A room of my own, at last

Looking back at my last post, it has been quite a while.  And it was quite sunny then, looking at the beginnings of the base for my new studio.  Of course it didn't stay sunny, most of the country had appalling weather and although ours wasn't as bad as some, the construction of the studio did take rather longer than expected.

But it is finished now (bar a few extra coats of paint) and I am beginning to settle in.

I did have to move a lot of 'stuff' in rather faster than I expected, due to the unexpected collapse of a ceiling in the house.  But I am working my way through the clutter now, getting rid of things I don't need and rediscovering things I'd forgotten I had.  It is strange, but it does takes time to settle in to a new workspace, to find places to put things where I can access them easily and, more importantly, remember where I put them!  I'm still waiting for help to move my main kiln in, but that should happen in the next couple of weeks.

My desk in front of the window, printing press,
print rack on the wall

Baby kiln, storage, lovely big sink!  The big kiln
will go to the left of the baby kiln.

I suppose part of the reason it is taking me so long to settle in is that I am having to take time to reflect on the direction I want my work to go.  I have come so far in my journey and have learnt so many different techniques, and I have the collection of tools and materials to show for it.  And even though my studio looks enormous from the outside, it really isn't, I need to be disciplined if it is not going to disappear under piles of 'stuff'.

Plus of course I have been trying to organise yet more builders to come and sort out the ceiling in the house.  And once that is done there will be decorating to do... I only wish the lovely people who built my shed did ceilings as well.  Busy times!

There's something at the bottom of the garden...

Remember this?  Now we have this...

Something is definitely happening at the end of the mudslide that used to be our garden.

I'm just beginning to allow myself to get excited about it.  Just a little bit...

Gardening

Did you see this?

I think I posted it on Facebook, maybe not here.  But this is what the bottom of our garden looked like a few weeks ago.  Very green, overgrown, and not much space for anything.  The poor old garden has been rather neglected while I was doing my degree (and, if I'm honest, for a while before that, I'm not much of a gardener at the best of times, and the summers have been so miserable for so long I rarely had any desire to go out there... )

Today we have this.

There is still more to do, the buddleia on the right needs to come out along with various other shrubs, and beyond that there is an apple tree that needs a serious haircut once we've picked the apples (a bumper crop again this year!).  Behind me is a pile of hedge trimmings that need to be carted to the tip, but believe me, it is less than a quarter the size of the pile that was there.

Maybe, just maybe, there will be space for a shed...