Husband is a gem of a man and quite the anthropologist when it comes to his wife. I am often in awe of his insight and consideration as to the methods of enriching my life and thrivelyhood. I am an unfortunately simple organism that has few requirements though to describe them would give entirely the opposite impression. Husband can however give you the rules of how to take care of a Kyrie should you find one in the wild and wish to domesticate it with any degree of success and happiness to the both of you.
A recent concern has been that quite often they can become lethargic and depressed when confined to a static or unchanging environment or one which is too small for it's needs...
(Cue: sound of heavy footed tripping followed by tense cursing)
A build up over time of this can lead to a very frustrated and unhappy state commonly expressed by terse and repetitive remarks (often complaints guised as accusations), fits of anger, acquiescence, and other outward expressions of melancholy. A very cranky situation all round.
The answer? Make an Art Studio.
(Cue: raucous applause, laughter and shouts of joy)
I am the proud renter of an
atelier- 18 square meters of pure creative space. Out in the abandoned and newly re-purposed
B&W shipyard area of refshaleøen. The top floor of the old riggers building is where I rent my space from. It's the
orange brick building to the left. The bottom level is leased to an auto repair shop and the entrance of the building neighbors a huge antique warehouse where often
I find discarded furniture to re purpose. All of my storage shelves and chairs have been contributed in this fashion and I am quite proud to support the recycling mentality though were I to be a perfectly upstanding citizen I would have to allow these items to be picked up by the city disposal (I am a tax payer to technically I am paying for it already) and drag it off to a dump where it would be burned or mulched (I mostly save hard wood items- they can have the metal).
It was Husband's idea, he got me started by sending me adverts from the local paper and I took it from there, and found my new joy-ground.
This is the BEFORE, looking in.
The building has several rooms for rent and has around 8 creative residents and 4 studio renters: musicians, painters, photographers, an installation artist and circus performers. The part I rent is a section of a large room which was divided by makeshift partitions, cutting the room into 3 ateliers, each a little under 18 square meters. One large window each and the small circle on the back wall is the ventilation.
Of course there is no heat in the building, no electric heat anyway. Each atelier comes with a gas
space heater- I buy the gas tanks, they loan the heaters. Not too pricy, if you dont have to heat the whole room that is. Windows are 2 layers of plexiglass, no insulation on any surface and this is scandinavia.. a bit of a challenge for someone who loathes the cold.
This is the BEFORE, my back to the window
Where Subi is sitting is the hallway to access the other sections. The comfy chair was donated by my wonderful Svigermor, Dorthe (Mom-in-law). With the heat being an issue for me I promptly went about pitching the idea of building a proper insulated wall and was met with agreals all round. HuRAH! Husband and I spent 2 weeks building it and laying insulation on the floor along with a few carpets and thin plates of particle board, painting the walls and moving in all my tools and supplies.
The final result. AFTER looking in
I have a clay and sculpting station at the window. The table top is glass and I can alternatively use it for lino-print and general hard surface requirements. To the immediate right I have my painting easel, frames and canvases stacked in the corner. 3 quarters of the wall is taken by shelving of supplies and tools, including my sewing machines and coffee making gear.
In the foreground to the left I have a desk which extends in length for sewing and other large projects needing a sturdy indestructible surface.
AFTER, with back to window
I have a split, dutch style door to help with ventilation and the occasional passing inquiry which allows me to open the top part while keeping some of the heat as well as the dog in. I have had several comments on how hot it is in my studio... LOVELY.
Husband is SO jealous :-D
I am overjoyed!
Hugs and Love from a real live artist
He started out as a sketch a few years ago and while going through art pads for inspiration and some stone to leap from, I found him lodged between scribbles, barely formed yet entirely sure of himself. Wanting to break in my new easel given to me by Husband as a wedding gift, I decided this noble fellow would be my first excuse to wear the shine off and get started. I had not painted in quite a long time and though it is like riding a bike, the nervousness of hitting obstacles and other immovable objects, like practice, gave me a passing flicker of dismiss able thought. Doesn't matter if I can't paint, I'll learn again or at the very least. the tragedy of enjoying myself trying.
