My Big News. And other smaller events.

Sesen Textile and Mixed Media Art Studio

Drum roll please.........
I am incorporating a gallery into my studio! Yes! I am so excited!
Having been involved with little co-ops and had scarves and paintings in other peoples exhibitions or galleries for a number of years, there has been this little voice whispering that I could do this in my own space.
So when we were designing our house, I made sure that my studio would be big enough to include a little section for the public to drop in and check out what I make and how I make it!

But of course life gets in the way and the past two years had been taken up with building our new house and making it a home and I had been caught in the rut of producing same ol', same ol' for the on-line stores. Well, it was easy. People like what I created and it helped pay its way. But in the meantime my studio was becoming an embarrassment and I didn't like inviting people in.

So there I was deciding that enough was enough with the mess and disorganization that was my work space. Something had to be done because I had become lost. I felt like I was achieving nothing and going nowhere. ( mid life crisis/ menopausal hissy fit?).

Mixed media cards and canvasses

 
By the end of December a lot of stuff was thrown out and generally made tidy, when a little door in my head opened and said. "Remember Julie? Remember that you wanted  to invite people in? Well now you have the room!"

Hand painted silk scarves

So my little gallery has become a work in process.
And little section it is too! Only 3.3m square (11").
My wonderful hubby (extraordinaire)built a sectional wall for me to hang paintings up and we put together a shelf for bits and bobs.
I have approached a local artists collaborative to be included in their open studio map and approached the council for zoning to be told that  because I only have a little space and will be open by appointment rather than full time no zoning was needed on their part (yeeha!).

Silk and Cotton Nuno Felted Scarves

So now I need to design a sign for the verge and need to create wall art and other yummy things! I'm thinking I'm about 4 weeks away.
So wish me luck on this next stage of my artistic life!

Studio Makeover

OMG! Looks like a bomb has hit my studio!

This is what I want.

This is what Ive got!

Let me start at the beginning. ( a very good place to start... sorry, couldn't help myself there)

I am a textile and mixed media artist with a general A.D.D slant. That being the case, I tend to have a number of projects on the go at once with fingers in many pies.

Unfortunately, both my home and studio tend to be a very a good example of this little slant! Much to dismay of my obsessively tidy and organised husband. Luckily, (for me) he also has much patience, loves me dearly and tends to tidy up after me.

So to keep the peace, I do attempt to keep my 'stuff' to the studio and only small areas of the house where I may be doing a spot of crochet, sorting fleece or other little bits and pieces that can be done of an evening.

Anyhoo, what with it getting busy with both my stores for Xmas. Sesenarts and SesenArts and Crafts, Ive got scarves on the go, ribbons dyeing, photographs to take etc, etc. And they are all happening at the same time in the same space. And its getting scary in there!

Its time to get organised!
Ive always read its best to start with one small space. And that sounds like a good plan to me! So I think it will be the office desk. (and its really scary!) That's my job for this weekend. 

How do you keep your creative bits and pieces organised?