space for my portfolio display. Check it out at thecreativeconnectionevent.com. Even if you aren't an artist, the Handmade Market is open all three days for you to buy amazing handmade things from the artists who design the things that mega stores copy, so you should still plan to come.
Thus, in the spirit of Where Women Create, which features the work spaces of extraordinary women, here's where I create, when I'm not out slinging paint at client's walls:
The day starts here around four or five, with pages and prayers, then planning the day's schedule (which I mostly ignore, but it makes me feel in control to write it), and doing design work and sketches, all while still in pajamas. I love working in my pajamas while morning traffic rushes by outside!
This is the official studio. The tall table on the right is an antique drafting table, gifted to me by neighbors I had not yet met, but who guessed I was an artist by the stylish paint rags that pass for my wardrobe. I tip it up when I need it as an easel, but keep it this way most of the time, as it gives me lots of room to spread out (lots of) projects.
This is the studio annex, also known as the dining room in normal people's houses. A lot of my married male friends envy my freedom to use my dining table as sawhorses for projects that don't fit in the studio, and are a hassle to take downstairs to the wood working room. This week's project is a sign for a gift shop. Apparently I am no longer a former sign painter. (btw: the paint on the floor is from the previous homeowner. Even though I haven't refinished the floors yet, I use drop cloths in my own home, just like on the job.)
I love pocket doors! As you can see, my studio is quite appropriately located in what was called the "drawing room" (withdrawing room) at the time the house was built. If I really need space, the front parlor is through another set of pocket doors, so with those open, and the oversized coffee table cleared, my workspace is tripled, and in fact the entry attaches to that with another set of pocket doors, and is large enough to hold yet another full size table, normally used for client meetings. If the art thing doesn't work out, I could probably open a restaurant without rearranging too much furniture!
And this is where it ends. I rarely stay awake more than two minutes after my head hits the pillow, but I always bring a stack of books and a sketchbook to bed, just in case. Bear Bear is the perfect bed mate. He doesn't complain about being buried under a pile of books, never grouses about pen marks on the sheets, doesn't snore and doesn't say a word about whether I do, is unfazed by mad scribbling at 2:00 a.m, and snuggles on command, though that's admittedly a bit one sided.
It's midnight, and that pillow looks mighty inviting. I still have to pop over to keystone and write something there. Check in here on Monday. I'm hoping the storm that rolled through here tonight will have chased out the heat, and I might finish up most of the front porch project. Lots of fun details I'm itching to finish and photograph.
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