While I'm getting the finishing touches on a client's project I don't have time to finish my newest projects or drawings. So I go back to the sketchbooks for content. This one is from around 1997-98. These are random drawings that I do when I'm bored or stuck or lacking motivation. ANYTHING - to get you back on track or to take up time until your phone rings.
The daily stuff - dishes, laundry, vacuuming, dusting, etc and so forth - that consumes a lot of our time is an irritant. I opine that the reason there seem to be more men artists than women is because of these daily chores. Sorry men. We still do the lioness' share. What most women need are good "wives" to take care of the trash, the wiping of faces, the dinners. This would allow them to work without interruption or break the flow of the muse.
Sometimes working at home is not the best place to think and ponder; we need places to escape. People have suggested a room. Pish. Rooms have doors that can be banged on over and over again. What artists really need are retreats. Either a place they can go to a few times a year or a building unattached from the house. I have dreams of such a place. I call it "Woman Hut". I wanted to give it a more unique name. Something artsier. Something biting. But while I've been searching for the perfect label "Woman Hut" has caught on with family and friends.
"Woman Hut" will be built from found materials. I have collected bricks from contractor friends, stopped on the road to get discarded building materials, accosted demolition crews to glean a few rafters or 2x4s, etc. My brother had all his windows replaced and gave me some of the old ones. I have bought unique materials at thrift stores for a song. My daughter-in-law gave me a wonderful book - "Great Backyard Cottages" that covers a lot of ideas and styles. She is an architect and I'm hoping at some point I can persuade her to help with the design "Woman Hut". (I have three sons - no daughters - so it would be lovely to have a place where my new daughter and the girlfriends can congregate for gal-fests) I borrowed my son's copy of "A Place of One's Own" and I've also bought "Woodstock Handmade Houses" which is filled with unique abodes. Plus all the periodicals I read and peruse for ideas. So "Woman Hut" has a good start. In theory and in my mind.
I only want one room. Granted a fairly large one. I want to fit it out with a velvet sofa and brick floors. Peeling paint and washed-pickled surfaces. Crocheted scarves and oil lamps. A nice sized area for doing my paintings with a place to relax and have tea or for a model to stand/sit. My dad has a potbellied woodstove for those crisp days. Rustic meets 19th century old-money-New York. Naturally, it would need to be varmint proofed since we have lots of squirrels, raccoons and possums.
I want to hang interesting works both 2D and 3D pieces for conversation and mulling over. I want shelves for books and a small porch area - screened for summer sittin' with a hammock on one end. I would love to have a small glass-enclosed end to begin new plants and grow exotic ones during the warmer months. I don't want electricity. I want to escape there during the daylight hours. Walk out my door in the morning with coffee and lunch in tow, wave bye to hubby, and go into the woods to create until twilight.
Ahh...dreams.
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