Let there be Light!

Finally after years of struggling I have a some what professional videography set up in my design studio! John was very helpful in getting this set up all the way from infusing a huge amount of coin into my studio to physically setting up the equipment rack system so that it's stable.

My first video will be show casing my new set up, I'll be taking most of that video with my iPhone, and then a quick demo at my work table. The amount, and quality, of light the Neewer Ring Lamp puts out is incredible!

This has been a long time coming, I finally have a video set up in my main studio, complete with decent audio and professional lighting!

Soon I'll be posting members-only videos, content, etc., and will be changing out my tiers. 

More to come in March!!! 

It was time for some changes

At the Marsh

For those of you that have been following me for a while probably know that like a lot of artists I’ve gone through a “dry period”. Lots of personal loss of family and friends in the past year, I broke my left thumb and trashed the tendons in the process, and now economic woes, all of that can weigh heavily on a person.

So what’s a girl to do? Make changes of course.

I started drawing and writing daily again, even if it was only scribbles and making lists, it was something!

I gave myself a deadline of January 15th, that’s been moved to the 30th, to clean and organize my studio. Once again I got stuck and started watching lawnmowing videos again. What I didn’t know was in the process of watching those videos I was learning! I was learning what I liked and didn’t like about various lawn mowing channels, and ultimately what I liked and didn’t like about my studio practice.

I learned I wasn’t just blocked, I was stuck! That’s not necessarily a bad place to be, so long as you eventually move forward, and take note of anything you may have learned during the process of being stuck.

So forward I go with my website and social media, making changes, changes that represent where I am now, and where I intend to go going forward.

Goals

The goal is to have my studio redux finished by no later than January 15th, 2023, January 1st would make me even happier. New insulated drapes to make studio time more enjoyable.

How Bad can it Be?

This is the current state of my studio, to say that I'm blocked would be an understatement. We finally got the couch into the house, which had to come through my studio door which is the largest doorway in the house!

I made Time to Paint!

I found a copy of Mindy Lacefield's book Wild Surrender while cleaning my studio and decided to do a couple of the exercises in her book. It felt pretty good to be painting again.

I still have a lot of cleaning to do in my studio, and I also have about a hundred pounds of tomatoes to process, getting the mess under control has been quite freeing. I've been throwing out lots of stuff that no longer serves me, and as I grow older as an artist I doubt will ever serve me again. I mean really who needs a hundred thread/spool labels.

Could someone else have used them, sure, and then I have to deal with packing stuff up, going to the post office, etc., nope into the trash they went! Don't worry I probably have another five hundred plus spool labels still attached to spools of thread.

Where have I been?

Cleaning and reorganizing my studio... and now that my bread rack is in the house I will begin the task of completing 15 16x20 inch paintings in 15 days! Yep you read that correctly. I'll try to post photos here and on my blog as I get things finished. I hang my solo show on July 1st at the Sanford Museum in Cherokee, Iowa, on that date.

More coming soon... oh and the best part about cleaning my studio is 1. more floor space and 2. I found my large tripod so now I can set up my camera for creating videos while working at the easel.

Studio Practice

I don't know if this is a good idea or not, however, I've decided to rerun the videos of online courses I've previously taken while working at my easel, bench, and/or sewing table. I'm curious to see where this takes me.

The other option is to listen to podcasts while I'm working and some can be a little intense, and I don't want that energy in my work.

My studio assistant and constant companion Oliver.

Studio Tour Prior to Cleaning

Did a brief studio tour prior to cleaning and organizing! I should be done hopefully come Sunday evening. You can view the video here: https://www.patreon.com/kbaxterpackwood I’m jonesing to get some stitching time in now that the temperatures are dropping into a more comfortable zone.

Day 5 Studio Clean Up.

I didn’t get much done clean up wise in my studio, the past four days due to my asthma flaring up and pretty bad. I made the mistake in going out in the extreme cold (6F with a -12F) without my Vogmask. See that 6F was a whole lot warmer than the previous day when it was -23F and that wasn’t the windchill.

So I spent the past few days enjoying my favorite magazines, let there be turquoise, and reading cookbooks.

I’m taking an online class over that the Jeanne Oliver Network studying Impressionist Berthe Morisot and I seem to have forgotten how to draw. So back to the table to practice, practice, practice.

I’m back to using my pan pastels again, love them just don’t love having them strewn out all over my work surface. I need a storage system/container for these little beasts.

Day One of Studio Clean Up

Cleaning didn’t happen today, I had a pretty severe asthma attack that required a breathing treatment. I am feeling better now and am considering taking a silk paper pod apart that I made back in the 90’s. If I do so I’ll be sure to post photos of the pod pre and post disassembly.

One Thing a Day February!

My studio is a disaster zone, it used to be a pleasant well organized space not so much anymore.

So I’ve decided to make February ‘One thing a Day’ month, where I work on one area or project each day devoting the entire day to that task. I figure if I do this each day then my studio will be a pleasant well organized space once again.

Who wants to join me?

Day 14 Cleaning the Studio

Making headway in the main studio, my sewing machine if finally on my sewing table once again!

The marigold dye vat is looking gross, tomorrow I’ll be adding a heater and an air bubbler to the vat.

Lots of stuff to accomplish in the next two weeks like finish cleaning my studio and the family room, and getting my office and the dining room dealt with as well. I’m turning my office into a weaving and spinning room (I have several looms).

I’ve decided that unless a body of work I’m working on requires hand spun or hand woven fabrics that weaving and spinning are now officially relegated to the land of “that’s my hobby” so I will have a creative outlet that doesn’t also have the pressure of needing it to make income as well, this is very important for one’s creative mental health.

I’ve been hankering to do some beadwork but unfortunately me beads are blocked off by a pile of stuff that needs to be dealt with, there are days when I wish I could clone myself times three to get it all done!