Art Room Insomnia

I think I'm driving myself crazy. Or, more accurately, I'm thinking myself crazy. I have been awake for a few hours in the middle of the night the past few nights, and what am I thinking about? All of the things I want to do in my art room! The problem is, I want to do them all at once! I've got to find a way to just slow down and enjoy the process. It's not like the queen is coming to visit, right?

We are making awesome progress. I spent all last week varnishing the pieces of my worktable. Gave myself a headache in the process by doing this indoors without good ventilation, but it was worth it. Here's what my room looked like last week:



And here is my wonderful assembled worktable, complete with casters so I can roll it around as needed! Thank you Mark!





I actually used the table yesterday to stamp up an envelope for mailing to a friend, and it was wonderful to be able to stnad up and work without hunching over and straining my back and neck. I ordered a stool, one of those stand/sit ones with adjustable height, so I'm anxious to see how that will work for me.

Mark and I spent all day on Sunday sanding and priming a locker-type cabinet we've had out in the garage for years. I'm hoping to get it painted and into the room later this week. But I also have grand ideas for collaging on the front of the cabinet door. We'll see!

Here are a few samples of the other projects I have in progress:

I bought this huge print at a yard sale on Saturday because I love the frame. I'm going to remove the print (and possibly use it to collage the locker cabinet) and replace it with cork to make an elegant bulletin board.



I moved this little bookcase into the room and got most of my art instruction books into it. Those little shelves sitting on top will be perfect mounted on the wall above it, but I don't want to put in any molly bolts until I'm sure I have everything where I want it. On the floor to the left of the bookcase are the yellow curtain panels that used to be in my dining area. I plan to stamp and/or paint on them and hang them over the window.



I sanded this little folding chair a friend gave me and took off the cusions so I can recover them. I bought some awesame jaquard fabric for it yesterday. I think I'll leave it with the rough, sanded black paint and just add a layer of satin varnish.



I also bought fabric to make a cover for a plastic folding table that will sit behind the workstation against the wall. An I'm going to get glass for the top of it. That way, I can keep often-used supplies within easy reach, and use the space underneath the table for ugly box storage.

So you can see how frenzied and scattered I am at the moment. I've started going through all the stuff in the living room and slowly moving it into the art room, mostly into the bins on the shelf in the closet. I can't wait to get that mess cleaned up. In between all this I have actually been doing some paid work too. Whew.