[NEW PAINTING] "Fettered" + Studio Revamp Preview

Hello lovely people, 

Sorry for my silence this month so far, I have been really busy but on a bunch of personal issues as well as tasks not directly related to art making but that needed to be done. 

Most of those are now settled, so I am looking forward to sitting down to create as much as possible in the coming weeks. 

I did manage to paint one piece however, the one you see above, "Fettered". 

This piece was another exercise to practice working with muted tones and a more monochromatic palette. 

I really enjoyed the process on this one, and it scratched an artistic itch I had for a while. 

I don't think my work will ever be fully monochromatic, or even as muted as this piece is, but working that way every so often helps me fine tune my process and more clearly define what I want for my work in the long run. 

This painting will be the print for July, and once I receive my printer ink stock later this week, I will set about sending out any pending rewards with the goal to send them out next week! 

Alongside the above piece, most of my time in the last couple of weeks has been spent working on a small studio revamp. 

My boyfriend and I were considering moving flats in July, and I was thinking of doing a video of the move and of setting up my new studio. But we decided against the move in the end so I figured I might as well just re do my current studio space. A change is always refreshing, and after the year we've had, I was itching for something fresher. 

I also got contacted by the company Sit-Stand, and they offered to send me a big standing desk in exchange for a feature in my next Youtube video.
While I already owned a standing desk which I absolutely love, it was always a little too small for my needs, so I jumped at the opportunity to get a bigger one!

You can see it below in the After picture :)

I changed a number of things in my studio, and I will detail it all in my video later this week, but I thought I would give you guys a little preview!

I changed the side I had my desk on, so I could be closer to the window, and I installed some vinyl flooring tiles to replace the ratty old rug I used to protect the carpet.

I got rid of my huge metal desk (left above) and moved my white drawers there instead. I gave my old beloved standing desk to my boyfriend ( I would have happily kept it but I felt a little greedy keeping them all to myself, haha) and replaced it with his smaller non-standing desk. This is now my packaging station.

I replaced my crappy wire shelves with some properly sturdy wooden Ikea shelves, which allow me to use the vertical space in my office in a way that doesn't damage the walls. 

My FAVOURITE change however, was creating my own makeshift apothecary cabinet of sorts, with some MOPPE drawers from Ikea!

It took me about a week on and off to stain them, sand them, varnish and glue them all together but I am so thrilled with the result!
They look better than I was hoping, and also allow me to display some of my favourite items on top!

This took me a little while to do, but to be perfectly honest, I really needed a project that was a little different to making art but still allowed me to use my hands. This was oddly cathartic and very enjoyable. 

I went to a dark art fair to help out a good friend of mine who was exhibiting there last week-end, and got myself a beautiful preserved spider-web, which I think looks just perfect on top of my new drawers. ;)

And that's it for today, but I will have more content for you this week before the month is over!

I hope you are all well and are taking good care of yourselves :)

Love, M