A look inside an Artists Studio

Today I want to share a peek at where I work each day. Since moving into our own home I have been slowly working on decorating and getting the space set up exactly how I need it. I used to dream of having a studio that I could set up how I liked, with no landlord limitations. I dreamed that it would be drenched in natural light (check), super comfortable (check) and be an ongoing source of inspiration (double check). I still have a board on Pinterest that I add to if I find something that I think I could set up or use in the future.

Below is the desk for today, in all its messy glory. I have been working really hard to create inventory for the launch of my store in less than two weeks. While I'm on that note, if you are on Etsy, pop over here and follow me to be notified as soon as listings go up. Trust me, it's going to be rad!

It is essential for me to create a space where I feel happy and inspired; a place where I can have all my weird and wonderful trinkets on display. The two handmade skull figurines below are gifts from my wonderful mum and aunty all the way from Tucson, Arizona where my aunty lives. They are insanely cool! The bowl is full of all my favourite shells that I have collected this summer, and I sketch them daily as a warm up exercise in the morning before I start my days work.

Another place I store my trinkets and knickknack's is on my bookshelf, which I have nearly finished arranging. I have a little collection of bee things, some of my living dead dolls (from the Alice In Wonderland set), a little snow globe from San Francisco (a gift), a mini big planet figurine, a tacky porcelain cat I bought from a second hand shop for $1, a tiny dinosaur, and a small painting I did for my TLC course a few years ago.

I have also create a small area next to my desk that I store all my crystals, as well as some lavender from the garden. They create such a positive energy in the room and lets be honest, the colours are incredible!

There is still a lot I want to do in here; paint one of the walls, hang (maybe even sew) new curtains, get a better light system set up and build my own desk just to name a few. However they are more long term goals- right now I am making it as cosy and user friendly as possible.

I hope you enjoyed a little look at where I work. Next week I will be sharing a few of my favourite books, and I have some really great ones so until then my lovely readers, have a great weekend!

-Rhiannon

Painting Big: 40" x 30" Canvas

Yesterday I spent the day working on a huge canvas I bought months ago. I bought it to hang in our living room, which currently has very bare, white walls. What I originally began painting wasn't turning out how I wanted so I worked on a plan and began again. I was inspired by this piece and I am so incredibly happy with the result. I don't feel like its 100% finished but at the moment but I can't work out what else to do, so instead of ruining it I'm going to see if any ideas come to me over the next week. If not then I declare it finished. It has taken me 4.5 hours to complete.

Above is what I began with- and I had no idea where it was going so I covered it gesso and began again.
I really enjoyed working on such a large scale (despite how much paint I went through)- it's quite liberating. Its hardly surprising that Connie loves it so much. 

I feel quite proud of being able to pretty much finish something of this scale over one day. I am notorious for having heaps of half (or even quarter) finished projects but this has given me an extra kick of confidence to go back and  finish or retire some of these projects. 

Have you ever worked on a really large scale- I would love to see what you did.

-Rhiannon 

Moments with Mama Nature

About a week ago I mentioned that I was going to start a photo-a-day challenge for the month of March called Moments with Mama Naure. The idea is to spend more time outside and really begin to appreciate how amazing it can be for us. I know I spend far too much time inside, sitting at a computer, wishing I was outside; then when I have the opportunity I don't take it. This month I am using this challenge to try and change that. With the nights getting cooler, I love sitting outside and listening to the sounds around me.

I've been enjoying it so far and it has managed to get outside every day (except today) and I wanted I would share a few of my favourites:

Day 1: Hands

Day 4: Skyline

Day 5: Sprout

-Rhiannon

52 Weeks of Instax ~ Week 8

Something I have been putting off since we moved is getting my office space set up. I have always dreamed of having my own space that I could do whatever I wanted with. Now that I have it I have no idea where to start which has led me to avoid doing it entirely. However with my last day at work a mere two weeks away, I felt it was probably about time I jumped in. So I spent all of Saturday unpacking, unloading and organising. I went through a whole load of old things and threw out heaps! Random bits of scrap paper, inkless pens, crappy paintbrushes, dried up paint- all sorts. I feel quite a bit lighter now. Every time I went to save something, if I couldn't find a place for it, I would ask myself "Do I really need this? Am I going to use this or just stash it for another 2 years?" Most of the time I ended up putting it in the bin. It means that this space is fresh, there is nothing previously associated with it and I love that. I filled up my pinboard (and spilled out onto the wall) with all sorts of stuff I'm really into at the moment. There are still a few things chilling on the ground waiting for a home, and I want to paint one of the walls but I'm about 80% finished and pretty danm excited about what I'm going to create in here!

More pictures as I work on improving my office even more- I am planning on building my own custom desk so more pictures after that.

What did you get upto this weekend?

-Rhiannon

Pressing Leaves

I went back to work today- but before I went back I wanted to start my first flower press :) I thought I would start with something I couldn't mess up- they aren't even flowers, but leaves! And all are from my garden. I can't believe how many different shapes & colour combinations there are in such a small space! They are so pretty all on their own.

They are currently sitting under a load of heavy library books on the dining room table. I keep checking on them each day but it's only been 2 days so far- there is still a while to go. I plan on leaving them there for between 1 and 2 weeks.

If you want to check out some more info about plant pressing- Kaylahs post is really helpful.

Rhiannon xxoxx

Want to know a secret?

Christmas is over, and the new year is but hours away and have there been some big changes. I have been dying to write about it for a long time now so I'm super excited to announce that...

It has been a long time in the making but we have finally done it! And it's perfect for us. 

But you want to know a funny story? The first time we came to the house for an open home, I walked around it quickly once and decided I didn't like it. I was already thinking about the next open home- Dan convinced me to come back for another look and when I did, I realised that this was actually an incredibly amazing house that had everything we were looking for- lots of bedrooms, a garage, big garden to be developed and all in a good area and filled with lots of nature around us.

I am happy, relieved, excited and tired.

The whole things still feels a bit surreal. This is the start of the rest of our lives. 

I hope everyone has a phenomenal New Years~ stay safe and see you in 2013 with a load of new blog post ideas! 

Rhiannon xxoxx

P.S.- Did I mention that we have the coolest, most amazing back garden!!