Hey!!!!

Sooo..no doodles today. I spent last week working very hard at two jobs, one brand new, and one old at the Flower Shop helping out for valentines day. I spent my mornings in training and my afternoons at the shop cleaning flowers, answering phones and arranging a zillion roses! I had been unemployed for over three weeks at that point so it was really nice to get back to work full blast! The weekend before was spent preparing for another craft market, this one at Two If By Sea in Dartmouth! Here’s a picture of Alyssa and I at our booth just before Valentines Day !

We had loads of fun meeting our customers and our booth was really BUSY at lunch time! It was great!
This weekend I actually had a change to RELAX! It was so nice! I spent Saturday afternoon slowly cleaning up my very messy apartment, and in the afternoon I decided I would tackle what I’ve been meaning to do for a LONG time. Re-Organizing my studio.

About once or MAYBE twice a year I take everything off the walls, go through all my drawers, the closet etc. and do a big purge. I didn’t quite get to the purging but I did take all the sketches and doodles off my wall and discarded some, and re-arranged the rest. I try to keep what’s relevant to what I’m working on up above my desk where I can see it and draw new ideas from.

I decided to hang up some really nice pictures that I’d taken and had printed at Blacks just as inspiration. Some of them are of friends and family, or my old family dog that passed away a few years ago. I try to make the space a happy and comfortable place to work. I like having little reminds of people who encourage me to be myself! There is a small picture of my little sister Hannah hanging where I can see her and a picture of one of my best pals Charley there to remind me to keep going! They are encouraging!

Like most of my things….my studio is a real mash up of free/second hand stuff. A lot of the containers I use to hold pencils, paintbrushes and knives are just old glass bottles, and funky vintage finds. The blue lamp is probably one of the only things I’ve spent money on. I saw it one day and even though I couldn’t really afford it, I HAD TO HAVE IT! I was previously working with the worst little clip on lamp. This one is nice and BIG, stylish and so useful. It was exactly what I wanted in a lamp, so I bit the bullet! (it wasn’t THAT expensive but I’m cheap!).

I always have tea when I’m working hence the mug, I like to have a candle burning sometimes too to make me feel at ease. I find the best ideas come to me when I am super-relaxed. No wonder I always get the best ideas in the bath or as I’m falling asleep!

Since I’m really getting into handwritten typography, I decided to dedicate a wall to fonts that inspire me, or fonts that I can use as jumping points for my own hand drawn ones. This little floral wall will most likely soon be covered in all kinds of funky letters.

The table nAND the orange chair were free. The nice giant desk I found in the street! It was a little scratched up but when I saw it on the curb one fine morning I was SO EXCITED. I had been in need of my own desk for a long, long time and finally there it was, waiting for me. I’ve had this desk for years and it’s been a life-saver. I went from drawing on the floor to sitting at a desk! I decided last weekend that I’d give it a bit of a make-over and paint the legs just for fun!

Sometimes I peek into my studio space and I feel really excited about what I’ve made over the years. Things have really started to come together, and I can see it all over the walls of my little space. I didn’t ALWAYS have a space like this to call my own where I could sit in and work, it took time to find all the things I needed, and to accomplish the things I’ve accomplished. It’s always a good reminder to me to be patient but persistent in life. And dont’ forget to keep your eyes peeled! You never know…what you need might just be right there waiting for you, like my trusty desk!

I’ll be back with real doodles and sketches next time! I’m working on some fun ideas I will share in the next few weeks!