Home of the Great Cosmic Goldfish

My new studio is DONE and The Great Cosmic Goldfish is in charge!!  He actually supervised the old studio, but from more of an observer status.  Now he's fully in charge.

In case you're wondering if I've completely lost it, The Great Cosmic Goldfish (from now on referred to as the GCG whenever possible), is an incredibly beautiful print by David Wooten. Wooten is an amazing artist - oh to be a fly on the wall of his studio.  My dearest girlfriend bought a print for me.  The painting is actually called "Ideal Fishin", or something mundane like that.  While I fully respect the author's right to name his own paintings, my print named itself from the beginning.  He is not just the cosmic goldfish, he is the GREAT Cosmic Goldfish.  I don't know why, but he is.

That said, all color choices and furniture design of my new studio have had to defer to the GCG.  My new paper/mat board cabinet became gold, the old filing cabinet became green, and the huge bulletin boards that I created are lovely green/gold/blue brocade colors with gold braiding - all to be in harmony with the GCG.

The new studio marks a significant change in the way I view my art and my business. I love the larger space, the wonderful light, and the fact that I can walk out the studio door to spend time watching the forest.  I have taken great care with the flow of the entire space because for some reason that matters to me.  Now, when I walk into the studio, I am filled with joy and the sense of rightness.

I especially love my huge bulletin boards. It is important to me to have places to stick things so that they are still visible. They might be works in process, letters of encouragement, visual ideas, remembrances, anything that I want to keep in my visual awareness.  Since my new studio had a lot more wall space, I decided to take advantage of it.  Some of you may already know how to create these bulletin boards (I always seem to be a bit behind on the latest things), but for those of you who don't, I will share my process. 

First, find a soundproofing material called Homasote.  It comes in 4' x 8' sheets and my wonderful local supplier even cut it for me at no additional charge.  Cost:  $25. You can cut it into any sizes you want, but I chose 2 3'x2' sections and 2 5'x2' sections.  Then I went to my local fabric store and chose two fabrics that I thought would work together (and look beautiful with the GCG).  I found drapery fabric and gold braiding all on super sale, and the incredibly helpful saleslady even helped me figure out exactly how much yardage I needed.  Cost: $25. 

To assemble, I cut the fabric and stapled it to the Homasote. I stapled the braiding to the back, wrapped it around in front  and tacked it in different places with decorative drapery tacks. It was incredibly simple and the result is even better than I'd hoped. I have an additional small green bulletin board over my office area.

I'm looking forward to sharing the wonderful things that will be coming out of this new studio.