Sanctuario

Right now it looks like a bomb went off, but generally this is what my studio looks like. There is a huge window looking out over a pretty big back yard with lots of trees. I can see some little bit of traffic on the road that runs by the side of the house. The bookcases are overflowing onto the floor right now and I have a funny little rocking chair that sits directly on the ground, This is my nest, my sanctuario. I am making some changes in there. I haven't been happy with the window treatment. I had a kind of three paneled triptych my SIL had made hanging up there, but I I really didn't like it or her, so I took it down. Bad energy. A dear lady gave some wonderful beaded curtains I want to play with in combination with some fairy lights and ribbons. I have contemplated painting the walls, but I really need them to be white so I can "see" colors in my paintings. I also need some sort of collapsible table top so I can have an extra surface to work on when I am doing larger projects.

I found the table on craigslist for $100. Seems a lot of companies that used to use drafting tables now use computers and this kind of thing is a fairly easy find. the fun part was getting it up the stairs and into this room. We had to literally tear it apart and then rebuild it. I should say the guy I bought it from tore it apart and then I had to rebuild it. DH bought me the chair, which is actually pretty as well as comfy. I like to take my second cup of coffee up here and sit and watch the sun come up and dream my dreams. DH bought the oriental rug, too. At first I thought it was a really bad idea to have a rug like that in a painting studio, but it gives a certain warmth to the room and really doesn't show the mess as much as you would think.

My holiday gift making is coming along quite nicely. I have been spending quite a lot of time in this room, gluing, cutting, folding, creating and enjoying the process. It is a very different experience than running to the mall and buying stuff. Much quieter. I pour a glass of wine, put on my apron and begin. This week-end I should be finishing, though there always seems to be a few more things I could put together. I cleared much of the makings away last night and rediscovered a sheet of watercolor paper with a waiting sketch, a primed canvas with a post it telling me what it wanted to be and a stack of thrifted canvases waiting for something to happen. Hmmm. My Christmassing will happen mostly on the 17th and the 21st. The Actual Christmas Eve service will be just that. no dinner, no gifts. Not much happening at all, which may be a better thing than I expect. It may be a gift of quiet time. Sanctuario. Contemplation. All of that has it's own magic.

This week-end is also a respite of sorts. Dh will be off hunting with his friends. I will have time and quiet. Funny how valuable that becomes. I was reading another blog where the writer contended that after a certain age we dreamed many dreams but seldom manifested much. She posited many reasons for that, focusing on a lack of energy as the main cause. I would say not a lack but a defusion of energies. Refocusing seems to be the main trick at this point in life. Constant refocusing, which means quite time and time to breath. This afternoon I will go off to lake and do my walk through the bird sanctuary..so nice that they share theirs with me. Then some grocery shopping for things to bake treats with. No, I won;t be eating them, they will go off to be sold at my church fundraiser. Then the evening will be spent in this quiet room , finishing a hand bound journal for our minister and maybe the pixie face in a rosebud that is sketched out on that watercolor paper.