Plenty of white paint ...

I've been silent for too long.

The reason why, I've been busy at shows and seminars and most of all preparing a studio for myself at Long Eaton Art Room.

When we opened the Art Room in 2006, we had hoped that sometime we might be able to have studios for rent.

Well that time has come, and I have taken the plunge and rented space for myself.
I was so impatient to get on with the painting that I forgot to take a camera along to do the "before" image.

My phone camera died on me in August, and I really miss the spontaneity of having it to hand.
But, not enough to go through all the hassle of selecting and purchasing a new device.
This one, bought three and a half years ago is purple, just the right size etc. etc.
As with the two previous handsets, I'm inclined to wait until it dies before replacing it.

So, back to the studio, this is a room with a view!
The walls were an unattractive (to me) shiny magnolia/beige.
Three full coats of matt white emulsion were needed to cover this up, and that took a long time.

Then having brushed over the dabs of the beige that were on the ceiling I realised that I needed to paint that too.

Oh, how I wish that I'd painted the ceiling first!
It would have been much easier to see the difference in colour when the room was less white.
I'm not sure that I really got it all covered, but my eyes start boggling looking for tine differences in colour above my head.

So, now it is painted and I can sit and look at the view into the cemetery.
On the windowledge at the moment is a small branch off a gage tree from our garden.
Just before the leaves came out I shaped the tree, and I thought that the branch was too attractive to be consigned to the compost heap.

I hope that being here without the distractions of home will help me to focus and develop my own practice as an artist.
So I am about to pick up where I left off when I graduated in 2001.