Since my last blog on June 8, so much has been accomplished. I regret lacking the time to blog on a daily basis while we settled into our new home. There simply was no energy left at the end of the day. Organization of the Loft Studio waited until last so that I could spend as much time as I needed to get it settled. Once started, it only took me a couple of days so I am “in business” again. What I love the most is that I can find the supplies that I need so easily…. no more searching through boxes and crates in the garage, or basement, or attic. It is a lovely space with shelving which has northern light through a large window. A pleated shade has been added to control the flood of light as needed. This is a place where I will enjoy dozens, hundreds, thousands of hours… God willing.
I did not need a work space for crafts until 2004 when I retired after 28 years of teaching children and conducting trainings adults to teach or use technology. I don’t have a memory of having a hobby… my family and career filled my days easily. In addition, I worked as the organist for our church in California for nearly 15 years, so music filled some of the time that might have been available for a hobby. I don’t regret any of that. We moved back to our home state of Minnesota after living in Wisconsin, Texas, Illinois, Kansas, Hawaii, California and Utah, moving from Air Force Base community to Air Force Base community. We have wonderful memories of all of those places and keep in touch with many friends we made in each location.
A bit of quilting was done in Utah where my workspace was in our guest bedroom and the adjacent loft… when I needed space. I didn’t have much time to enjoy a hobby as I was still working as a technology specialist ~ purchasing, setting up, and training teachers to use technology to teach in three elementary schools. There were almost 1000 computers in my three school’s inventories before I retired, all requiring my attention for anything that was stuck, or needed updating, or a virus removed, or needed to be set up and initiated.
It was in Minnesota that “art quilts” entered my awareness, and I began to explore so many varieties of embellishment and expression. Designing Innovative Visual Arts Sisterhood (DIVAS) was an art quilt group that a friend and I helped initiated, and through those twelve women was exposed to many instructors and new ideas. My studio in MN began in a reasonably sized bedroom. I began to gather supplies and to organize them on shelves around the room. Gradually, the bigger crates of fabric needed to be moved and stored on shelves in the garage.
When we decided to sell the house and move to lovely North Carolina, I returned the bedroom to its designated use, and moved all of my supplies into a basement studio sharing space with my husband’s workshop – cement floor and all ~ so that the house would show well to prospective buyers. At least the workshop did have a cellar stairway that led up and out to the back yard, so on nice days, I could open the cellar roof doors and my storm door at the bottom of the steps and allow the sunshine to descend to me. It’s surprising how much I accomplished under those roomy, but isolated conditions.
After we moved to North Carolina, we lived in an apartment for two years, and my studio was a corner of the master bedroom – cramped, but still a productive spot. Afterall, making art is what it is all about. The studio or workshop is just gravy on the mashed potatoes. Always have loved the gravy! See the next post to view “the gravy” – the Loft Studio!
Narrative Textile Illustrations 