This is what a fiber studio looks like when it’s in transition…
My original felting space, which I’ve been using for about 8 years, is the former playroom of our house: a cozy space with a view of hemlocks and pines. In the heart of our home, it’s a fine working space, but not a great teaching space. I’m in the process of emptying a room that I think will serve as an inspiring teaching space as well as a well-ventilated space that is separate enough from the rest of the house in which I can do some dyeing of fiber with all natural, non-toxic plant materials and safe mordants.
It is not a big room, but it is bright and clean, and it has a large sink and exposed beams in the loft-like ceiling. It has taken me a long time to initiate this move, which will have to be done in stages since I need help to move the furniture around from space to space. Art can be done anywhere: outside, in a kitchen, in a closet-sized studio. Setting aside space and time is what matters — I am grateful for the time and spaces available to me, and it’s hard to wait to share the new space with students.
Julia Cameron, who wrote “The Artist’s Way” and a shelf-full of other inspired books about creating, wrote that if the artist takes care of the quantity of work created, then the artist’s Higher Power will take care of the quality of the work. I “work out” my spirit via artmaking. When I’m not making art I feel that I am not living my own life. To create a new studio space feels like traveling to a new country. I hope to post some “after” pics within the next few weeks…
Wooly Bliss 