Where I live/work/play/create

I was recently asked, “Where do you make art? ” as part of the Art 101 group by Stephanie Cant.  So for any inquiring minds that want to know, here’s a little glimpse into where I live/work/play/create… is it really all the same thing anyway?  I like to think so.  Another member of the group, Iris Fritschi-Cussens, added, “OK so rather than ‘show us your art space’, let’s say ‘show us your mess'”  This is so very true for me!  I sure wish and would absolutely LOVE to have Samantha or Mrs. Weasley’s magic to keep the place clean and organized!  🙂  Here, you will get a peek of the actual “playroom/mess” or “art land” as my son calls it.  You will also get to see a little bit of our homestead here in the Southern Appalachian mountains because that is a huge part of where I live/work/play/create and because I often get asked if I live in the country.  Yes, I live way out in the sticks!  I’ve tried the city, but I’ve always been a country girl at heart.  Thank goodness for the internet. 🙂

Welcome!  This is the long driveway to my home (and our awesome cat, Koiya, trotting down to the mailbox with me):

This is the other end of the driveway near the house looking back towards the mailbox:

These girls, along with a few more, are the reason for my morning walk everyday… to go open the chicken coop:

This is an iris in the little zen pond by the entry to our home:

This is my little art set up to get outside earlier this spring next to the zen pond:

I learned the hard way NOT to set up my supplies and gesso on the front sidewalk where the curious cat is likely to visit and proceed to walk through the gesso and leave white paw prints on the sidewalk!

This is my backyard on this misty mountain morning in June:

This is the kids’ old plastic picnic table that I kept to use for art on the back porch:

This is a lady slipper orchid on the edge of the woods behind the house:

These are wild flame azaleas in the woods around our home:

And this is my actual space (mess!) in the basement where I keep all the art supplies and create much of the time (there are also 2 desks next to the table for my twin 9 year old boys:

No excuses or complaints from others about their spaces… do you see the bare cinder block walls, the insulation around the window, the lamp propped up on a bucket of drywall plaster?!?  And if you could only look up… ugh!  Hello, cobwebs and duct work and pipes!  I make too much of a mess to keep everything in the dining room anymore so I claimed the only space left in the house and this is it.  I am grateful to have it and it will get better eventually (we are finishing the entire basement ourselves so it takes a while).  Maybe some day, I can show you the “after” photos. 🙂

Saving the best for last, this is the lake a few miles from my home, where I LOVE to be.  Yes, I even take art supplies there sometimes! 🙂  I was working in my DLP (Documented Life Project) journal on this day:

Thanks for making the virtual visit! 🙂