Showing posts with label supplies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label supplies. Show all posts

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Opening My Studio For A Virtual Tour--Come On In!!!

WELCOME!!!

Art is my life. It has seen me through very difficult times; through illness, sadness, disappointment and loss. It is what makes me, ME. It brings me peace and joy. I have always been an artist and have never thought of myself as anything else. I love sharing my knowledge and seeing others light up when they see what they are capable of!
I believe in an artist having a functional area that does not require excessive expense, thus, the remodel of a single room into my little piece of heaven. It is never night nor day; it is always *art-time*. It has offered solace through surgery recovery and will again. It is an escape from the outside world and I open it to friends who need the same.

Come take a look through a small and very affordable studio, made from a single room basement. Most of my items are repurposed, saving money for supplies and other art essentials!

This is the main work area, with a piece in process. Yes, it used to be a sewing table, and the brush holder to the left was a flower pot.....I did splurge for an *on sale* shelf to hold my finished box canvas mixed media pieces. I could live with that! A piece of foam insulation is covered with white wrapping paper--tidbits from friends pinned in, notes, reminders, ideas, rulers, etc.

Old candle glasses and an antique celery goblet serve other purposes. I always cover with plastic....I like to sling paint and medium aggressively! I also like supplies very handy......

Storage is close at hand---I don't want to waste time looking for items. Light is essential also, hence a few lamps I found in other household areas......off to the wet studio, never to return!

To my immediate right is more storage; this was a do it yourself shoe holder, which holds all my mediums. A drawing board atop antique quilt frames makes a great table and old salvaged microwave plates are excellent glass palettes! Easily cleaned!
Paints are sorted by type and color, in chromatic order. Another bin of drawers with more supplies, but less often used. Plastic pencil boxes serve to hold odd, loose or fragile items and all are labeled with contents.

My great grandmothers dining table, painted and stamped, with odd chairs; for company or lunch or classes that usually turn into laugh-fests!

Storage close ups---I use washable rags over paper towels most of the time. It helps keep costs down. The high tech cardboard box for fluid acrylics....the old measuring pitcher for texture brushes.... ;-)

A cardboard grocery display is great for sorting and storing small items and extras of paints. The cost? Nothing. Plastic tubs from dollar stores, recycled fruit jars and coffee containers.

An extra seat and my *splurge* sets of drawers, anticipating growth of supplies! Purchased at half price, I couldn't lose. (I also could not say NO...)

Directly behind where I sit, on the opposite wall, metal shelving, probably the largest purchase, covered with inexpensive curtains. Everything is sorted and in reasonable order on the shelves. These are finished items or things not used often but labeled and put in canned good flats from the grocery.

And finally, overflow storage behind the very small bathroom. Neat, in view, easy to access.

Thanks for taking the tour! Don't be afraid to try redoing a small space for your art; your time and talent are well worth it! It does not require a grand studio for you to make art that is grand.
I bid you,

Pax.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

In the throes of it all......

I can't take time to do a beautiful post full of lovely photos---I am in the throes of trying to finish this piece, which has gone from wonderful to rotten to great to almost destroyed to, as it is now, blissful! Well, that pretty much sums up art, as a whole.
So you get what you get today; a good look at the inner sanctum, the Sanctum Sanctorium, while magic is happening! (or a big mess is being made---pick one) Yes, I picked through every one of those polished small stones for three that suited my needs. I am definitely OCD. I think that confirmed it. I was even checking under the table, in case I missed or dropped one, just in case it might be better. That's not healthy.........

A little better look at the bedlam-in-progress.......I had to crop this because there was too much going on for the eye to visually land anywhere! HA! I frequently wonder, when I step back and look at work in progress, how I actually produce any art at all.
I am vaguely recalling that a cluttered desk is the sign of a high intellect, or something like that. Just nod and agree. Or I might enlist you to sort stones too.
Off to the Doc this afternoon, then hopefully I will have this finished up to post no later than Thursday, the day after I get to draw the winner of the Blog Giveaway! And thanks to everyone who has signed up and followed and posted on their blog about it. What fun!
And now gentle readers, back to the salt mines.....
Go have a fabulous creative day!!!
Pax.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Quick Peep

Was going to post some lovely photos from the garden but woke to thunderstorms this morning, so nothing but text instead. Pooey!
Off to my last out of house PT session this morning until the Doc reevaluates me, but in the meantime, I have the Marcy home gym uncovered and ready for action. (look out Jan! HA!) Now it is serious muscle rebuilding time, though they were quite surprised at most of my leg strength. There is one area half as strong as the others, so that is where I will be focusing, plus a good upper body work out to get back to being able to bench press something other than wussie-weight.
Gary said he will help me in the sewing studio this weekend to get it back in order and I shot a pic of the two purchases I made at the Quilt Guild show last Saturday, which are bright, glowing and just BEGGING to have something made from them. There might be sewing in the near future.
PLUS!!!! A friend of mine had dropped off two good, old iron skillets for me (seasoned and wonderful!) and I hadn't opened the plastic bag till yesterday. When I did, I found a small bag of the German pressed gold paper ornament (and I can't think of the proper name now to save my soul) and I was estatic! It will work so well for the box canvas pieces! So that is tempting me too.
And I have been delaying a trip to Manto Fev's site for a few things I need......AHEM!
I guess I'd better stop the verbal ramble and get myself cleaned up for therapy, but there is going to be some *art therapy* going on here at Casa Lockard too. I'm tired of posting my wild back yard (although I still have new blossoms on the tulip poplar!) and I am sure you're tired of seeing it!
There is supposed to be art here.......
I'm looking for it........
Hope your day is much more sun-shiney than here and hope your art time is productive and soul soothing! And add a few extra minutes to it for me, would ya? ;)

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Moving Along.....

It's been a rather frustrating morning so far; once again no e-mail and also I find out the *new* company doesn't have tech support on weekends! WOW. What service. NOT!!!!
So I'll just make art instead. Below, are two items in the cadre for the canvas. The first is a dressmakers tissue stamped with Staz-On ink. The second is glass glitter suggested by Tristan over at Enchanted Revelry. (sigh.......) He knows all these places that are hard on the pocketbook but great for supplies! Luv ya Tristan! ;)

As seen in the photo below, the stamped paper was used in the corners on the back of the canvas support. As much as I liked (and I really do mean LIKED) all that gold, I felt it needed a little something to break it up for this project. The stamped dressmakers tissue is perfect because it shows up the design but still allows the gold to show through. You can also see that there has been a bit of glaze added to the interior edge of the gold---a red mixed with GAC 200 to warm it up a bit. Then, as a subtle counterpoint, I used one of the cool interference colors to put along the outer edge, applied with a very sophisticated tool---my finger! (I'm not sure if it shows up in the photo, maybe just on the very corner of the piece...just a hint)

It helps the eye recover from the dominant red all around the inner opening. It is not in-your-face-obvious. This is, again, a play with the eye. Sending the line of vision where you want it to be.
The final photo is of the whole canvas with some paper stuck in the middle so I would not make a mess or drip glaze inside. I have not used the glitter yet; that will be for the inner cavity, possibly. And maybe it won't appear on this piece at all, but that is how I work. I like having the tools I need and might need in place so once I start, I'm not having to run all over trying to procure something.
One note on the bottom pic---with the existing lighting it looks redder here. It is not that red; I was too lazy and in too much of a hurry to fiddle with anything in the photo program this morning.......
All in all, this is proceeding nicely, considering the lack of time I have had to work on it and the amount of drying time between each step at this point. Hopefully, by next week, I will have this DONE and ready to unveil the whole!!!
In the meantime, go be creative!
I plan to!