Gillian Lee Smith

New Studio!!

New Studio!!, originally uploaded by gilfling.

Well it is hard to believe that we have now been living in this house for over a month and my studio has been set up (in a fashion) for most of that time. It really was a priority for me to get this room in a workable state as soon as I could and although I am getting there, boxes are still to be unpacked and spaces are still to be found for things.

As vast as this room seemed on first sight, I am still suprised at how easily it has been to 'fill it' and every corner is home to something or other. What space does afford me, however, is the ability to actually move around and spread my work around without feeling inhibited or as if I am constantly tripping over something (other than the rug which I have put down to protect the cream coloured carpet for when I am painting - this rug stubbornly refuses to lay flat and curls up creating tunnels under which threads gather, and over which I am constantly and fustratingly tripping).

This room in the house was, I guess built for the purpose of being the main bedroom and is on the second floor. Apart from the staircase up to it and a small cupboard outside the door, it actually fills the floor plan of the entire house. Behind this photo is another 5 or 6 feet of floorspace only made smaller by the sloping ceilings. Indeed I feel very fortunate to have this space and it has been and is a joy to work in - just far enough away from the main body of the house so as not to be too distracted by dishes and other chores, but with the much wished for access of stairs rather than the dreaded and dangerous (to me) ladders of my last home studio space! I still need to completely clear my painting studio (a 'must do' job for this week) and my painting area will be to the left of the photo above which is nearest the one and only window in the room (the only teeny weeny negative aspect of the space as the window is quite small and the light only really reaches half of the room so lighting purchase have been made which do help a great deal).

If you have a look at the image on my flickr page you can see my notes describing the various storage in the shelves and I hope to take more photos soon of the other sides of the room once I have a few more boxes unpacked! I had almost waited until the room was 'tidy' to show you but actually I soon realised that this is my 'workspace' and as such it is never going to be beautifuly neat and 'publication worthy' so best just get on with it and show you it as it is meant to be!

We are away camping for a couple of days this week so I do hope you are enjoying your summer days no matter the weather and I will have more photos to show you soon!

Take care

A new home, a new/oldish character and a list.....

Annabel, originally uploaded by gilfling.

Annabel

Bracken-burn Mill is an unsightly, unfinished folly to all the local dwelling characters but to Annabel it is a haven. A Mill it is not and for the eccentric person who built it, nor was there the intention for it ever to be, it was certainly not the plan for it to serve as a home. However, the widespread and overgrown ferns and spindly, twisting leaves of yet unidentified plants lend a certain charm to the building whose whitewashed walls gleam in the sun at the edge of the copse.

At night, the shapes of the plant-life cast moving shadows against the brickwork, which gives the illusion of dancing characters, visitors from another time and place and comfort and company for the usually solitary Annabel.


Hello! Well it has been forever and a day, and really I did not expect to be gone for quite such a long time. So much has happened, so much has changed and my thoughts are a constant flurry of 'things to do' and 'what still needs to be done?' and 'what should have been done already?'. My poor wee brain has had no room for anything else other than just chasing my tail and my forehead hurts with the frown that is ever present when I am trying to concentrate. (This frown has been my trait ever since childhood and as quite a serious child who was always anxious to 'do things right', or so I am told, there are many, many photos with just this facial expression.) These days I seem to flit between said 'frown' and 'rabbit caught in the headlights'.

However, why am I wittering on and on about nothing! I have a new home to show you and a new studio to show ‘off’ and this, that and the other! Really I have so much to tell, new work to show you, meetings and events to describe, beautiful, wonderful moments to share and really..... I do not know where to start. In fact, I have even had to make a list of 'yet to be written blog posts' and I do hope to get through at least some of them in the near future. But, for a lack of photos (boxes are still being unpacked, even now, and the memory card and camera widget have only just made a long awaited re-appearance) I shall use this opportunity to show a 'not entirely recently made character' whose wee spotlight on this blog was delayed in favour of other things. So the story is above, please excuse any grammatical mistakes. One of my future plans is to do some kind of creative writing course in an effort to better put into words all these characters and imaginings and atmospheres surrounding them. Quite often I have just the picture in my head of the story I want to tell, but not the skills to tell it which is extremely frustrating!!

Anyway, my dinner awaits in the dining room below and it is past the time for shutting the door on the studio for the evening. More soon! xxx