Deep-cleaning the Studio, Part 2

I've been away from the easel for the past several months on a self-directed quilting sabbatical. Now that it's 2016, I'm back into painting mode. I have a big exhibition coming up this fall, so I needed to get my painting space back in order. Read part 1 here. clean shelves 2 500

First up, cleaning the shelf units that hold up my worktables.

clean shelves 1 500

A dust-free place for everything.

index card box 500

Index cards, indexed by type AND size. It's who I am.

in transition 1 500

In transition, taking the workspace apart...

in transition 2 500

Ready for the nasty dust pics? Here they come.

dust closeup 2 500

ULHH.

dust closeup 1 500

FLUULLGH.

dust closeup 3 500

GUUUUUHH.

The horror. The horror.

But things got all better.

clean lines 500

Aaahh.

ready to work 500

Ready to work at my workspace.

paint box 500

Let's do some painting!

You may also enjoy: Prescription for an Installation Tools I Use: My Favorite Pens

Deep-cleaning the Studio, Part 1

It's a new year! And I've got a lot to work on in 2016. Time to properly clean the studio. Mostly that means dusting. But I'd also like to reduce the general visual clutter in here. Smooth out the lines, if you will. Quiet environment, quiet mind.

Quiet cupboard, quiet mind.

That little sign says "Bad painting is better than no painting at all."

Quiet bookshelf, quiet mind.

Does anything collect dust quite like books? Oh, yeah, wooden bookshelves do.

For the first time, I've organized my books by size rather than subject. Smoothing out the lines. However subjects are still organized by shelf.

From the top.

Genre fiction, skewed toward science fiction & fantasy, plus books I loved as a kid. Bingo & Yahtzee are here too.

bookshelf middle

General fiction, poetry, essays & memoirs, travel, reference. Yes I put Ready Player One in general fiction and not with the sci-fi. Don't judge.

bookshelf quilting

Strange bedfellows, or perfectly happy ones?

A deep and endless ocean.

Graphic arts, a brief stop in Southwest American & Spanish Colonial art, on to Modern & Contemporary.

Down where the heavyweights live.

Quiet bookshelf, quiet active mind. Ahh.

Yuck.

Now on to things like ...this.

See how it all turned out.

What's Cooking Inside While it Cooks Outside

Yep, it's what we call the Dog Days. While the world outside bakes to a nice golden brown, I'm in the studio gearing up for Fall 2015 ...and beyond. underpainting 72 500

Ah, the pleasure of that first underpainting. Sometimes I don't want to cover it up.

CHAOS is on display at Ro2 Art in Dallas through September 12! Don't miss it.

black eye & violet 72 500

Black-Eye Susan and Shrinking Violet, acrylic on panel, 5x5 inches each (9x9 framed).

Save the Date!

Wyld Flowerz, an exhibition of new abstractions, will open at STASH in downtown Norman, OK on Friday 9 October 2015. More details to follow.

eggplants in prog 72 500

Here's a different view of that underpainting, a few layers later.

I'm pleased to share the news that my relationship with Cerulean Gallery in Amarillo, Texas will continue into 2016. More news as the situation develops.

flying bat blocks 72 500

I've been sewing quite a bit. I've begun volunteering with the Community First! Quilters, a connection made through the Austin chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild. These are my variation on the traditional flying geese quilt block - I call them flying bats. We see those here from time to time.

tough cookie half-baked 72 500

This will be Tough Cookie. Right now she's only half-baked.

red room 72 500

I do get out sometimes, and go places like the Red Room Lounge.

caprese 72 500

I do make dinner sometimes, like this caprese salad with marinated zucchini.