Wintry Observations

My Studio at the Present Moment...

For the past three days it seems as though I'm getting little or nothing done in the studio despite the fact that I've spent the majority of my time there. It's a royal mess - I rarely feel comfortable working in such disarray, but that's the way it is at the moment. Some folks don't mind the mess - in fact all the "stuff" actually inspires them. I'm not one of those artists. I like a clean space when I begin new projects - I want everything put away from previous projects so that I can bring out anything that might possibly "work" with the next project.



That's not to say that I only work on one piece at a time - I guess I keep the projects slightly separated - using the dining room as over-flow from the studio. After all, it's just across the open entry hall anyway! My studio is the living room of our town-house. Fortunately, there is a small family room at the back of the house so we don't really need a formal living room, too. Especially since we never entertain!



And two computers - I can't wait until I have everything working on my new Mac Book Pro. I've used a PC for the past 5+ years, purchased to go along with the Bernina Artista - which I traded in for a Bernina Virtuoso 153 two years ago after never really using (or wanting) the embroidery module, etc. The sales person really overwhelmed me back then - my mistake! Anyway, I've got MS software on my Mac, so that's not the problem. For some reason or other, my Epson CX4800 simply will not print regular copies from the Mac. The images are like faded shadows of what they should be - but the printer still works fine with the PC. Arghhhhhhh.... I've an email in to Mac to see if we can rectify the problem - if not, I'll be purchasing a new Epson!



Now you've seen my messy studio - with several projects piled up on the design table, and more on the ironing board (behind the computers), more projects spilling over onto the dining room table, and boxes with the frames I ordered for my smaller quilts sitting in the middle of the floor.

Meanwhile, life goes on outside my window. I've notice a pair of Downy Woodpeckers vying for "top-dog" position on my new suet feeder. The feeder looks like a birdhouse, but it has no openings, other than on the bottom, where the square suet packages fit inside. The roof lifts up the hanging chain so that one can easily add more suet (without too much of a mess) and the sparrows seem to have a hard time hanging upside down in order to get at the suet - which is one reason why I bought it. Of course, the design doesn't hamper either the daytime squirrels or the night time raccoons, but that's also life!







By the way, the female Downy has won the battle over who has top priority on the feeder...



Supremacy despite the warped foot! Looks like she's growing a new 'toe' after having had some sort of accident. But she doesn't get any sympathy from the male - they literally fight for who gets the feeder - and then she guards it for herself when she's done snacking for awhile!