Mixed Up Media All Over the Place...

I've actually been painting quite a lot, in little short bursts while I can sneak outside to the studio--well, okay, I'll be honest with you. When I get grumpy (which I'd like to say NEVER happens, but...it does) my kids actually ASK me to go out to the studio...So I'm actually not sneaking, I'm being sent, kinda like when you were little and your mom sent you to your room...

"Mom, that is ENOUGH, now! That's it--You go right to the studio, right now, young lady!"

Or something like that...

The whatever it was that I was struggling with seems to have abated, and I can see some new direction in the pieces I've been working on. This first one was painted entirely with my fingers, and I loved loved loved doing it!

I will post more as I scan them.

What I've Been Doing: Laminate Flooring in the Studio

Inspired by my success in laying laminate flooring in Katie's room, I decided to put laminate flooring down in the studio, as well. I've had the boxes of flooring stacked in the garage for almost two years now, always see-sawing back and forth about whether I should try to lay it myself or hire Walt, the wood wizard who built my studio.

I finished yesterday, and am so impressed with it. I'm happy happy happy that I didn't ruin it, although I still have lots of organizing to do. The original plan called for hiring Joel and his buddy to help me move everything out of the studio, but that just seemed like an impossible task, so I shifted things around a half-room at a time. Not the ideal situation, but given the weird weather we've had here in the last week, it was a good decision.

I will say that I miss my old red painted floor--loved the jolt of color it gave!--but I just couldn't keep it clean/get it clean. The laminate will be easy to care for.

The Studio

Took some pictures today while I was straightening up out here in the studio, then used Photoshop's "auto-align layers" function to create a composite (Note: you must highlight the two or more layers that you want to align by ctrl-clicking them, then choose Edit>Auto-align Layers; I chose "perspective.")

The gold chair came from Richard's parent's house, lovely, but a tad too formal for our house--isn't it odd that it fits so perfectly down here in the studio? The couch lived in one of the classrooms at school for several years before I bought it at the school yard sale for $10 and put a slipcover on it--turned out it had down cushions and is exceptionally comfy.

I love globes--the one on top of the bookcase was Richard's when he was a little boy; the other one was being thrown out in someone's trash.