Creative Spaces

Good morning beautiful people.

I thought I'd take a moment this morning to show you my creative spaces where all my creative magic happens with God's help.

I do not have a studio, since our 23 year old moved back home in June last year & took over what used to be our study thus everything that what was in there had to move into the lounge. Homes are so much smaller here in New Zealand than what I'm used to from growing up in South Africa. It's a very tight squeeze but it's comfortable & cozy.

I have only been painting since September last year but it is amazing how much craft material one can accumulate over such a short period of time. I was blessed to receive this drawing desk for free from a Pay it Forward member last year & it just fits in snugly in this corner of the lounge, right under this little window that sheds light when I work during the day & for night time, there's a fairly bright spotlight right above the desk. It can pivot in to various heights, but I mostly use it at a lower angle because I need space for my water & paints whilst I work. I have added some hooks underneath the desk to hang my most used paints for easy access as well as masking tape & a hair drier. It has a little paper tray underneath & 3 small drawers for some other essentials. I often use the freezer as drying space for paintings if I've done more than one.

Then I have this little tea trolley with some storage containers for paint brushes & paint within an arm's reach behind me. Underneath are some containers recycled from 10 liter water canisters for some less frequently used odds & ends like extra cloths & sponges. I intend to clear out some of the shelving behind my desk in the near future so the trolley can go back to housing my Bible journaling materials. I got myself a travel easel earlier this year for painting outdoors but due to COVID I haven't used it away from home yet. However, it works perfectly well on my creative desk.

For painting I have 2 airtight containers, lined with damp sponges & a file divider to keep my primary acrylic colours from drying out too fast & they fit quite snugly into this Tupperware picnic tray that houses my rinsing jars & protects from spillage onto the table. I painted the lids white, so when I turn them over, I can use them as palettes to mix colours & then just wipe them clean when I'm done.

I was so overwhelmed with mixing colours to paint a landscape during art class last month, that I got myself a huge batch of primary colours in student paint so I can focus on colour mixing for a while without having to worry about wasting my expensive paints. My next challenge is finding a good online training course to teach me all that I need to know about colours & how to mix them effectively so I don't need to worry about more storage space for paints.

From here I also have an awesome view over the Mairangi Bay, Rangitoto Island & the rest of our home. To my right behind the stairs, is my Bible study desk, which is mostly unused these days except for storage because it's in the walkway between my sons bedrooms & the bathroom.

I now do my Bible study & prayer in my comfy lounge chair with my green lap desk & Bible journaling at the coffee table. The desk was just way too small to try & work at with all the creative stuff I needed when I worked. I have a little trolley, which used to hold my Bible journaling materials so as to keep the coffee table clear for other purposes, but that currently houses my other creative materials at my drawing desk. The other desk in the corner is my office desk. That's where I do most of my creativity that requires working on the computer like digital scrapbooking or creating texts for my Bible journals.

And that, dear friends, is my "studio" setup & being a "house mouse" by nature, I spend the majority of my time in either one of my corners. As you can see, you don't need a dedicated craft room to do what you love & be creative.