Tag Archive for ‘studio’ at Inspiration Junkie robayre.com

Tag Archive for 'studio'

Weekend in Instagram Photos

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on September 6, 2011

. 3 Comments

I think this last weekend was the last unofficial weekend of summer. Actually, the weekend started out like summer and ended like fall.

I took this picture this morning. I had work overnight last night :( and was freezing and wearing two hats.

But on Friday my sister, sister in law, nephew and I went to the Indian Dunes.

It was perfect weather for the beach too. Hot. The sand felt like it was on fire and we were humored by my nephew who was afraid to step off the beach blanket and burn his feet. This was fine because then he snuggled up on our laps.

I dipped my baby toes in the water. Matt laughed when he saw this picture, all my friends make fun of my stumpy “baby toes”.

It was my nephew’s first trip to the dunes, other than when his mother was newly expecting him :)

I got to do a little reading on the beach.

Saturday my sister and I went to Naperville’s Last Fling. I have fond memories seeing bands perform at the Carillon park and have been wanting to go back for a couple years. I had this vision of how it was going to be. It’s a late summer evening, so it would be cool enough to wear a sweater, blankets covering the sloping park towards the stage, and I was thrilled to find out that the Gin Blossoms, one of the first bands I ever saw live, would be performing there. Flash forward to reality and the actual day of the event.

It was raining with lightening and thunderstorms. We debated even going, but we had already bought tickets and we didn’t mind getting wet, we just didn’t want to get struck by lightening standing in an open field. I imagined that we were going to be 2 of 50 people that actually showed up but it was surprisingly packed, probably thousands of people there. Poi Dog Pondering opened up and they were a very energetic and lively act. We brought our raincoats and had to zip up a few times. It was annoying though how everyone else had the not-so-brilliant idea of bringing an umbrella and then we couldn’t see anything over them. Fortunately it cleared up enough and the umbrellas came back down.

Sunday it got chilly, but the sun was out. Matt and I went for a walk in the morning and I took this picture of a blue mustang parked in a back yard. I love walking through alleys. Front yards are always kept so sterile and presentable, but backyards are where the real personalities comes out.

My sister came over and ~~cracked the whip~~ helped me unpack my studio some more. The walls are empty, but it’s getting there.

Then in the evening I went to a bonfire at my sister in law’s parent’s house, where we worked on our story telling skills while keeping warm by the fire.

Then on Monday (labor day) Matt and I went to a cookout at his parent’s house. Later, since it was labor day and there are always huge sales, we went shopping for a new couch. I can’t find what I want at all in stores, but I could never imagine buying something online. It’s hard enough trying to find something in the style AND color that I like, but comfort is equally important. When I’m going to spend as much as I am on a couch, you better believe the stars should align to have all three elements in one magnificent couch, or better yet, couch and love seat combo! If you have any couch buying knowledge or tips, I’d love to hear them.

All pictures were taken by me on my iphone and adjusted in instagram.

unpacking

Published

robayre

on August 22, 2011

in General Update, My Artwork and life

. 3 Comments

This weekend my sister came over to assist me in unpacking my studio. We got all the furniture in place and started unpacking. But then it was my brother’s birthday and then I got sick so it sits partially packed. I keep getting inspiration and wanting to work on projects, but when I get into my studio and see all the boxes covering my drawing table I kind of lose my drive. Funny how I rarely get inspiration to unpack boxes which is what I REALLY need.

This morning it dawned on me that I carry my sketchbook with me everywhere I go, and I don’t need a studio to draw in it, so the above was a quick piece I made using my limited supplies of a pencil and highlighter.
8.22.11 todo
I often use my sketchbook to write out concept ideas, quick sketches for future projects and to-d0 lists. The to-do lists will often get lost amongst other things, so a while ago at the old house I started this list to hang on the wall. This is a much quicker and long running reference where I can add short as well as long term goals. Since I kept having project ideas, but am not fully in my studio yet, I decided the list had to go up again. It’s MY HOUSE now, so if I want to tape it to my door with masking tape, so be it! Once again, just for my own comfort, and your information, the looney tunes wallpaper will be coming down. I wouldn’t want someone, for one second, thinking that it was something I chose.

So far in the move there have only been two casualties. I dropped an empty Ikea frame and the glass shattered and the second Oops was a can of chalkboard paint that opened up into a box of my desktop tools (pencils, pens, scissors, etc.). The funny thing is we made sure to hammer the lid on tightly before packing the can and it still opened somehow. Fortunately I discovered that chalkboard paint peels off easily, especially when spilled thickly all over like it did.

Day 9 - Me in my studio

Published

robayre

on February 9, 2011

in General Update

. 1 Comment

Day 9 - Me in my studio, originally uploaded by robayre.

Thing-a-Day Day 9 - A while ago I read a suggestion of using a picture of yourself in your work space, as a picture space on your Etsy listings. I thought it was such a brilliant idea. Tonight I had Matt take this polaroid of me. It’s just one little corner of my studio.

This probably won’t be the final or official picture. I think I’d like to take some with natural daylight coming in the room.

Getting the ball rolling

Published

robayre

on January 30, 2011

in General Update, My Artwork, life and shop update

. 2 Comments

Going into the studio Friday to make those little book pages got the ball rolling. Friday night and Saturday morning I started and then finished this little beauty.

As you can see in the top picture there was a lot of tiny paper cutting. When I started out I fully intended it to be aqua and rust. The piece decided that it wanted to stay mainly green blue, although there are tiny subtle touches of warm coloring here and there. It is now affordably available in the shop.

Then yesterday after reading about my sloppy studio woes, my sister came and took over in the Studio Re-Organization Mission of 2011. It probably goes hand in hand with her chosen profession in mathematics, but boy, can that girl organize and systematize. My studio is straight, and I’m more ready for Thing-A-Day than ever before. My rolls of fancy papers no longer need to stand in rolls, but can be put away flat on my big paper shelves, my resin materials have their own place, my zines have their own shelf, and the snozberries taste like real snozberries!

I think I’m back to creating, folks

On My Desk

Published

robayre

on November 6, 2010

in General Update, My Artwork, Projects and life

. 2 Comments

Inspired by Rosa’s most recent post “On My Desk”, I’m posting some recent camera phone pics from my own work table in my studio.

Here’s a little sneak peek at Grass & Stars No. 2

And some paper spiral stratum pendants.

And I’ve been cutting out bajillions of envelopes in the last few days, for my repurposed envelope and stationery sets.

I had an order for one of these button sets earlier this week, so I decided to make a whole bunch more. I got through them a lot because I personally wear them on everything, give them to friends and occasionally give one as an extra here or there in Etsy orders.

Daily Challenge for August

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robayre

on August 1, 2010

in General Update, Projects, goals and life

. 5 Comments

In the wee hours of this morning, Rosa updated her twitter to invite others to create something every day for the month of August. In an email she reminded me of my challenge from last year where I also invited others to create something everyday. Last year during August I created a new piece of mixed media artwork on a 9×9″ piece of watercolor paper everyday (M-F) and had quite a bit of fun in the process. Talking to my best friend on the phone earlier today, she inquired if I was up to the task, and reminded me that I did some nice work last year. I decided, yes, I would try to create something each day in August (M-F). But, this year I think I will do a variety of things. I have a list going of all sorts of things I want to do.

Last month (July) I barely stepped foot into my studio. If you look above at the before you probably can sympathize as to why I couldn’t cross any of my things off my list last month. So, to start the month fresh, with a nice new work space, I’ve cleaned up my drawing table, so I could actually work at it, imagine that! Hopefully with the challenge and the more organized work space I can get the ball rolling again.

Once again, I encourage everyone else to try to create something new every day for the month and share it on your blogs/flickr/twitter/facebook/etc. It need not be a large daily commitment. I’m sure there will be some days in there when I make a pin-back button and call it a day. You might just jot down a quick sketch everyday, or perhaps you have a larger project going and you can share your progress daily. If you decide to participate, please comment and let me know and I’ll share your link.

Thanks for the challenge, Rosa! Here we go!

Productivity Begets Creativity

Published

robayre

on October 26, 2009

in General Update, My Artwork, etsy, fiber and life

. 1 Comment

I’ve added one more reproduction print to my shop. This piece was another from my August challenge that sold very quickly. It was based on a blurry photograph I took of a street scene. After posting the original back in August I immediately received messages from a small handful of people who wanted to buy it but were disappointed to find it already snatched up. Here is another chance to make it yours for only $9.

For weeks I have barely passed the threshold to my art studio. Honestly, it’s a mess and instead of facing the monster I would dash in, grab materials I needed and work in my bedroom or living room. Finally this weekend my desire to use my spinning wheel grew larger than the power that laziness has over me. Once I got into the groove of the pedal and fiber, inspiration took over. I wanted to make more. I found myself cleaning off my drawing table which had been mounded with a foot high’s worth of materials. I wanted to paint, I want to draw, I want to create new paper spiral pendants, I want to knit mittens, I want to assemble envelope sets, I want to create found art pieces, I wanted to break out my sewing machine, put together more recycled bubble mailers and create the coloring book extra I mentioned a post or two ago. It goes without saying a simple action has refueled my creativity.

Last week I signed up for a local community education wheel throwing ceramics class with a bunch of friends. It starts this week, meets for 5 sessions, and the teacher is great and is allowing us to come in on our own time outside of class and work. I’ve been thinking of all sorts of ideas. I have so many areas of interest and have the idea of incorporating some of my handspun into some porcelain pieces. It’s been a while since I’ve done wheel throwing so we will see if any of my designs make it to fruition.

recap

Published

robayre

on August 6, 2008

in General Update

. 1 Comment

-Hello everyone who is Stumbling Upon me, I’m not exactly sure the reason for the recent influx of visits to my site, but I welcome them, and you, to my humble blog with open arms.

-Above, another Page A Day scan. You can see all the pages I have scanned so far here on my flickr.

-Today I broke my bike pedal off while riding my bike home from work, boo. That’s what you get when you ride an almost decade old huffy that has been stolen once, seat stolen a different time, and bike pedal broken off once before.

-Yesterday I realized that if you replace the o in my name with an i, my name sounds like ribbon. I’m not particularly a huge fan of ribbons, but this is the kind of thing I think about. It also occurred to me that as much as I loathe when parents name their child a nickname (Sam vs. Samuel, etc.) my name is Robyn, which is supposedly derived from Robert, which means Robin was probably a nickname for Robert at one point. My name is a nickname.

-Re: the last post: I’m not skilled at placing zippers, so I think I’ll ask my mom for a tutorial. I got it in, but it’s pretty funky.
-My sister sent me a link to this article in the Chicago Tribune. Apparently Paul McCartney was in Joliet, where my dad is from, just an hours drive away from where I live now. Paul went to some Route 66 museum and the article quoted some guy my dad went to high school with. My Dad = 2 degrees of separation from Sir Paul McCartney.

-I’m starting to have this new ritual for working in my studio. I pop on this pandora station , open the window and get to work while singing away. I’m not sure if by following that link you will get the same station as I listen to, with all my thumbs up and thumbs down, but it’s still worth listening to.

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