I’m in! I’m in! The new! improved! Studio Grande II is an actual working studio now. YAY!
Okay everyone, time for the dance break! And when you come back, pull up a chair, sit down and take a look at the last six months.
January.
Sometime after that.
Sheetrock.
Moving in!
First art!!!
Today I walked up and down the hill carrying arty stuff. From the old studio to the new. It was hot but I had a job to do (she says like a superhero).
Mostly though, I was…distracted. By this. And that. And those over there. Bright shiny things. Cardboard. Tree roots. No matter. It was all more interesting, more entertaining, than trudging up and down a 6% grade in the HEAT, I said it was hot, didn’t I? lugging huge panels and paintings and all manner of arty tools.
6% doesn’t sound like much to me, although Mr. Spouse assures me that’s an impressive number for highway engineers. I’m going to bump it up to, oh, let’s say 75% just so you know I’m really serious about this.
It was steep. And distracting. Because there was a car in the driveway and I decided I needed to go somewhere. Anywhere. So I did.
Then I came home and the studio still hadn’t unpacked itself.
We were not getting off to a good start. So I abandoned the job for just a few hours minutes tending to the social media part of the biz. Because that’s important. And I was only checking FaceBook for the stats.
Two hours later…damn you, FaceBook!…I climbed onto the countertops, Mr. Spouse’s concrete countertops, pounded nails in the walls and learned two things. Concrete countertops are not for kneeling, no matter how young your knees are. And mine aren’t. And two: Pencils, nails, hammers are always just out of reach. Or hiding behind something. Or under something. Or mysteriously transported to the other side of the universe because of something to do with theoretical physics and Science Friday.
Blame it on NPR.
Make that three things: This is going to take longer than I thought. But it WILL be worth it.
And it’s going to be hotter tomorrow.
Now here’s a photo of my feet. On the way home, done for the day. Tired little tootsies now being licked by the dog.
And tomorrow I get to do it all over again. But it’s going to be soooo worth it.
Oh, and if you haven’t seen my new blog yet, BIG BOLD BEAUTIFUL YES!!! check it out.
Once upon a time, like back in March when it was on sale, I bought an easel. A multi-angle solid beechwood sucker that can hold up to a 4 x 7.5 foot canvas. I bought it for the new studio.
But the studio wasn’t ready. The easel stayed in its box in the front hall waiting for the day I would put my brave on…and put it together.
I read the reviews. I knew what to expect…a great easel with the worst, absolutely without a doubt the WORST. Instructions. Ever.
But it was on sale.
Uh-huh. And probably with good reason.
I suppose in the back of my mind I thought Mr. Easel (he’s too manly to be anything but a mister) would magically assemble himself. That one day I’d wake up and he’d be sitting there in all his glory with the easel version of a come hither smile. We would make beautiful art together.
Didn’t happen.
So today I put my brave on.
It began as I was moving supplies from the old studio. I’d been ignoring the elephant in the room, the drafting table. The real deal HUGE thing I bought used years ago. I have no memory of how we got that into the studio. And I didn’t have a clue how we were going to get it out. Not without gouging walls, tearing off door frames and getting a divorce.
And then there was the matter of getting it through the new! improved! Studio Grande’s round red hobbit door.
That’s when I did the brave thing. I took it apart. There were lots of screws. And nuts. And washers. I took it all apart, bagged the hardware, labeled everything. Then I carried it, piece by piece, up to the new studio where I put it back together with a little bit of help from DearDaughter. Did all this while Mr. Spouse was running errands
Wasn’t he surprised.
I figured after that the easel would be a piece of cake.
What the hell do I know?????
Mr. Easel’s name is now Effing E. Because so far he’s proven to be a TOTAL pain in the ass. Hours and hours and hours of my time, of DearDaughter’s time, some token time by Mr. Spouse who was busy doing other things…and Effing E was still NOT 100% put together by the end of the first day.
But after a good night’s sleep, Effing E co-operated and went together. Although Mr. Spouse informs me someone stripped some screws. Which he will replace for me, umm…someday.
EE is now in the studio, which is still not completely moved into. I spent some time getting to know him today… and I’m thinking he just might be worth all the hassel.
Smiley face emoticon here.
Oh, in case you haven’t heard, I’ve got a second blog up and running. Big Bold Beautiful YES!!!. You can check it out here.
Oh my sweetums, I have been so busy this week. So so so so SO busy.
Effin’ busy, matter of fact.
Woke up about ten days ago with an idea. A little bitty whisper left over from a dream that worked its way into the thinking part of my brain. The part that consciously mulled it over, gave it a sniff, a taste, a couple of mental pokes until lo and behold, an actual IDEA was born.
Don’t you love the way that happens?
Happens a lot to me but I usually roll over and go back to sleep. Or come up with excuses and talk myself out of it.
But this time I rolled with it and said YES!!!
Fist pumpin’, back flippin’, cartwheelin’ YES!!!
And that’s what this post is all about, the power of YES!!! The power that comes from listening to dreams and making them happen. Of saying YES!!! and moving forward one step at a time.
I told you when I took last week off from Arty Life that when I came back I would have a surprise.
Well, do I ev-ah! Oh yes, indeed… Ta-da, drumroll please… dum dum dum dum dum tsssssh…. Introducing Arty Life’s new sis-tuh blog, BIG BOLD BEAUTIFUL YES!!!. It’s a stand alone blog with it’s own URL but it compliments Arty Life.
Like chocolate compliments everything.
You can access it through the nav bar up above. One of these days I’ll get around to putting a button on the sidebar. Check it out. Please do. And if you like what you see spread the word. Tell your friends. Like it on FaceBook. Shout it from the rooftops.
But creating a whole ‘nuther blog was NOT the only thing I did this week.
If you look up at the nave bar you’ll see a new category…FREEBIES!!! Wee digi gifties for you to download and print. From me to you. because I love you all so much. Much enough to stay up way past my bedtime making these suckers and figuring out the technical stuff. Just. For. You.
Right now there’s only one, a fun poster. But there will be more. I have all sorts of stuff in mind. And I’m saying YES!!! to things now so they’ll probably actually happen.
Imagine that!
But that’s not all…
Geeze, at the risk of sounding like an infomercial shouter, I’m dangling MORE goodies in front of you. Remember the Arty Life newsletter? The one I said would go out every month. But never did. Because it was one. more. thing. Well, I finally had an AHA! genius moment. I don’t know how much ‘news’ my newsletter will have but it WILL have art. Every month, some sort of digi download. Free! Just for letting me send you a newsletter once a month. No more than that, trust me.
But…but SUSAN!!! What about the STUDIO??? The NEW! IMPROVED! STUDIO GRANDE???
You guys are wearin’ me out. I’ve been BUSY, y’know. Studio’s there. Just a couple of tweaks and it’s all done. I’m starting to move in, one paintbrush at a time. Come back Wednesday. There WILL be photos. Promise.
You may have noticed I’ve been a little…lax about posting this last week or so. Well, there’s good reasons.
Ch-cha-cha-anges are a brewin’.
Oh my sweetums, SO MANY good things happening in Arty Life land these days! Good things! Uber good, super good absolutely freakin’ AWESOME good things!!!
This is the week ALL the construction loose ends get wrapped up in the new! improved! Studio Grande! At least the interior. The part I need to be finished so I can move in and make it my work place home.
I am SO excited!
But to get there we’re going through the storm before the calm. Oh indeed we are. You cannot walk anywhere in the house without seeing the chaos that will morph into studio orderliness.
This is what the living room looks like right now. Imagine those drawers in the studio. Loaded with art supplies in an ORDERLY manner. Sigh… I can’t wait.
I even bought drawer organizers.
I don’t have to wait much longer. This is Mr. Spouse doing manly things involving the soon to be major suck exhaust fan. The fan that will be my best friend when it comes to stinky art stuff.
The slate that will be the windowsills and firesafe back splash for encaustic land. Because building the studio is Mr. Spouse’s project. His art. And I’m not complaining. And the tiles will be beautiful splashed with beeswax, don’t you think?
While all these changes are going on in studio land, changes are going on with Arty Life too.
Oh. My. YES!!!
I’m in the process of adding a store and lots of art. You can see the progress on that if you click ‘latest art’ up on the nav bar. Still figuring some details like shipping and the boring behind the scenes stuff so it will be a couple of weeks before it’s operational. And I’ll be adding prints as well.
There will be price points for every budget.
Including FREE!
Yep, I’m going to add some freebies for download!
And that’s not all…oh no, my sweetums, not hardly…I have a BIG surprise!!!. Yes. I. Do. But like all surprises, I CAN’T TELL YOU. Not now. You have to wait.
So to do all that, I’m taking the next week off. Off from posting, that is. I’m going to be working my tail off. Finishing the studio. Moving in. And making some MAGIC happen here in Arty Life Land. Like I said, SURPRISES!!!
So come back Monday after next (July 9) and check it all out.
I can’t wait to share it all with you!
For the past month or so I’ve been taking Michele Bergh’s class on creating e-courses. It’s been an eye opening experience for me.
A heart opening one as well.
Because Michele has encouraged brainstorming. Mind mapping. Thinking about what we want to teach and why we want to teach it. And planning how to go about doing it.
Originally I thought I’d teach art classes…because hey, that’s what I do. And I probably will teach some. But I realize now I want to teach more.
Much more.
I want to give people the tools they need, the inner tools, to empower them to live a rich and creative LIFE. To wake up each day with a sense of excitement for what the day will bring. To understand the power of choice. Intention. Purpose.
To know it’s up to them. And excuses are just that…excuses.
To know the joy that I feel as I create the life I want. Because being happy feels so damn good!
It wasn’t always this way. I had to earn my PollyAnna stripes. For years I put my dreams on hold as I raised my kids. And then it was time to take care of my elderly mother. And I don’t regret doing any of that.
But there was always the undercurrent of frustration. Creativity unfulfilled. The novels unwritten. The blank canvasses. Coulda. Shoulda. Woulda. I told myself it was because I didn’t have the time.
But mostly it was because I didn’t have the passion.
Mama died last spring, just before her 96th birthday. A few weeks later, my dog. Nursing both my old ladies through their final months, weeks, hours left me numb. Left me empty. Left me questioning the purpose of living if dying was all there was to look forward to.
And then I started painting again. Painting painting painting painting PAINTING. Making marks.Throwing color on canvas, plaster on board. Scraping, scrubbing, sanding, creating things from a place inside that I never knew existed. For the first time in my life, even though I had an art degree and worked as an illustrator and art teacher, for the first time in my life I KNEW what it was to be an ARTIST.
I began waking up happy. Began embracing the passion of a new beginning. Of possibilities. Of living my dreams. At an age when my peers are counting the years before they can retire, I started nurturing plans for a whole new career. I taught myself WordPress, built a couple of websites. I’m painting, blogging, creating community, selling my work.
I’m saying YES! to life. Greeting each day with the excitement of what I can do to move my plans forward.
I’m living my life with the power of passion. As Martha would say, “It’s a good thing.”