More Corners of my Studio

More views of my studio. First: my work table which is pretty darn neat at the moment. There will always be a bit of clutter. I think that is part of the creative process--at least, mine.  That sweet little pumpkin has been waiting very patiently for its portrait. (I'm getting to it.) What else do we see there? Several paint palettes. Some tea boxes I've converted to hold my Micron pens and cutting tools. Some reference photos for a painting I'm about to start. Several jars filled with pencils and paint brushes. Behind my chair, you can see the lovely letterpress poster 'Live what you love' that I bought from Heartfish Press when I was in the initial stages of getting back to painting (well before I started my blog).

The bulletin board is really placed just for my eyes as I'm working, so it was a bit of a challenge to take a photo head-on. The single most important item for me on that board is the Van Gogh quote:  "If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint', then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced." I often think about how sad it was that a man full of inspired words of encouragement for others was such a tortured soul himself. That quote has helped me over and over again. A more elegant version of  'Just do it'. The young woman on the bridge at Giverny is me on my honeymoon. And the beautiful wooden heart that says 'Bonheur' was bought in Paris years ago.  The tiny acrylic landscapes on canvas (sitting on the top edge) were done by me and Chloé a couple of years ago.

I had to replace a light bulb in the ceiling light today, so took advantage of being on a stepladder to take a spider's eye view of my table.

I don't have side windows but have a nice skylight that provides decent northern light in the early part of the day. I still tend to use my art light (which has two bulbs that mimic daylight) most of the time. I sometimes miss having a window on the side walls but I would probably spend too much time gazing out of it.

There is just one more view to show you of my studio. That's the front view from my table. I just have a bit more clean up to do there. Did you wonder if maybe I was just shifting boxes from place to place, taking photos and pretending that I had cleaned things up? Hah! Don't think I didn't think about it. No, I'm really happy that things are more organized now.  I'll take that front view photo in the next few days.

Someone else is happy at the current state of my studio. Meeko now has a lovely clear sofa to read his copy of Uppercase magazine on. ;)