Great Fun and Great News

Well, I got to my studio yesterday and finished the cleaning up and then was able to sit down for about fifteen minutes until I got a call that the group was only a few minutes away so I went outside to flag them down. This is the view from my door...BART travels parallel to my studio...when it is heading toward the left it is coming from a station so it isn't very noisy. When it is coming the other way, it is really so loud you can't hear someone talking to you when you are on the street. I am in an old industrial neighborhood.The group from PIQF arrived and were able to park right in front of my studio. I had been outside sweeping the sidewalk before they got there as the street is so filthy from the cars, trucks, and BART, etc. I didn't get any pictures of the bus or the people as I was a little too busy.

So, they all came in to my studio via the first studio and then back to mine...the entry way is to the left of the window in the back...you are looking toward the front of my studio at my design wall. The table is one I use for sorting fabric, etc. Beneath are boxes of decorator fabric samples and I put out three boxes for the ladies to help themselves to...they had a a great time cutting out fabric and some took the books home...I have so much I just wanted to get them out of there!
This is from the same vantage point only looking toward the right side of my studio...you can see George int he background and get an idea of the windows that I have in this place...the light is wonderful but in the summer it gets hot. I have just realized that a lot of the windows have the caulking coming out so maybe if I recaulk some of them the wind won't come in so easily! That's what I get for cheap rent! You also see my big table on the right which had a lot of my 8 x 10 color blocks on them.
So, turning around from where I was standing, I am now looking toward the back section.

Going in to the back area, you see my metal shelving unit with dyes, etc and my paper table. This is where I am now doing my collages which is very nice to have as before I have been working on a little 3' table which is completely covered so I really only work on about 1 square foot of cleared space!For decoration I have put up three of my collages which I dutifully put on mat board so they would look better.
And now we are just past my paper table and are looking at the big bookcase which is only slightly filled at this point. It is holding a few of my books that I use for collaging and I will be moving more down there along with other stuff.

You can see the table at the end which was put up for this and has some of my smaller works on it for show.
And then coming back around you can see my feeble attempt at further decorating by putting some of my many type blocks out right in front of two bins full of silk screens from my themorfax.
And here we are right back in the main area with all my paints and surface design stuff right handy for the big table.

Poke Bolton is never going to want my studio in her Studios Magazine! It sure doesn't look anything like Jane Davila's really nice and neat studio with her hand made furniture that she built...no exposed 4x4's for her!

This past week, along with cleaning and arranging the studio, I have been busy doing more color blocks. Each of these is 8 x 10 and I am really happy with them. The black and orange pieces use left over pieces from my Life Circles series but with turquoise added to them which I think is really cool.
When I got home last night I was checking my email and found a letter from the Arts Commission. I am one of several artists who are receiving commissions but the details are not available yet. I should get that information as to how many pieces they want and what type within a couple of weeks. And then there is a board meeting to attend so I can bring some examples to show them. Oh, I needed this to pay my rent! Happy days!