New Studio Floors! and "Clothing Optional" Exhibit

Let me tell you a little story.  It all began in May 2011 when we bought a house that had an outdoor shed that was to become my studio.  At the time I was thrilled.  I still am thrilled, but with how far my studio has come, I look back at this first photo of this place (a shed then, a studio now) and I hear a hitchcockian woman screaming.

Yikes.  

Ick.

It had no ceiling, no interior walls, no insulation, a crappy beat-up deformed floor, and rats (or mice, I never saw one, only their droppings.)  Now, thanks to my art business doing well enough to pay for it all, and of course, Mat and Xelle for SO much help, it looks like this:

The most recent addition was the flooring, which I put in myself this week.  It was the second attempt at flooring, the first attempt being cheap laminate that wasn't square, therefore would not lock together and stay down.  After a lot of effort, raw knees and hands, money, and trips to Lowe's and Home Depot later, I am quite happy with my new floors.

Charlie and Frankie are cautious of this new floor:

But not for long.

Why should I blab so much about the finishing of this space?  Because it's the DREAM STUDIO, duh!  It's actually better than any studio I have ever dreamt of.  It is my space to soak in inspiration, and create.  I really do think the studio environment feeds one's creativity, because I have made more quality art here than in any other location.  And to think just a year and a half ago I was attempting to make art in the corner of our bedroom.  That's definitely do-able, but when making art is your full-time job, there comes a time to treat it like one.

All that being said, the studio isn't quite finished yet.  We still need to build a shelf over the flat file for large vertical storage of canvases, paintings, frames, etc, and a table/counter for more surface area to work on, and a bit more storage as well.  But it's so close to being finished I can taste it!  And it tastes like art!

Alright, enough of my love affair with an art studio, here is another of my nude figure paper cuts:

I have now made 19 of these.  NINETEEN!  I had not anticipated that I would make so many, but I have been so inspired by the figure, due to the upcoming "Clothing Optional" exhibit at CityArts Cooperative.  My trip to Europe also strengthened my love of the human figure, after seeing so many beautiful sculptures by Bernini, Michelangelo, and so many others.  The figures are taken from sketches I have done during Figure Drawing Classes at Studio b., and CityArts.  (I still teach Figure Drawing every Thursday at CityArts, 6:30-8:30pm!)  

Here is the poster with info for "Clothing Optional."

I hope to see many of you at the reception!

While I have gotten positive responses to the new green tips and inspiration sources, I decided from now on to just do one or the other for each post.  It will make each post shorter, and allow will myself and the reader (you!) to focus more on each tip.

Green Tip #5: Composting.  Great for the environment, less waste, great for the soil.  Some people have the impression that this is a gross thing to have to do in your home.  On the contrary, now that I compost, I find throwing all your food in with everything else in the trash is gross.  Just get a bucket with a lid that seals well, and throw your food waste in there.  Then, dig a small hole somewhere in your backyard, and dump the food in there, cover with a layer of dirt, and you're done.  Repeat at same spot.  There are fancier ways of doing it, but this way has worked perfectly for us.  After it's in the ground, it doesn't stink.  At all.  Really.  Then you can use the compost in your garden if you so choose.  I don't know about composting meat though, since we don't have meat at our house.  But here are a couple websites with some more in-depth information on the subject:

EPA Environmental Benefits of Composting

Earth911 Benefits of Using Compost

Thanks for visiting!

-Heather