De facto Studio

sharing the space with tools

While we wait before resuming renovations, our studio has gotten pressed into service.  Frequently as an extension of the Engineering Department's shed.  And occasionally room is made on my work table for me to paint !  Although paint and palette share with tools.

The creative work space is shaping up

But the painting work is going well.  The light is lovely in the space and has a good quality.  The garden views and sounds are very peaceful.  I can feel it will be a really great and productive space to use.  Though just 75% of the windows are fitted, I can imagine already how the space will shape up….

excellent light for painting 

quitting time in the studio...

Unscheduled Summer Break

Oh my, we had high hopes to finish off the studio very fast and get to using it !  Not so fast it seems.

Ian rang me Tuesday, hours before New Years Eve festivities time would get underway.  From the Emergency Room at the local hospital.  Thankfully its close by, because he had been in an accident and lost tips of two fingers to a power tool on a hot hot day !  I met him at the hospital, where we spent several hours while the doctor stitched up artery and veins in each finger (to stop bleeding) and kept him for observation.  We came home with pain killers and antibiotics.

Two days later the fingers are healing.  A day in doctors office and in hospital later….we learn a bit more lost and he would likely need grafts to recover (which would make for more complicated recovery)  He was sent home after tests and treatment, and a special dressing for each of the wounded fingers.  Of course, we won't know for sure what is next  for a week, when he meets with a Hand specialist at Royal Adelaide Hospital.  Its just rest, positive healing thoughts, and time that need to do their thing !

How things look at the current point of progress.
Almost a room !

So our studio won't be done as soon as we thought.  While he can do some things with one hand, many of them are not well indicated quite yet, as the hurt hand feels best when it isn't over jostled or anything !  Ian is working through his summer reading pile instead.  We are grateful it wasn't worse and want to help it heal, so we can get back to life and doing things again (Ian is never idle much, he is always doing things, and, using his hands).

So, more when we have some developments to report.  Sure there are a few things to do.  I have cleaned up the scene of the accident already, and there is a bit more tidy up to do, so we have a workable covered patio, partly enclosed.  Three windows are in now, and the accident occurred right in midst of preparing some of the timber framing for the fourth.  We can put two of the panes of glass back in their frames, and the area can get cleaned up until ready to do next construction bits and pieces.  I just may need to rearrange the sequence of things. It seems some de-clutter, rearranging, painting and soft furnishings work in and around the house may need to move up on the list while that last stage of construction waits the opportunity to get back at it  again !

Ian and Kim at Christmas

Happy New Year 2014 to you all :)

Last Phase Underway at Last: The Studio

one of the french doors, with one of
my paintings completed in the
to-be-studio space leaning against it

Starting a business this year definitely set us back a bit in terms of finishing our renovations this year ( for info on our business see brocante-in-the-barossa.com ).  Last year this time (late December !)  Ian got the laundry, second bathroom and a small dust-free workspace done (where he can work on watchmaking, in a cleaner environment than sharing with heavy tools in his shed).

I am looking forward to having studio space, so I can paint more often.  Once the weather got nicer, I have painted occasionally in this area, as the light is good, and filtered, but still true.  There are not many bad shadows near the stone retaining wall side.  I am hopeful this will make for good painting space.  It is also very peaceful to work in.

old light fitting
at the back door

Meantime, good progress has happened on the periphery of what will be the studio.  A gorgeous antique light fitting was installed outside the back door, so I did not have to return home in the dark and trip (which did happen once before the light was installed !).  A vintage light fitting was updated and wired safely and looks very smart in its new place.

Ian did up a colour bond clad wall that will be our inside studio wall out of scrap left over colour bond sheeting.  Because it was not all the same colour, he painted it with hammer-finish paint in a gunmetal colour to unify it.  We were happy to use scrap that otherwise would have been discarded.

french doors hung,
but still in their as-we-got-them
yellow paintwork

But the work on enclosing our patio space to create a studio has waited until opportunity came around.  Which finally started a couple months ago.  First the french doors got put up.  Making it actually look like it may someday become a room !  The colour of the door frames was as they were when we bought them from a salvage yard.  So they also got a paint job some weeks later, and are finished in a glossy paint in 'Monument' (a dark charcoal) to match the metal beams in the structure.

Then on one of our November Monday's off we went into the city to order windows to fit the space.   This is the most expensive last single expense of the project.  It came in a bit higher than we originally hoped, but not more than our 20% margin for over-run estimates.  So it was OK, plus we have saved on a few other things here and there.  I was quite happy to get more window light than I had expected might be the case, plus we had them all made with fitted flyscreens, which means  we will have outstanding ventilation in the space whenever we want it.  So a good outcome.  The finish for the window frames is black, which will blend well with the very dark Monument colour (darkest charcoal).

A month later, the windows arrived and are now starting to be installed, one by one.  One is in now and the next three are queued up for their turns.

Before installing the windows, Ian has redone all the grouting/sealing between the stone pavers in the patio area, because he did not like how it cured.  It took him a week and half to methodically remove the old materials, and then put in fresh better mixes which have cured well.  Then he sealed each.  This will give us a tidier finish for the studio floor. Also one that can be cleaned nicely.

 This last snapshot shows framing structure,  the first window in, and also the painted up French door on the left (looking from outside in).  This wall will be the one facing the shed, and the area on the outside is covered by the patio overhang.

 It's looking so exciting to see the progress, step by step.  Can't wait for it to be done !  Finally I have allowed a bit of indulgence of thought about how to finish the space off once construction and enclosing is finished !  I have old vintage factory style lights to put in there.  We need a few power points along the wall adjacent to the laundry.  We know this area is very weatherproof and dry inside (even without enclosure, it early gets wet, and once the windows to the west are in it won't at all).  So, I want to move the big bookcases out from the dining area to that wall adjacent to laundry.  So we will have reference materials for art and creating activities and also a bit of that nice library feel to this space.  We have two cane frame lounging chairs for the space too, and will work out something for a table near them.  Last but not least, the top of the stone retaining wall will be a seat with views to the garden, and I have saved for this area some large vintage carpet pillows.  The cats love them and will enjoy them while they watch the garden.  The BBQ will move under the eaves outside the studio, and also the round teak table, plus the chairs I still must finish painting (one of 4 is done !).  

Oh yes, I also must get rid of a lot of final boxes of things from our move, some have been boxed up for a long time.  It will soon be time to sort, manage properly or get rid of the clutter of old things I have been holding onto.  So a bit to do ! But a task I actually look forward to, to start 2014 with a bit of clearing !