Category Archives: New Experiences

My new Photo Encaustic Workshop

A couple of weeks ago, I shared with you my new studio space.  Since then I’ve been working on setting up the encaustic workshop and it’s ready to do it’s job.  I became interested in photo encaustics in January and took a couple of workshops over the summer. (I shared about those workshops here.) Moving time came and all the encaustic supplies were packed up.  Here is the great unveiling, so to speak.  I haven’t yet, actually worked in the space creatively but will share as the experiments and creations emerge.

Back in Business, Mostly

It’s been a very busy 5 weeks since we moved into our new home in Virginia on September 7.

Sometime about a week after we had moved in I had this thought as I was waking up one morning.  Moving is a bit like a puzzle.  The puzzle is your life and you take all the pieces and mix them up and put them in a container. Then when you get to the new home, you take them out and begin to put them back together. It’s still your life but they all go together a bit differently than they did before. 

In the past five weeks we have unpacked scores of boxes, painted a few rooms, painted the front doors, moved the silver ware drawer 3 times (I think it’s in the right spot now), organized closets, given away piles of boxes and packing paper, rearranged furniture multiple times, learned how to navigate the area without GPS, figured out which hardware store is the best, visited the local paint store at least once a week, tried at least one restaurant per week, attended a beekeepers meeting (Michael), joined the art school in town (Gail), obtained VA driver licenses and registrations, and much more.  It’s tiring at times but energizing as well.

This week, my goal was to finish my office/studio.  In it’s first 22 years, this space was a hair  salon but it’s taken quite readily to it’s new role as photography studio.  I’ve had the computers and printers in full working order for about 2 weeks now thanks to our generous and technologically savvy son, Adam.  There were, however, still piles of boxes and nothing other than the computers was really set up as I wanted it.  So it’s almost done.  All that is left to do is unpack the books, which I will do as soon as I find the pegs that hold up the shelves on my bookshelves.  🙂  Where the boxes of books currently are in the corner is where I am planning to have a studio lighting set up.  I have a head full of ideas that have been waiting for this new space to be able to create.

Here’s a few photos to give you an idea of the process and what my wonderful new space looks like. I added the first 3 photos of my space in NY to refresh your memory.

In the next few days, I hope to finish setting up the encaustic workspace (it’s at the other end of the house, in the basement) and actually do a bit of work there.  It has been calling to me! I will share photos when that is complete.

 

 

 

 

Waiting to put down roots

Cooking is one of my favorite creative activities.  Fresh herbs have always played a big role in my cooking.  At our NY home, I had an herb garden right outside the front door, right under the kitchen window.  One of the advantages of living in Virginia that I have been looking forward to is the warmer and longer growing season.  My favorite herb, rosemary, can survive the winter outside in Virginia and thrive in the climate there.  🙂

Here’s a few of my plants and herbs from my NY garden waiting to be put into Virginia soil.  We will have a deck right outside the kitchen that will hold my new herb garden.  The fig trees will find a home in the yard somewhere.  Yes, some of these would be available for purchase in VA but I really liked the idea of bringing some of my favorite plants with me to put down roots along with us in our new home.

Rosemary and fig trees waiting to put down new roots.

More rosemary, lemon thyme, oregano, and winter savory.

Not an herb but an important plant for me. This lovely little black eyed susan variety was part of my NY garden that I had originally gotten from my parent’s garden.

 

 

Going, going, gone

Unless you’ve done it, which I hadn’t in 33 years, it is very hard to to imagine putting every single one of your possessions on a truck and watching it drive away.  That’s what happened this past week.  At the moment, we are in the in between, not able to be in either home and without most of our belongings.  It’s an interesting place to be.

Here’s a few images of the space I worked in for the past decade or more, as it was being packed up.  It’s fun to think about setting up my new spaces.

Computer equipment in my office ready to be packed.

 

Almost done.

No longer an office.

Encaustic and framing workshop ready to be packed.

Shutting the doors on the truck and off it goes. See it in Virginia.

 

A Big Adventure

Is this a new decorating trend?  Or indication of something about to happen?

 

 

 

This week is a big one for my husband Michael and I.  We will be leaving our home of 33 years and heading towards a new home and a new chapter in our lives.

I thought I would share some of the journey here on my blog so that you can follow along as we set up a new home, a new studio, and have this big adventure.  Stayed tuned for more photos and details.