In My Studio

So much for making this a monthly post! It is well over a month since the first one…but that’s okay. It’s been a busy time.

If you would like to show us what has been happening in your creative space over the last little while, write a post about it and then link to it in the comments. (When I get really clever I will learn how to do a blog roll thingy at the side of the blog.) That way we will be able to see what other creative people have been up to. It doesn’t have to be a finished product, it may be a new paint brush you got from Santa or a poem that has inspired a short story or something that you have been working on.

Today I am going to show you a variety of things.

Firstly, this little box was a gift from my brother. Yep, it was a box of pastels, from Japan. (My brother loves Japan.) Like so many Japanese things, it was packaged beautifully.

Take off the lid….

take out the “Welcome to your new pastels” note (as I don’t speak Japanese I am choosing to translate it as that!)…..

take out the piece of paper that tells you the colours (I am more confident about that translation) to reach the pastels. Each one is about 2 cms.

Don’t you just love the treasures in little boxes ~ and thoughtful brothers?!

I also have a gift voucher from my Mum (xox).  It is from my favourite art supply shop, Melbourne Art Supplies. I love browsing in art shops almost as much as I love spending gift vouchers.

You won’t be surprised to know what my Christmas presents to the family were this year ~ sketchbooks! Remember when I went a bit crazy over making sketchbooks? Some of you accepted my offer to send you one. Well, I went into sketchbook making mode again. I decided to make three different sizes, all with different covers. I put them in a box and let people choose the one they wanted. It was okay if they didn’t want one, but I was pretty certain that most would. My family loves projects and recording things, especially in handmade notebooks.

The photo, which I put on one cover, is my grandpa setting sail for WW1. He looks so young, and fortunately he came home again.

You may be curious about the work behind the gift voucher. I had a lovely time playing with images of fungi, repeating, flipping, turning to make these patterns. Because I was giving myself time to play, my mind was free to think about other things I could do. So I added coloured pencil and worked on black paper. I hope to show you those some time. They are not an end product, although often my mind tries to make them one. At the moment they simply are patterns on my noticeboard.

Lastly, in my studio are things to hold my brushes and pens and pencils. I use things that I am fond of.

This delightful mug was decorated by Xavier a gorgeous boy I taught in Grade One. Look how he made the dragon go right around the mug!

The ceramic brush holder was a present from my friend Tess. It has a wonderful African abstract embellishment. The water mug is a tea cup I brought back from Russia. I got carried away over there, thinking I was going to drink tea out of glass mugs with interesting holders. The fancy didn’t last long, but I enjoy using it as I paint.

Who can resist the fancy cardboard cylinders that Chinese tea comes in? Or a shiny milk jug? Or the flat pencil case just the right size for my pencils?

What do you keep your bibs and bobs in?

Go on, tell us what has been happening in your creative space over the past while. I’d love to know.