Studio MESS!

The weather is starting to warm up here, We had a sunny day yesterday and I decided to tackle the studio. As you know, this whole house is in flux and there is something going on or soon to go on or planned to go on in every room.The studio is a pretty odd room. 

When we first moved in, we had a leak in that room, there was water coming from the balcony above and it messed up the ceiling and the wall. Frenchie pulled a big section of the ceiling and the wall off to find out what was going on. Since we have built on the addition the leak is fixed but the damage remains here. The odd thing about this room is that you have to go outside to get to it. There is no entrance to the room from inside the house and that is a big problem. Since we heat with wood there is no way to heat it except the electric heaters. We hope to knock a door in the wall this summer and connect it to the rest of the house.

Last summer I decided even though the place was a fright and everything under the sun was piled up in there that I was going to reclaim it. I put a valiant effort into it and I did make it usable though still having to contend with things that took up room and didn't belong. Also the big mess...well it was still there.

Then it started to get cold and I realized that I was not going to be able to stay in that room, not unless I was happy running an electric heater non stop all winter! So I moved everything out of the entryway room and into my studio, and moved a lot of my things from the studio into the entryway. I spent my winter here near the wood stove, cramped but warm.

This is what greeted me when I opened the door yesterday.

So I have been itching to spread back out. I have a lot of things going on. I can barely turn around in the space I whittled out in the corner of the entryway so I dove back into the studio and started moving things yesterday. 

It is a bit of a nightmare but I think I can get it back into shape soon. 

When I was looking over that mess in there I started thinking back on the studios I had in our old apartments. I dug around and found a few pics I thought I would share with you.

This is our first apartment in Bordeaux. I had just arrived in France and we were so poor, but so happy. I loved this little apartment with the big magnolia tree right outside the windows. I had never lived in an apartment where the windows opened up wide with no screen and it was like being outside! I set my studio up under that big window where I could sew and see that beautiful tree. It was simple but that is where I started exploring with dyes and stitching and learning how to express myself with art again.

This is the only photo I could find from Grenoble. I had come so far by then and had so much fun with my dyes.

And this was my studio in Oberhausbergen, next to Strasbourg. This was such a great room. Frenchie worked so hard to make it perfect for me. 

From the huge wall I could write on while I dyed, 

the tension wire to hang my notes and projects 

and the great shelves and desk. 

This was such a wonderful room to work in. I can't wait till I can get this room I have now into similar shape. This week I will work on getting it to a state where at least I can work in there comfortably. 

So this is what I have been busy working on the last few days and probably quite a few more. When I get it done I will post some more pics of what it looks like, I knwo it wont be as nice as the studio in Oberhausbergen but it is only temporary. At least I will have room to work again!

Hope you are well!