A New View
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope those of you celebrating had a wonderful weekend. I had a lovely dinner of pizza with friends on Thanksgiving Day. Not very traditional but it was a lot less work and clean up involved tossing a few boxes, which left me loads of time to work in my studio.
And to tackle a project that was long over due.
When I originally set up my studio 12 years ago I placed my sewing table here:
because I wanted to be able to look out the window and see this:
but the kids are older and I don’t have to worry if they might fall and hurt themselves. Now I know for sure they will do something crazy and I don’t want to see it.
So I moved my sewing table here:
and now when I look out the window, which is now directly in front of me, I see this:
A tree! A big tree! On the high plains in Colorado! Actually this is the same big tree that became a much smaller tree last year in an early snowstorm, which, of course, I blogged about.
I originally thought this little studio rearrangement would take me 1 hour tops. Of course it turned out to be way more work than I had anticipated. My sewing table is a large 4′x8′ sheet of melamine covered particle board with a custom cutout for my sewing machine so the bed of the sewing machine sits flush with the table top. This sheet of particle board weighs somewhere around a bazillion pounds. It’s laid across small drawer units, so moving this thing is not an easy task for 1 person. Just imagine a lot of things falling over and some unhappy words and you get the idea.
Although when moving my thread racks over I only dumped a handful of spools on the floor so I was pretty proud of myself. But it took forever to get them hung straight. There are now a zillion holes in the wall to achieve this. I probably should have gone upstairs and gotten my level but that seemed like a bit of overkill for a thread rack.
And of course the procrastination opportunities for type of project are immense. Sorting through drawers (I lost the use of one of the dressers with the table now in the corner), cleaning off the design wall that was infront of the sewing table. The ribbons from the traditional quilt shows dated 10 years back had to go.
So I pulled out my stack of about 500 pictures I took while backpacking in the Grand Canyon in 2002 and created this collage with some of my favorites:
But even with these distractions I still managed to put in about 40 hours in the studio this week. So pretty good. I designed a new quilt this weekend (Structures #65), finished quilting Structures #54 and started quilting Structures #37 - a quilt top from 2004 (it is laying on the sewing table in a mound in the photo above).
So over all I’d say I had a great holiday - I hope yours was wonderful also.
I’ll post the last dye post soon.
Posted by Lisa in: Diversions
Karen Jacobs said,
November 27, 2006 @ 6:15 am
Wonderful! I’ve rearranged a few things in my studio as well, but it still looks like a bucket of paint exploded. Counting the hours spent there is a very diciplined way to work… I should try it. KJ
Patty Altier said,
November 27, 2006 @ 6:42 am
It must have been in the air - I also spent quite a bit of time cleaning my sewing room and rearranging shelves and straighting up my hand dyed fabrics. BUT that was after getting started on insulating the attic (YUK!), cleaning out 40 years of crud - not mine - under the interior steps so I could insulate water pipes, which led in to a lot of house cleaning. To say the least, I only got about 8 hours of sewing done over the holiday, but the house is in good shape for now. I have to try not to make too much of a mess when I have to finish my attic insulation next weekend.
amber lounder said,
November 27, 2006 @ 7:17 am
wow
you have a beautiful yard lots to be thankful for
great #65 I can’t even begin to imagine your patience
Becky said,
November 27, 2006 @ 7:18 am
Your view and the light in your studio is wonderful! I can relate trying to move things that weigh that much when you are by yourself - dragging is the only option and is still hard. Regardless, your setup looks wonderful.
I spent all weekend save Thursday in my studio. I got a lot done and the ideas are coming faster than I have time to work. That’s a good thing as I’m being reviewed by the graduate committee on Thursday. Its been really interesting using plastics such as vinyl and mylar in my work instead of fabric.
Tracy said,
November 27, 2006 @ 11:01 am
So nice to see your studio Lisa. It looks so nice and tidy and organized. And I totally cracked up when you said that you don’t want to see what’s going on outside with the kids! I am at that point as well.
I have rigged up all kinds of different ways to move really heavy, stupid things in my studio over the years. Seems I always get in the mood to rearrange when the husband is out of town.
Lesly said,
November 27, 2006 @ 1:22 pm
I love your studio …. it looks a quiet haven! (is it?) And the view is delightful. It feels so good when you have a good old clear out and re-arrange things, doesn’t it? You must be all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ready to GO!
jafabrit said,
November 28, 2006 @ 6:30 am
I am exhausted reading your post :) You have a nice bright studio space. I bet you feel energized now.
love your work.
shan said,
November 28, 2006 @ 12:37 pm
Lovely studio and view. My kids are four and six so my studio is currently set up to provide a clear view of our swingset. I had to laugh when I saw your former view. I love mine (and am very thankful for it) but it’s nice to see there are uncluttered views ahead of me as well!
Lisa Call said,
November 28, 2006 @ 1:30 pm
Karen - I find having a goal of 20 hours a week keeps me motivated to work without unrealistic deadlines as to how much I can get done. And I don’t feel constrained with “I said I would finish X today but I’d rather do Y” - with the 20 hours I give myself the freedom to work on anything. Plus my record of those 20 hours is something my accountant strongly recommends if I ever get audited - as proof I am working consistently on my art business.
Patty - wow - you make my work look like a walk in the park. Congrats on tackling a huge house project.
Amber - thank you. Hm - patience - or maybe insanity!
Becky - I think the more time I spend in my studio the more ideas I have. It’s not about some divine inspiration it’s about hard work. The more you work - the more you are inspired.
Tracy - glad to know I’m not the only mom that eventually thinks it’s best to now know what they are up to. It often involves ropes and objects that might not generally be seen on a play structure . That is not something I want to watch.
Lesly - yes it is amazing how motivating a bit of reorganization can be. I love being down in the new clean studio.
Jafabrit - thanks - I love your work also!
Shan - funny - swingsets - the universal mom-artist studio view.
Charmaine said,
December 13, 2006 @ 8:39 am
How cool to see your project room. I love it.