Thursday, April 24, 2008

The Evolution of an Art Studio













As our creative endeavors in the studio became more and more a full time occupation, we began tossing around a few ideas for changes that would make it a better working space. Remove the carpet and pour a level concrete floor. Wouldn't a bathroom of our own be nice? And while we are drawing up a wish list, why not a kitchenette with a small refrigerator? A sink with a hot water dispenser for tea? A sliding glass door opening to a shady, moss covered brick patio with tropical plants. And as always, shelves, shelves, and more shelves. Dream big, don't be afraid to ask, that's our motto!











And one day, the DIY Fairy Godmother of remodeling stopped by to grant our wishes, and with one good sweep of the wand, KABOOM, made a real mess of things!

Sadly, no tiny, dancing mice with dust pans ever materialized to help us with the clean up effort, and thinking it unwise to complain too much to one's Fairy Godmother, we promptly pitched in with our own bit of magic -- hand-plastering the walls, painting, patching, mosaicing the backsplash-- and at long last. Voila! Our studio!

A colorful home for the imagination, with lots of storage space...
A kitchenette... Frida Kahlo on the valance...
George Eliot's words of wisdom on the backslash:
"It's never to late to be what you could have been."
Julie's ocean mosaic in progress, four years now and counting. Inquiring minds want to know, will it ever get done?
Work stations in the conservatory with lots of light and storage...

A place to put our toys: drill press, easy bake polymer clay oven, soldering iron, glass grinder...
To store ceramic glazes...
A level floor-- which we fauxed ourselves--only took six inches of cement to get it that way!
Our very own powder room with shelves down the side for beads and miliflori. More shelves for our growing library of art books.
And yipee, the beginnings of a brick covered, atrium patio garden, with outside walls covered in hardibacker--that wonderful canvas those of us who work in mosaics put our pictures on.

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