A New Year, A New Nest... Part Three of Three

Last but certainly not least in my series is our brand new classroom remodeling! For years I have looked longingly through the pages of the Where Women Create magazine. How I have yearned to have a space that was organized, chic, beautiful, light and practical in which to create. Not just for myself but for others. I wanted a place I could be proud of! 

Well my wish came true this January. I took a week off work to tackle this project, and to get my wisdom teeth out. The way I figured it, I would not think about the impending doom if I had a good project to keep my mind off it! (Don't you just love my logic!?!) I was counting on spending my swollen-like-a-chipmunk-healing-time sorting, organizing and creating the SUPER CLASSROOM! So in preparation, I began to disassemble,. and some friends came to help paint the base coat. 

Thankfully, my surgery went well and I wasn't in enough pain to keep me away from the project. I was a little loopy from Advil but that probably helped dull the pain of unpacking ten years of fiber art UFO's (unfinished objects), collections of fiber and fabric, class supplies and more. It was like a bomb went off in here. By the time I surfaced from beneath the piles, we were finally making progress in creating bins of labeled supplies. It was actually happening. 

Enter my creative husband and his dreamy storage unit, and this room was finally starting to shape up! He designed several nice features: put our door on sliders to save a ton of room, gave me a slim closet for table storage and easy access, and ample shelves just the size I needed them. Now I had a real workable unit where both students and I could access supplies quickly and easily. It's saved so much time and effort and looks very classy. I feel like I finally have the art studio I've always dreamt of. 

The second phase of this project was to paint the focal wall. A friend had offered to teach me the lazure painting technique. I wanted to have a wall that was full of soft, welcoming color and this was a perfect way to achieve that. The technique uses layers of color, giving you a watercolor effect. She and I used Golden Acrylic Medium mixed with an equal amount of water and a dab of acrylic paint added. This, being very much liquid, is brushed on quickly with one brush and brushed again with a dry brush. Layer after layer is added to give you depth and movement of the colors. We used about 8 layers I believe. It took a whole day to add the layers. There is some glitter added to the last layer. 

The effect is stunning, mesmerizing, dreamy and enchanting. I'm so glad we did this! It's such a magical room now, where creativity seeps into our souls and beauty is crafted from the heart. It's a room that is happy and cheery, bright and spacious. People want to come and sit and be. 

Thank you to all who helped make it possible! I feel like our nesting is almost complete for this year. What a better place the world can be if we just beautify the nest around us. If we make it warm and spacious and welcoming to others. I hope to leave you with that thought as we embark on the next chapter of 2017. 

Unveiling of the Super Coop!

Here it is! The chickens couldn't be happier! And I'm pretty thrilled too!  

A New Year, a New Nest: Part One of Three

Home Is Where Your Heart Sings

A self portrait of a little artist bird in her artist studio, this has many reflections of my life in it. We all have that place where our heart sings. Our home can be the place where love flourishes and creativity grows. Many of us have home studios. The chaos of life collides with the clutter of our surroundings and in the midst of it all, we still strive to create.

In my dreams, I would have a little studio like this. Rooms where art can be born. Rooms that are sunny and cheery and look out on the beautiful countryside. Rooms that house a vast expanse of materials ready for my beckoning, right at my fingertips. Rooms that provide a quiet escape of solitude and sanctuary. Rooms that allow our minds to fly into the vast realm of the imagination and bring those dreams to fruition. Rooms that recognize no limits.

I will still hold on to the hope of carving this out, in the midst of my surroundings. It might not be perfect, it might not look like my visions, but I will persist still. The Creator has put this desire into our hearts, to be creative like He is. I will find my drive and passion in the places I create. Even if this place is “just home”. Home is where my heart sings….. and the place where my dreams come to life.

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This is the artist statement from the 2016 Women's Journeys in Fiber Birds piece that I created. I was ecstatic about the theme when we met in January a year ago. Right away I had an idea. With all the great brainstorming about birds, birdhouses, boxes, pets, animals and treasures that floated about that day, I offered this suggestion. Why not call it birds of our imagination and the places they dwell? It encompasses habitat and home, creatures both mythical and realistic, and as many trinkets as our hearts desired. Everyone was thrilled and so began our journey.

The group is about twenty-four women from the greater Chicago-land who love fiber arts and the creative process of working together. We have about six months to create, then our collection goes on out tour. This year, it debuted at the Chicago Botanic Garden's Fine Art of Fiber in November, it is heading off to the Anderson Arts Center in Kenosha, WI January 29th -March 3rd 2017, taking flight to Chevy Chase, MD March 1-12th and then back here for the Chicago Flower and Garden Show March 18-26th. These birds are traveling some distance!

It's so inspiring to see the works of art in person and read the stories on each one. Some make you reflect, some make you laugh, some make you wistful, and all make you think. I'm honored to be a part of this group. 

My idea consisted on a self portrait of myself in my art studio. We all want that space where we can create. So  I created it in the form of minatures! I had a quite the time looking for just the right pieces to fit to scale for my rooms, and when I couldn't find what I was looking for, I just made it! I spun tiny skeins of yarn, and folded tiny bundles of my own dyed and felted fabrics. I tried to make as much true to life as possible, like the discarded threads and fabric bits on the floor while you create, or the vegetables that pile up on my kitchen table after a long day of picking in the gardens. But other things are purely imagined, like having my very own room for sewing and a whole another room for preparation. Then somethings are meaningful, like the star and moon mobile,  made in memory of Gale, a member who passed away last year. It came together and was quite fun and playful. 

This time of the year I get the urge to nest... January gives me time to breathe, organize, create and rest. We all need a pretty place to create. A place where we can feel at peace, where we can let our thoughts fly. It's such a great feeling when we are able to get to that point and savor it. 

So good luck to our nests! Whether we are reorganizing, or creating it from scratch, cheers to carving out your special place. May your January be productive!