There is something so exciting about an artist’s studio…

As much as I enjoy the final product, I find as much to love

in the messy paint brushes and jars, and stacks of canvases.

This lofty studio has ample light from above, as well as

a surfeit of inspirational sculpture, and that stupendous

rhino fronted oval mirror…

The vestiges of all the magic before collected in layers…

It’s like a movie when the music swells…

and you know something is about to happen.

British textile artist Carolyn Quartermaine’s studio has always been

a  mixture of paint jars, rolls of fabric, and lovely French chairs…

for more visit Carolyn Quartermaine

The fabric can be ordered through Gabrielle Sarlo here

Here is the studio of British artist Kathy Dalwood...

who just started a blog to allow us in to the mind of the artist…

I’ve posted several times about Kathy Dalwood’s gorgeous

cast stone figurines, here. A wonderful artist herself, her

father was Hubert Dalwood, a very influential figure in the world

of contemporary sculpture during the 1960s and 70s.

Her figurines patiently “in situ” in the artist’s studio…

Here one is starting the process

from its origins as a porcelain flea market find…

And another is further along in the process…

of becoming a stand alone piece of sculpture.

A glimpse of an inspiration board shows us her focus for a

particular project…

Ideas creep up on you and for a period of time you find yourself being drawn to something

visual without fully understanding what it is that intrigues you, what you are going to do

about it and where it fits in with your work.

The result of her fascination with ruffs and fabric details in Tudor portraits…

The parts of the costumes which I found most intriguing were the ruffs

which struck me as the most stylized type of garment one could imagine;

not collars, but large, abstract, immobile structures –

more like sculpture than clothing.

Kathy also visits artist friends and acquaintances…

The studio of artist Phil Hale

website here about the making of an earlier exhibition

And lets us in on some discoveries…like this French house she vacationed at…

‘La Commanderie’ was another one of our serendipitous finds when

we were looking for a house to rent in the Jura mountains – close to the French Alps.

It’s a classic Maison de Maitre dating back to the 17th century, but like so many

French country houses has been a ‘maison de famille’ for generations.

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For a great view into an artist’s studio, thought process to

finished work, visit Kathy’s blog here

My little “studio” always at the ready for the next little project…

Though I have painted with oils, love sketching…my favorite

past time is reworking found treasure. Much less illustrious

but joyful nevertheless.