The surgery that I had been dreading was a couple of weeks ago now, and I feel like I’ve been in a time warp. It was a slow climb the first week to even sit upright, so for a bit there, it was all old issues of Vogue and Animal Crossing and trying to shoo the cats away from my lap. Now I’m sitting upright with the best of them and starting to get myself re-oriented and back in gear.
Today, I decided that, as a stab toward normalcy, I would post something new, even though I haven’t really been working on anything the last couple of weeks. So instead of trying to finish something from my sketchbook or starting something new, I though that I might just take my camera around the studio for a little tour of my workspace.
I LOVE my workspace right now. It’s located in an alcove of windows in the front of the house. It doubles as an indoor garden space, which brings both good energy, and plenty of my favorite color: GREEN.
The fig tree in the corner and the anatomical model both act as mascots of sorts. My model’s name is Flora. She’s not a great artists model because she’s lacking her arms and legs (and frankly some of her organs), but I love her because she was colorful and intricate once, a hand-painted plaster model used to teach anatomy students. I found her at an antique store and fell in love with her because even though she’s falling apart, it’s in a slow, interesting, lovely way. I like her more the way she is now, all piebald with cracked and peeling paint than I would have when she was new and instructional. She has become unique through use, like the Velveteen Rabbit, and to me she’s a piece of accidental art.
The bookshelf in my studio has instructional and art books, but it’s also crammed with a handful of other things that inspire me, too, like graphic novels and picture books. On the top shelf with my Bill and Ted action figures sits Chris Ware’s ‘Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth‘, along with Dame Darcy’s ‘Meatcake‘ and Alan Moore’s ‘Watchmen‘.
The desk is where I sit most of the time. It’s technically a drop leaf table from Ikea but… those gate legs really never fold. I sit at the yoga ball to do most of my work, with one of three cats snugged up in the cactus-shaped cat house behind me. Someday, my three sweet cats will have to make their big blog debut, but they’re really more along the lines of staff, and deserve their own post. That’s all for today. Since I’m feeling on the up-and-up, I will post more actual art soon!