My gran is a painter. She raised 4 boys while my grandfather was the sole provider. I think she had the tougher job by far, just saying! They lived in their ‘family home’ for as long as I can remember, from after marriage to well into their 70s I think.

My gran had one room of the house to herself, it was her art studio. I have the fondest memories of running into that house and the first thing I’d do, once I had greeted the adults was go straight to that room and look at everything. There was hardly any room to actually walk around. Half finished paintings were everywhere, she couldn’t just work on one project at a time, nope she was too busy for that. It’s like all her ideas were trying to escape her mind at once. I remember the smell of oil paint and turpentine. I remember the easels and the brushes in all shapes and sizes, and I remember the paint pallets decorated with fresh and dry paint.

Is was there that the dream was born in me, to one day have my own art studio. I haven’t got there yet. But the dream is alive and is now being shared by my children.

One day it will happen, and in preparation for that I have been exploring all kinds of wonderful art and creative spaces.  Here are a three of my favourite so far.

Oh Happy Day:

Lia Griffith:

Something Turquoise:

And while these are all the spaces that I aspire to, this is where I am at the moment:

Trusty canine companion – Check!

Kids art (I’m a mom first) – Check!

Words of encouragement and Portuguese tiles for inspiration – Double Check!

Polaroids of crazy times – Check!

Photos of where our collaboration all began – Check!

Katie will share her thoughts on creative spaces and her own wee corner in another post, stay tuned for part 2!

Cheers,