One of the egroups I'm in has been discussing their studio spaces - actually I think this subject comes up from time to time on most of the artist lists. I'm very fortunate that I have a room all to myself for my studio. Originally it was supposed to be the formal dining room, but we aren't the formal dining type. There is a great 6-ft x 6-ft window on the east side of the room. Slowly but surely I've added shelves and such to fit my needs.

The top image on the left is a huge wooden shelf unit which we obtained from a surplus equipment source. The one on the right is the view from the door by the kitchen. My work table was also obtained from the surplus source. It is great - it has a heavy duty electrical plug that goes into the wall outlet to power all 8 outlets built on and under the table itself. It was a workbench from a shop. It also has a built in slanted shelf (it is kind of hard to see from the angle of the picture). The black chair is for any guest artists that come over to play. To the far left of this picture is the window. I sit on the opposite side of this table.

The next picture on the left is the view of my area where I sit. The shelves in that area go almost to the ceiling. Most of my supplies in this area are stored in cigar boxes and are within easy reach. The metal file cabinets hold polymer clay supplies. The image on the right is the branch I hung above the window to display the ornaments I've made or that others have made for me. My fairy with an attitude will hang from the middle of the branch. The branch actually twists - we found it a couple of years ago and brought it home as it was so unusual. It is perfect in my studio.

These are the pages I did in Marilynn's deco, Childhood Memories. The pictures are from Christmas when I was not quite 2 years old. Looks like most little girl's dream presents - dolls, high chair, buggy, etc. Unfortunately I was too young to remember that Christmas.

The fairy with an attitude is one that I made for myself. She will hang in my studio from the branch over the front window. She didn't really get an attitude until I added her hair - it popped out then. The hair is perfect for her (thanks to my friend Candace for the boa pieces). This sweet fairy was make for a coworker's new baby. The parents are involved with the Scarbourough fair and have done their little girl's room in forest & fairies - what a lucky little girl. This fairy is made to hang and I thought would make a perfect gift for them.

I've had requests to post recent pictures of Zeke, so here are two taken in December.

While I don't decorate for the holidays anymore (no children at home, work, husband usually gone, etc), I did participate in a couple of ornament contests/exchanges this year. I like to make the ornaments, I just don't do a tree. Since the ornaments I made aren't really Christmas, I can hang them in my studio all year long. I took a seminar in October with Christi Friesen, and bought her giraffe bead pattern. The lion was done as a bead in an issue of Bead & Button magazine earlier. I used the ideas to create ornaments for my local polymer clay guild swap. Christi is very open and generous (and a very nice person) and encourages people to branch out and develop their own style/animals. I developed the zebra and gazelle using the basics learned from the giraffe instructions. The three animals are done on a very large glass ornament and were for an ornament contest at work. The antlers on the gazelle are actually beads that I found at the last bead convention I attended. I believe they are some type of shell bead. When I bought them, I wasn't really sure what I would do with them, I just knew they were cool. The final ornament is another one that I did for the guild swap, this one has an African-style mask, keeping with the jungle theme.

Over the holidays I created fairies to give as gifts to my Mom & Aunt (they are twins). I did the blue fairy for my Aunt and the green & mauve one for Mom.

The bodies are cast from a mold from White Gothic Studios. These are the fourth & fifth fairies that I've made - I'm still learning, but I've discovered I love making them. Each time I make a fairy, I think I get a little better and learn from the previous mistakes. I'm really hoping to take some classes or seminars to learn more about sculpting.

I'm participating in a deco round robin with a group of dear friends. Each participant decides the theme of their book.
The theme of Elaine's deco is Childhood Memories. These pictures were taken when I was four years old and my Mom, younger sister and I visited my grandparents in England. We spent the day at Pevensey Bay, playing in the sand using tin cans and old spoons. Afterwards I remember going to an ice cream shop.


Passages and Portals is the theme of Irene's deco. I chose images of my Nana and Aunt Gladys to use in her book. The picture of my Aunt is from her identification booklet from WWII. I also used a scan from her rations book. I don't know when the image of my Nana was taken.









I also participate in a monthly 4 x 4 fat book page swap. The colors for December's pages was white & grey. I used an image of myself from the same trip to England, taken in a park. I altered the image in Photoshop and cut it out to use. Don't you just love those saddle oxfords? I remember they came back in style when I was in the 5th or 6th grade.