Fairy Lights, Table, Action!

My studio is ready! 

I love that it arrived at Beltaine, the quickening time, 

just as the trees turned green and the cow parsley began lacing the roads...

...and all the basics were sorted out by Midsummer, the fruitful season, 

when the dog roses are in bloom and the bright red poppies in flower.  

Just makes it feel magical and that my creativity is growing
with the year and the plants.

I've planted the outside with honeysuckle, clematis and climbing roses that should all grow up and cover the roof in twirls and twines and flowers...

... As well as three chairs, it now proudly boasts a carpet, trunk and table plus electricity!

I'm amazed already at how inspired I have been while creating this sacred space! Several drawings and stories emerged over the last couple of months, quickly followed by ideas for paintings.  So I wasn't all surprised that when I at last got to work in the studio I didn't know which to do first... 

© Amber Caspian, 2012

© Amber Caspian, 2012

... so in the end I started four paintings!

I'm really excited and grateful to have this little corner of the world in which to paint.  

Midsummer God

Three Chairs and a Stool

How many chairs do you really need in an 8 x 8 studio?

Several that's what I say! You never know when you'll have guests ;-)

Welcome to my recent obsession with chairs...

Three of which I have lovingly rubbed down with wire wool and beeswax...

The Painterly Chair

...and the other I have left in all its paint splattered glory, because it tells the story of its previous owners. 

The Merrie Men of Morris

I went to the Morris Ring in Thaxted this year, where after touring around Essex dancing at various pubs they congregated at the top of the hills either end of Town Street.
  

The evening's events began with a procession of Morris sides from Cambridge, Westminster, Winchester and several others, dancing down the road lead by drums, fiddles...

 and various beasts - hobby horses, unicorns and even a pig! 

 There was also a clown on a unicycle...

... and the all important Fool with bladder on a stick to hit the dancers he considers aren't putting in enough effort.

They eventually met in the middle in front of the magnificent guildhall at the foot of Stoney Lane, where they did a massed dance, handkerchiefs waving, bells jangling...

... and some with flowers in their hats.  

All made merrie in olde englande for the afternoon.

Morris Minor

Later at 10.15pm all was hushed as Thaxted Morris side did their special Abbots Bromley Horn Dance.

A haunting and measured procession down Stoney Lane led by a lone fiddle player in tattercoat followed by six men holding deer antlers, a man dressed as a woman, an obby oss, an archer and someone ringing a chime on a triangle.

(Shame it's so hard to take photos of it!)

A Shed of One's Own

After my recent post about needing a place to paint, Creativity Ensconced, I took the plunge and spent all my savings on a rather fancy garden shed.  Of course I fell in love with a slightly unusual version with a Dutch barn roof. This gives extra storage space above and makes it feel a lot bigger and more airy, as well as being very attractive.


For me it is more than simply a space of my own; it is a commitment to my creativity, a way of honouring that deep need to connect with the inner worlds of my imagination, a refuge from day-to-day life.  The timing was perfect, the pieces of flat-packed 'shed' heavy in the rain arrived on Beltane, the time of burgeoning growth and the flowering of potential.  

It took a couple of weekends to build because we dug the base ourselves, which was exhausting, but once that was done the actual build took a warm sunny day. Then the extra bits such as fascia boards and corners, hooks to keep the doors open and electricity finished it off a couple of weekends later.

Still some things to do such as cutting out a second window and putting in some old carpet, but for now, here are some photos telling the story of it's coming to fruition...

From foundations...

...to floor...

...to walls...

...and walls...

...to roof...

...to felting...

...to fruition!