#cotfahashtagchallenge

Today's @carveouttimeforart challenge forced me to clean up my studio, so thank you for that! If you haven't guessed, today's challenge is #showusyourspace. This is only one of my spaces. I call this my clean, or "pretty space" (although, to be honest, it is usually messy). This room is off my living room so I am able to still talk to my baby and husband when I am working, which is sometimes nice. Other times it is distracting. My office desk/ photo editing desk is right outside this room. My darkroom/ screen printing / mat cutting/ photography booth/ inventory room is in the basement. And half the garage is pretty much dedicated to cutting frames and wood working. For two weeks I took over the dining room for sewing covers for my art fair walls and tables. When you're an artist, your space can be anywhere, I suppose! #artstudio #artist #cotfahashtagchallenge #space #makersspace #painting #artstudio

Today's @carveouttimeforart challenge is #creativepinkieswear, or things I have been putting off, but would like to accomplish. Well, I have a few of those. This is a portrait I have had on my studio bench for quite some time (I don't want to admit, but it's been months). I used to do portraits all the time, and felt confident with them. Then, I didn't do one for a long time and I got scared. I started two before this one and they were failures. With anything, it is going to take practice to get my confidence and skill back. I have been gradually working on this one over the last week, and I hope to finish it soon so I can do another, that I know will be even better. #ink #painting #cotfahashtagchallenge #carveouttimeforart #studio #art #artist #artwork

Here's some more snaps of my studio, including the unglamorous bits. #cotfahashtagchallenge @carveouttimeforart #showusyourspace #painting #artstudio #artist #makersspace

The theme for today's @carveouttimeforart is #HowICOTFA, or how I find time to do what I do. Be warned, it has been a struggle at times. Before I had Brennan, it was easy. I woke up and worked 8-12 hours/ day. Before that, when I worked other jobs, it was harder, and to be honest I let my studio practice falter because I was just too tired after working 8-10 hours in an office and then teaching nights. After I had Brennan I did not work in my studio for the first 6 months. He woke up every 2 hours without fail, and I was just exhausted and trying to manage to keep the household together. He has since made up for that period, and he (for the most part) sleeps in and takes a good nap, so I work in the mornings, afternoon, and night after he goes to bed. I know this isn't going to last forever and is going to be much harder with two, so I expect to have to ask for or hire help to keep things moving. It is more than important for me to keep working in my studio. Wondering how all you other mommas out there do it!? #artstudio #artmom #artist #cotfahashtagchallenge #ink #painting

And here is the last one I was working on today. I have a tiny bit of painting left on this one. You can faintly see the lines where I will gild. I haven't decided if I will do gold, copper, or silver yet. What do you think? #cotfahashtagchallenge #tada_tuesday #gilding #ink #painting #artstudio #artist #art

Finished this tiny Penrose triangle. I am making a series of these little guys. #tada_tuesday #cotfahashtagchallenge #gilding #ink #painting

And here we go... #cotfahashtagchallenge #tada_tuesday @carveouttimeforart #gilding #silver #beetle #ink #artstudio #painting