My Studio

This last September we had a bunch of work done on our house. One of the rooms being updated was my studio. First, Daniel and I painted it -- finally after nine years in the house! And then we had the old carpet taken out and laminate flooring put in. It changed the whole feel of the room!

The nook with the bed has become very cozy - although you can see I still have to arrange more books around it.

We also put shelving up on the wall and I brought all my German books and my art books into my studio. Can you tell we love books?

Daniel painted an unfinished door for me to use as a table between the bookshelves and I propped it up on two storage cubes, where I can hide some of my painting mess and keep a bunch of file folders out of sight!

I have a nice corner for my easel and my new ikea storage cart makes it easy to have my supplies both at my drawing table or at the easel.

As you can probably see, I have no art up on the walls yet. That's very normal for me - some people like to finish all the decorating first. I like to just move in, have it feel good and then get to work with my art.

I'll probably take some time over the holidays to move in completely, but frankly with books and art supplies it's already close to perfect...

And when we have more guests than our guest room can hold, it's easy to break everything down and make this into a cozy bedroom. Well, once the extra books are off the bed...

With that said, I'm off to my studio to paint a little more. Now that our art show is over, I have all kinds of creative energy...

Wishing you a beautiful and happy Saturday!!

❧ Silke

And Today...

Not that you think my studio stayed as tidy as it was in the last photo of yesterday's post. This photo I took just now. There is still some order, but I have three paintings in the works and nothing stays tidy when I paint: not my studio, or my clothes, or my hands...

We are enjoying the slow days of summer right now - it is fairly hot every day and definitely humid. Summer here is so different from the summer I grew up with in Europe. There you were never sure if you'd really get a good summer and when you did you spent every minute outside. It was often the best time of the year. And it was always sad when the summer solstice was over and the days would get shorter again.

Here, summer is for sure. For sure! And I turn into a little wilted flower. So, I've learned to stay indoors mostly and do all the things I love to do. The summer solstice is a happy day for me, knowing that the days are getting shorter and our amazing winter is on its way. It'll be October or even November before our night-time temperatures will dip below 70 degrees and we'll feel that little bit of crispness in the air, but that's ok. I know it's coming and in the meantime I am grateful for air conditioning and cool showers.

And I have enough creative projects going to keep me going for a very long time! That is a good thing!!

❧ Silke

Wordless Wednesday - Before and After

❧ Silke

Still Playing in my Studio

After what I talked about in yesterday's post and accepting that maybe (that sounds certain, doesn't it?) I AM and artist, I find that it has changed how I approach my day.

Usually I get everything else done before I "allow" myself time in my studio. Some days there's time leftover and other days there isn't.

Yesterday and today, I took care of what was important - like feeding the animals - then put on my painting apron and went to my studio.

It feels more like I mean business. In a very good way!

And I started a new painting on canvas. It's still very tame, and I like her face. It might look very different when I am finished with it, so I thought I'd post a picture while it's still pretty. :)

I hope you are having a terrific Thursday. For me it's time for lunch and then some knitting and chores around the house. The temperatures are warmer again and we are all thawing out.

It's a good day! And I'm wishing the same for you!!

❧ Silke

A Little Messy?

Maybe. Inspiring? Definitely!!

We are having friends over tonight (the couple who got married yesterday) and so we have a busy day in the kitchen. I hope to remember to take photos to share pictures and recipes with you...

I did take an hour this morning though to spend in my studio and I noticed just what a happy creative mess surrounds me there. How do you like my pile of blank journals? Hey! Just because I'm no good at keeping journals doesn't mean I don't love blank books! (My friend Verena could tell you stories about my love for paper and pens that started when we were still in high school and has not changed!)

A collaged card with good wishes for 2011 from my good friend Beth,

a vintage image Beth sent me some years ago of a young woman looking very much like my sister, one of my very favorite spooky pastel paintings I created a while ago (must get it framed!), and photos of my sweet nephews in those fun frames they made themselves,

more of my paintings and other creative stuff,

my easel (ok, so it's really Daniel's easel) stacked with several paintings,

little pieces of art some of you, my blog friends, have made for me ... and more stuff (of course),

my favorite brushes,

some books and magazines -- all of those things inspire me to be creative right now!

And so I played with washes on a little canvas,

 a bigger canvas (don't know what I will do with that one...), and backgrounds for journal pages,

-- here a close up of some of the texture on one of the journal pages --

and a couple of very light washes on the canvas I had prepared with the papers.

Nothing is finished and with none of them I know where they are going to go in the end. One thing became clear to me though as I sat in my messy little studio looking at the women I have painted -- I miss them! I miss painting faces that then look at and speak to me. So... expect to see another woman soon!

But for now, it's back into the kitchen for me where Daniel is already very busy!

Wishing you all a beautiful Saturday! And thank you so much for your continued visits and comments! I always love hearing from you!! I hope to visit you all tomorrow...

Welcome to My Studio!

About a month ago, I had shown some before and after photos of my studio and the talented Vicki of "2 Bags Full..." suggested I sign up for "Where Bloggers Create II" at My Desert Cottage. Click here to see what it's all about!
Yesterday, I almost backed out because my studio really isn't anything special. It's more functional than anything, and here's why!

It took me 42 years to figure out that I wanted to paint. And when it finally clicked, I didn't want to waste another minute making an elaborate space for myself. So, I repurposed one of our guest rooms. This bookshelf holds some supplies and my creative and inspiring books,
these few little plastic drawers are filled with paints, paper and supplies,
and this surface was created very simply by a plywood board held up by three filing cabinets. Here you can see all my gel mediums and varnishes, plus old tea containers filled with pens and other goodies.
I use one of Daniel's old portable drawing tables as my small work space. It works perfectly for me because I am one of those people who can get forever sidetracked by making a beautiful work space and actually never do any work. Plus, when I have too many options at my disposal, I get paralyzed and also end up doing nothing.
This way, I have just enough supplies, just enough space that I can keep it simple, keep it clean and - above all - a space where I can paint, paint, paint!

Thank you all so much for visiting! To see many more creative spaces, click here! You won't be disappointed...

P.S. Someone asked about the colorful dolls/figures on the wall. We've brought back many of them from our travels to Oaxaca, Mexico. The faces are made from coconut shells and they are all painted in bright, happy colors with many different designs.

A New Painting

A little while ago, we decided to move my computer cabinet upstairs into my little studio, which was one of two guest rooms before I moved in. It's a room that still needs to be painted, but for now it's cozy (love all the books around the built-in bed) and serves me well.

However, I hadn't gotten around to organizing the computer cabinet and slowly but surely clutter took over, making my creative space seem smaller and smaller.
So, this week, I took one morning and organized. I am proud to say that I didn't merely close the doors to the cabinet (I have to admit that I was tempted...), but that I organized and filed every piece of paper. Yeah!! Done!

I also cleaned my little art space,

all the while being supervised by one very lazy kitty.

After that I finally felt like painting again, and she was the result!

Those Eyes

4 x 6 inch acrylic painting on Strathmore Acrylic Paper

She's bold, she's colorful, she's heavily textured (molding paste) and she's thoughtful. I love her blue-green eyes and the general energy of the piece. You can find her in my little Etsy shop.

It seems from all your comments on my last decluttering post that I am not alone in my need to organize outwardly in order to feel at peace inwardly. This time, too, it helped. I feel much calmer than I did last week AND I've started painting again. I like that. A lot.