by Susan Lobb Porter | 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.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Studio |
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.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Studio |
Arty Life is moving at warp speed these days. Got a new studio to finish. Estimated move in date, three weeks.
Mr. Spouse, AKA Weekend Construction Warrior, assures me I will be in by July 8th. He has yet to tell me the hour or the minute but I have no doubt about his intentions. If he says by the 8th, he means by the 8th.
He is often mistaken for an engineer.
So here’s where we stand as of this weekend. Got electric. YAY! Cabinets are in, forms are made for the concrete countertops. They’ll be poured next Saturday. I will be mixing the color. Black. Mr. Spouse trusts me to do this. He says they won’t be black, more charcoal. It doesn’t matter what color they are once the paint comes out.
The lower section in the photo is my office area. Computer, printer, scanner. You have to pretend you see them, just like you see the countertops.
I’ve been working behind the scenes. Building cabinet drawers. There’s a few of them posing with the box from the exhaust fan. Buddying up because soon they’ll be at opposite ends of the studio. Drawers in the office, holding pens and files. Tape. Clips. Rubber bands. Chocolate.
Mr. Exhaust fan will reside against the real wall, heroically sucking up toxic art fumes. I do so adore him.
Then there’s the easel, seen up above with cabinet parts. The reviews all said it’s a great easel but a bi-atch to put together. Sounds like migraine level on the fun-o-meter to me. So I’ve been putting it off until I get a better attitude or the night before the move. Whichever comes first.
More behind the scenes, this time warp speed snail version. I’m restructuring my official art site, the one I never direct anyone to because it was thrown together last fall right before my show. The work doesn’t represent any of the new things I’ve been doing since then. I hadn’t realized how much I’ve done until I began organizing the photos for the galleries.
Not just any galleries. I’m taking it to the next level with an on-line store. Right now it’s limited to originals but prints will follow after I get set up in the new studio. This is where we get into the speed of slow. I’ve been pulling out my hair all day figuring out the ‘intuitive’ e-commerce plugin.
Intuitive for a code junkie, maybe.
But I tend to operate on the right side of my brain.
Ah, I’ll figure it out. I. WILL.
Because I’m too stubborn not to.
Okay, my sweetums…time for me to end this fascinating (WAKE UP!) one sided discussion and go back to e-commerce land. Wishing you all sweet dreams and productive days. One of us got to have ’em.
by Susan Lobb Porter | Art, Dogs, Mr. Spouse, Studio |
Oh. My. So many adventures in Arty Life land the last couple of days. Brace yourself because this post is going to be skipping from one thing to the next, each topic guaranteed to make you more dizzy than the next.
First…and only because it happened minutes ago and I’m still as jumpy as a tweaker from the adrenalin rush…my brush with wildlife. There was a bear rat in the hay shed. Big sucker. But I was BRAVE. Oh, indeed I was, even with flip flops on my feet. No girly screaming like I did with the mouse. No. This time I was brave enough to stomp and shout with a very big voice like a very scary person. And bang a couple metal trash lids together like a one woman marching band. And Mr. Rat was so impressed he fell off one shelf and jumped down from another. The last I saw was his bare naked tail as it disappeared behind the hay.
Begone with you Templeton!
Now that I’ve impressed you with my wildlife management skills…you ARE impressed, aren’t you…now we can move on to Precious Man Dog (AKA Bean, AKA Benny) If you read Friday’s post, you’ll recall PMD was sorely in need of a haircut. Being a poodle mix the hair just grows. And grows. I let it grow over the winter to keep him warm. Dreadlocks happen and matts and clumps of thick, dense felt take over. Then in the spring I take to him with scissors and we start the cycle all over again.
So this was PMD last week.
This is him today, half the size he used to be. But so darn cute I can’t stand it.
Sophie is in the middle of her spring trim. I have to wait until she’s dead asleep before I can get certain spots. Like her chest. Right now she’s sporting a whole lot of chest hair. Throw a couple gold chains around her neck and she’d be a ringer for Burt Reynolds.
Okay, now it’s time to move on from critters, both wild and domestic, and get to art. Got a couple works in progress to show.
This is acrylic, 2’x2′. Don’t have a clue where it’s going but will know when it gets there. Layers and scribbles. Layers and scribbles.
This one is also acrylic, 36″x48″. Still very much a work in progress. Oh crap…as I’m writing this I’m wondering if I put the lid back on the jar of Titan Buff…well, let’s hope I did because it’s dark and I’m not heading back down to Studio Grande.
Speaking of Studio Grande, Mr. Spouse got some sheet rock up in the new! improved! Studio-Grande-to-be.
He was hoping to have it all rocked this weekend but it was slow going. Hard work indeed. But this is how Mr. Spouse relaxes from his desk job, he builds stuff. And I’m not complaining. By the way, this photo was taken after 6PM. Still good natural light, at least at this time of year. Even more when the tarps come off the skylights.
A gentle reminder that Wednesday is Random Acts of Art. I hope some of you will join me in sharing where you hide your treasures. You can send me photos before Tuesday (like, today) and I’ll post them on the blog. Or you can post the link to your own blog anytime between Wednesday and Saturday.
I’m posting art every day on my FaceBook page. Pop on over and check it out. And while you’re there, do me a GREAT BIG HUMONGOUS favor and click the ‘like’ button (for the page) if you haven’t done so already. And if you’ve already liked my page, pat yourself on the back because you are my BFF and I love you…truly love you… almost as much as I love chocolate!
by Susan Lobb Porter | Life, Mr. Spouse, Studio |
Rain. OMG, winter has FINALLY ARRIVED.
And Studio Grande-in-progress has HALF a roof. Just half. The other side being nekked plywood. The skylights are in, all four of them. But Mr. Spouse wasn’t sure of the flashing, the stuff that makes them water-tight. With the storm door now open and rain/snow predicted all this week and beyond, he tarpped ’em, Danno. Just to be safe.
The side that has the roof, you know, shingles and stuff, did not leak at all in last night’s rain. That side has been the major leaker in the past so we are very pleased.
But the nekked side has two tarps. Because it leaks. This is the view from the back door of our house.
And this is the hobbit door. It will be painted red. And the bungee cord will be replaced with a real door knob.
There are other things to be done inside, less dramatic as far as photos go but enough to keep us busy since all outside work is on hold until the weather clears. Which could be weeks.
I say us but I really mean Mr. Spouse. It’s my studio but his project.
And I’m not complaining at all.
