A Day at Karen's Studio

Wednesdays are class days at Karen's Studio 125 in the Essex Studios complex on Essex Place, Walnut Hill, Ohio. I have been meeting up with some of my Meetup friends for a leisurely lunch at Essencha Tea House or Coffee Please before heading to the studio.

Today I had some time to "putter" before students started arriving. Outside the studio there book stand that was left by a former craft person who shared my studio space for awhile. I use the stand as a "give-away stuff" table. I've been setting stuff outside the studio for several years now. I've rid myself of books, magazines, CD's, clothing, knick-knacks, food, seeds, picture frames, furniture and any other item that I think someone might take. In turn, other artists put out their "free" items, too.

I'm always amazed when I return the next week and find that most everything is gone. This week the hand-knitted golf sweater was carefully laid on the top shelf. I had displayed it on a hanger with a note on the paper part of the hanger - giving the size info. It's a sweater that someone back in the 70's may have worn. I don't play golf, but the owners of the building (whose offices are down the hall) are golf enthusiasts - so much so that they make the green jackets for the Masters play-offs. (Another story to be shared later).

I'm getting grid of a lot of cookbooks - don't need them. Bought "way too many" from an estate auction (Everything But the House) - about 200 cookbooks - a couple years ago. Each week I'm checking the shelves at home to see what I can take to the studio for "give-aways". (I'm getting there!)

There were four students from the Recovery Center - all focused upon their individual art projects. Some needed inspiration - so I guided them to the books that I have in the studio art library. I've collected many art books (for years) and they serve their purpose very well. Pam found a Christmas stocking design. Mary was working on a leaf design - watercolor. Weltha had a canvas on which she used a roller (brayer) to paint a sunset scene. Robin brought in a cigar box and sorted through the collage basket (overflowing with stuff). He needed a good paper cutter - which I did have - one that sliced with a razor blade - accurately. He used Modge-Podge and covered the box with bird pictures.

Other students arrive and sometimes overlap into the 2-3 p.m. time slot. Kathryn finished up a watercolor scene and Teri added the background color to her floral watercolor. Robin stayed on and worked on his cigar box. Gary arrived and brought in his next project, but needed something dark to use as a "gesso" - I had some Payne's Grey acrylic paint for him to use on his canvas. Lynn came in to work on a new watercolor.

Gary and I worked with an old computer and a WiFi antenna - trying to see if we could pull up some tutorials on You-Tube. It may be possible, but we finally quit that project for now. The rest of the time was spent discussing the "State of Everything". We stayed later than usual - 7:15 p.m. Robin continued to sort through collage basket and discarded a lot of junk. He also reconsidered giving away a lot of his paint stash - going to use it in his own class at the Recovery Center. I did a quick drawing of buildings - ink and pastel - figuring I wanted to create something, too.

October Update

Doing art each day is something I'm adding to my "Daily Do It" list. I write down a check-off list each morning in a small, square notebook and "tick off" each item as it is finished. Sometimes I give myself a "big star" (I draw a star). Sometimes I even add "sparkle lines" to emphasize that I'm really proud of my accomplishments.

I've had an art project attached to the drawing board for many months. I'm doing a painting of "The Symphony Hotel which is located on 14th & Elm Street in Over the Rhine area in Cincinnati. I had made good progress on it until I realized I had put windows in the "wrong place" on the drawing. I used White Out to block out my mistake - I already had painted in the lines with black India ink. So, it sat for months without my touching it again. I finally "got back on track" by putting myself "on the timer" for 15 minutes at a time. The door to the hotel is sketched in ink and now I'm putting lines on buildings for bricks.

Today I'll add more lines and move toward finishing the ink line drawing. Then comes the "fun part" oof painting. I use acrylic paints (light fast) watered down so that they are transparent, but permanent.
The final step of painting usuall goes quickly. Then I will take a picture of the final work and share it on Facebook and make Vistaprint postcards and greeting cards to share and sell. Maybe this will be this year's Christmas card - maybe not. That's another decision for "Pro/ConList.com". Onward!