Studio updates and tropical bugs!

So have you all caught up with Seths fabulous studioscapes project? I have to say I was most relieved to see the pic I did send in to Seth didn't include all the packaging stuff that was going on at that time! What a relief! Things were a bit tense back at the old ranch here I can tell you. Thats what happens when you're outrageously busy and have the memory of a sieve! So I thought I would keep rolling with Seth's idea and show you a little peek at some of my fav things in the current studio setup.


My inspiration board at present, tada!



And yes it reeally is that tidy! Much of the focus is on all things Pulpy with the Pulp Redux collaboration in full swing. (I don't know what I will do when it's over, cry myself to sleep at night and dream about lost creative inspiration I think! We are all one big family now.)


Here's my desk currently. I admit that arty stuff takes over the entire house really. It just depends what room I am feeling creative in today. I do confine most of the messy paint to this space. However you might just find all manner of other bits travelling around the rest of the house with me.

My chair sits next to windows both behind and beside me. This way I get a great cross breeze without the need of too much artificial cooling. Fans are a problem blowing stuff all over the room but the aircon is an absolute necessity in Summer. (Its the subtropics here, even in the first month of Spring as we have now the temps are hovering at around 28degrees C today and the humidity is in the eighties with a storm on the way.) I need the open air as much as possible or I feel I'm going nutty fairly quickly! I found having the desk looking out the windows was far too distracting. This way I get the best of those views and am able to concentrate better. The natural light spills across the desk too and there is absolutley nothing that can come close to that!

The next pic is of my favourite space. It is just one shelf of the bookcase but it is the place I gaze at from the desk and it inspires me the most, other than gazing out of the window at natures wonderful play that is.

It is really a bit of a shelf of curiosities. There is a large wooden tiki from New Zealand to protect me from evil spirits. Hubby is a Kiwi. I love the paua shell eyes. There is a large piece of coral from the Great Barrier Reef which is as flat as a pancake. I recommend that experience to anyone, just amazing! There are two little seahorses just a few inches long and next to them some tiny irridescent perfect shells just a few millimeters long that belonged to my grandfather. I will never part with them. Some shells which have been sliced open to reveal their natural labyrinths and a small part of my collections of favourite rocks and stones. The large green piece in the back next to the tiki is a solid piece of New Zealand jade. At the front a couple of chinese authentic coins over a thousand years old. Anyeway I think you get the drift. The little bottle at the back is a 100year old chinese snuff bottle that is handpainted. The painting is done on the inside of the bottle and it still smells of snuff.


Next to this motley collection is the bug collection. Oh yes, you live in the tropics and like art you know what happens here!

I have run out of compartments in the boxes so I have resorted to plastic homes temporarily for the latest bits. On top a butterfly that recently passed away on the lawn and under that the wings of a large moth. Each wing measures approximately 6 inches. Oh yes we grow em big up here! That makes for fun times around the bbq at night. The wooden box houses a collection of scented items. From cedar chips to frankinsence and myhrr (is that how you spell that???) its all in there. I always wondered what the heck those items were when I was young. I took the trouble to find out. Anyway it all smells heavenly. I think scent is such an important inspiration too for artists.
Under that the compartment boxes house a collection of bugs that only the tropics could produce! Maybe I'll let a few come out for Halloween and show you all, LOL!

Well there you have a glimpse of a little bit more. So now show me, what's going on in your studio?