Happy Easter

Hyacinths at signpost.

If the kids were here, we would have had an Easter Egg Hunt. The last one was when our son was in 10th or 11th grade. He was new in school and I'm not sure his friends had ever met anyone as nutty as his mom -- planning an egg hunt for 16 year olds! We all had a blast.

Daffodils in the front garden.

As it was, my husband and I spent today like most other Sundays: church, lunch out, browsing at our fav bookstore (he gets coffee, I read magazines) and a leisurely drive home on the scenic route.

Daffodils ready for town festival later this month.

When we returned home one of B's friends had sent him a link to Peeps dioramas. Ya gotta check it out. We were in hysterics. Having read a lot of books to my kids, I was delighted to see their favorites featured: "Where The Wild Peeps Are" And "Goodnight Peep." We laughed and laughed and I had to share it. What will you make with Peeps next year?

Enjoy!!!

Big Creativity, Small Space

My wedding shoe, embellished!

My husband said the nicest thing to me the other day.

We . . . no let's be honest . . . I was talking about my studio and wondering why I found it so difficult to create in. It's small. It's small and cluttered and did I mention small? There is just one work table/desk and I have not disciplined myself to clean it off at the end of the day, so it is also always cluttered. I was worried it was me or artist's block or something.

What my husband essentially said was that my creative ideas are too big and expansive for the space I have carved out of the barn/antique shop. I thought that was an awfully sweet thing to say. And it was a new idea to me.

He then suggested I might consider using the whole 600 sq ft of my shop as a studio and even then it might not be enough space. I don't think I need 600 sq ft, and I really don't want to give up the shop, but he made me think about the space in new ways. It often happens when I bounce things off him, he provided a perspective that had not occurred to me.

Sometimes I don't think he pays any attention to what I am doing. This doesn't bother me at all. I was raised with the theory of "loving neglect," where my brother, sister and I were left alone to do our own thing, in a very loving way.

Still it was really nice to have him point out that I have big creative ideas. It made me feel good & gotten and it also made me stop wondering why the studio wasn't working.

I've been comparing myself to others -- if an amazing artist can house her studio in her dishwasher, why wasn't 90 sq ft large enough for me? And the answer is, everyone is different and comparisons only drive a person nuts.

The way the shop is situated, particularly entrances, front & back, windows, load-bearing posts, and the zigs & zags of an old structure, it's a challenge to carve out a single large space. But I was able to push the "walls" (bookcases) out 2 feet.

I added another bookcase around the work table to hold supplies.

I like having my supplies close and I like looking at inspirational things.

I cleared the table off just for this photo.

I also discovered that leaving a space between the table and the bookcases makes the table seem more workman like. Before I had a row of pens, buttons, pretty things at the edge of the table. Now they are on a bookshelf, so they don't take up any room I could use for making art.

New step -- a place to put stuff coming in or going out.