A Respite

It has been more than a year since I posted!  It seems hard to believe but between the last post and this one today life has changed in many ways.  I moved again due to my sweetheart's job. Again. Although I do have a space for art supplies and it could be a studio--it is not insulated so in the summer it got to be over 120 degrees inside and even on a day when the outside temperature is 80 the inside temp is closer to 90-95 due to the metal roof. Eighty degrees is pretty warm to be comfortable doing artwork.

My space is fairly well organized now except I have a bunch of outside stuff currently stored there because we don't/can't have a shed--or more precisely, the area we would use as a shed is actually our outside screened in porch area which is also used to hold art supplies.

Besides the logistics of the art studio, I have found that I've been reluctant to do artwork.  When I am creating, I tend to work many hours and make many items at once. For example, jewelry--I don't just make one or two pairs of earrings--I make 20.  I have a lot of them on sale, along with other art items, but I find myself just a little bit overwhelmed with all the "stuff." And having so much art hanging around (our house is full, every friend and many family members have received art as gifts) I just haven't had the heart to create any artwork for the past year.

I have done some art--I taught for 9 weeks this past summer at an art camp.  It was fun but frankly, by the time I finished, I was so exhausted it took several months to recuperate and regain any creating energy. I have done two custom mosaic glass panels--both of the same subject matter--am finishing up the second one in time for Christmas.  And I've done some art journaling.

I think with moving and many alterations in life/friends/community, I needed a respite.  I am just starting to feel the inkling of an urge to get out there and do some painting, to make some jewelry, to maybe even work on some glass or enameling if there is a day or two that is supposed to be really great weather for it.

Respites are necessary.  Just like a field needs time to recover before being replanted, I think an artist needs time away from art. My respite is just about over but I feel better for it and more clear about what I do actually want to do with my creative energy.

(c) 2016 SZing, Bohemian Art Cafe. All Rights Reserved.  Photographs (c) SZing Bohemian Art Cafe.

I will not be daunted.

I will not be daunted.  That is the quote of the day and here's why...You won't believe it.  I can hardly believe it.

<BIG SIGH>  Some of you might remember what my studio looked like when I had it at the Pendleton Art Center in Ohio (featured in the Spring issue of Studios Magazine in 2012--just before we moved away!)

My lovely studio, Bohemian Art Cafe, as it once was in Ohio. *sniff sniff*  I miss it terribly!

I'm moving my art studio...AGAIN.  After struggling for the past year to get my studio set up out in the handi-house, I've realized that it just isn't working out.

Spider of enormous size!

Only one of many many froggies that
visited my studio this year!

The shed itself is great.  But, the frogs, the lizards, the spiders, the enormous cockroaches (okay, they call them Palmetto Bugs here, but to me they are still cockroaches!), the mice and yes, even a small snake have all stopped for visits.  About the only thing that hasn't made it inside is an alligator. This plethora of unwanted visitors, along with the stifling heat--since a frog or two mucked up the works of the A/C unit--have made this a most inhospitable location for my art. It doesn't seem to matter what I'm working on,  one or more of these critters jumps, skitters, or falls on me as I'm reaching for tools or supplies.

I figure I have caused more than one golfer on the 4th hole of the course where we live to completely flub there shot as I scream (I can't help it...1) I'm a girl and 2) I hate when these creepy crawly things land on me--hard to believe this is the girl who used to pet fuzzy caterpillars!

Currently used as storage, this will be my painting,
jewelry and collage space

Future home of my glass studio

So, we are planning to move my studio indoors.  My glass and enameling will go in one extra bedroom and my jewelry, painting and collage/assemblage will go in another.  My sweetie will be moving his tools and wood working studio out to the handi-house--he says that bugs and frogs and lizards, etc. won't bother him and he'll turn on fans when he is working.  We might even be able to get his stuff organized with all the shelving that will be available.

Since the two rooms are even smaller than the outside studio, I have a lot of organizing and some "getting rid" of to do.  The great thing is that I'll be able to put up more shelves and cabinets and that should make up for most of the additional space needed since I'm not using several walls (doors) in the shed.  And I'll be able to use a walk in closet for some storage--I'm thinking that for now, until I figure out a different solution, the items that I take to markets and crafts fairs can be stored in the closet and the door shut so I'm not tripping over everything as I do now.  I have a LOT of items for displaying from my Ohio studio and some of those are going into storage.

The current studio.  A lovely space, if only I could seal it from
the critters aka insects etc.  Future home of sweetie's studio.

I think it will work well.  I'll have temperature and bug control, be able to work in the evenings after sweetie goes to sleep much more comfortably than I ever felt going out to the studio outside, and will be able to enjoy time with the cats and dog.  I'll have instant access to the Internet and my PC/printer.  I'll even be able to have a TV for background.

Biggest drawbacks:  1) moving everything out of the rooms to storage and his studio 2) prepping the rooms with cabinets and shelves, 3) moving everything from the outside studio indoors and 4) it will be even more challenging for me to find reasons to leave the house.

I can clearly see that there is room for
additional organization in my studio life.

I do think it will benefit my creativity but I am worried about the space for working on larger projects and how/whether I will be able to ever teach any classes--even itty bitty ones--in these rooms.  I'll be able to let go of more stuff that I've not been using or thought I'd use and never did and be able to clear out mediums that I no longer want to use.  I'll be able to get an even greater level of organization done and really have specific areas for specific mediums and tools.  It's exciting. And daunting.  I will not be daunted.

I believe we are shooting for an April time frame to commit to this project.  I have a lot of preparation work that needs to occur before that time.  Wish me luck.

Resolutions

"Beautiful Monster" most recently on display at the Oxford Community Art Center
May 2012 solo show (c) Stephanie Zing 2012 Used with permission.  All rights reserved.

Traditionally, New Resolutions are made on either New Year's Eve or New Year's Day.  I missed that opportunity this year and with the many changes 2012 have wrought in my artistic life, it feels like now is the right time to consider what I want to do to reinvent my artistic world. I've moved away from my studio at the Pendleton Art Center in Middletown Ohio and am getting ready to embark on my exploration of the Gainesville/Ocala Florida artistic corridor.

I'm sad to say that for the third time in as many years, my art studio is in boxes waiting to be unpacked.  That fun begins June 1--and although I LOVED my studio in Oxford and I LOVED my studio in Middletown, I'm hoping that this third time really IS the charm and I can create my studio to be a permanent haven that reflects the look and feel I want it to--even if it takes me a while to get it there. 

I plan to document this process of recreating my studio, but in the meantime, I decided I need some public commitments to keep me on track.  I resolve:

1.  to blog at least three times a week.  Please follow my post and send me your comments and thoughts on my topics.  Feedback will help keep me motivated.

2.  to work on developing new venues to sell my current inventory before beginning new works.  With this in mind, I'll be revising and adding items to my Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/BohemianArtCafe  and Ebay http://myworld.ebay.com/bohemianartcafe stores (actually, I haven't had anything on either of them for a very long time--but that is going to change within the next 60 days.) I'll also be revising my website http://www.bohemianartcafe.com/.


3.  to develop a strong, new art community both virtually and here in my new homeland of Florida.  This includes finding a co-op where I can be a member, to find some venues for group or solo gallery shows, and to join the area art leagues.  I'm very excited to meet new friends, colleagues and see what people here are working on.

These feel like important resolutions.  Perhaps, since resolutions don't often get kept, setting them in the middle of the year will help me to keep them.  Blogging will also help.

Have you thought of setting new resolutions mid-year?  How do you keep your resolutions? I'm happy to hear any one's tips on keeping resolutions.