Wild Muse Notes ♣ Aria Nadii’s Weblog

Where have I been and what have I been doing? Reinventing myself physically, artistically, and spiritually. Again. I seem to have to do this every five to seven years, especially if I am getting too comfortable or when I finally get into a flow with something creative. I just have to shake it up. Denny Crane claims that the secret to life and success is to pull a rabbit out of your hat. I’ve decided that since everything in this current life seems to be reversed (as in upside down and backwards) that the secret to health and happiness is to follow the rabbit down the hole and through the looking glass. You don’t necessarily have to take the rabbit out of the hat first. I usually forget that part and it always works out just fine.

C.P. McDill and I just finished completely gutting my workspace and the creative process along with it. The “crow’s nest” that we use for a studio is the attic of our tiny cottage. It has a low ceiling of only 6′ at the highest point. The previous owner had installed a hideous drop ceiling and glued down wall to wall carpet which made it seem even more cramped and office like. We ripped out the drop ceiling, liberated the wooden rafters, exposed and sanded down the lovely hidden wood floorboards. C.P. installed all new full spectrum lighting, and then we painted the walls and ceiling a warm brilliant white. The difference is amazing. It’s so bright and warm as well as feeling much larger than it actually is. Then we created a more open floor plan with two work tables and switched over materials from oil paint to textiles and paper. We plan to build a space in the garden for wet materials.

I’ve been working in reused paper and textiles. All paint, chemicals and other wet media have been banished to the garden shed until their judgement day cometh. This temporarily solves my conflict over the toxicity and environmental unfriendliness of the materials I’ve been working in. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for awhile. It isn’t the only reason for the switcheroo but it is a factor that weighs in heavily. I’ve packed away or thrown away all of the old projects. There were just too many unfinished and unresolved things filling up the space and junking up my thoughts. I have absolutely no clue what I am going to do next and no expectations. This should be fun.