New Art Studio at the Cottage!!!!

We have been at our Cottage for the past week. François has been working away at the new studio. Over the first few days he completed the tongue and groove flooring and then began to build the walls for the Studio. He builds the walls out of 2 x 6 x 8 studs.  I got all the new vinyl windows of various sizes FREE on Craig's List 4 years ago. Each of the windows is new, in their original packaging. 

We are very fortunate in that our cottage neighbor, Bill, stopped by to consult about window placement in each wall. Bill heads up a Construction Program for the Carleton Place School System. He leads a team of students in the construction of cottages that are then moved off site after completion. We were so pleased to have his help!

Once the wall is constructed on the floor base, it has to be raised into position gradually. I helped François with this process. We screwed in supports to hold the wall in place, and the added blocks under the supports as he lifted it. I was quite worried about all of this, but we went slow, took are time, and it all worked beautifully.

This is nearly the final bracing of the wall before we set it into place. As it is lifted higher, the wall is lighter and easier to move. We had  brace at the opposite side to prevent the wall from falling off the floor.

Here the wall is in place, braced, and the base screwed into place awaiting the remaining walls to be constructed. This wall, facing the lake, will have three windows, one really large one, and two medium sized ones. I will have a built in workspace just below the two windows on the left of this wall.

Here you can see my husband François working on the second wall. He hopes to finish all the walls and have them in place by this Friday. I will continue to post photo updates in the coming weeks, as time allows.

 While François is working on the new studio, I have been on our cottage second floor (still yet to have the walls finished) working in my "studio corner" on various projects. Our golden retriever, Tobie, is constantly checking out the worktable to see if I have left any crumbs behind from my snacks!

 I am working on a series of small books. The images and texts are created from random rubber stamps loaned to me by by good friend here, Boni Jawarski. I am adding items to the surface of the page, including lace, ribbon, and feathers.

Each of the books will be bound in wooden covers. Each book is constructed of single folio signatures, hand sewn and adhered to the wooden book covers with waxed double twined linen thread. The theme for this series of books is "Believe" and is all about faith-hope-and love.

I am using trim pieces from our cottage paneling projects for the covers. I am blessed to have a wonderful set of Dremel tools which allow me to shape the edges and drill nice, neat holes to accept the binding threads. I learned about this binding process from an older issue of Bound and Lettered. You can click the link I have provided to learn about this wonderful publication available from John Neal Booksellers.





As I prepare to return to the cottage after doing our laundry here, cutting the grass, watering our plants, and other "home chores" that needed tending, I am reminded of all the years we had to drive 10-12 hours to get to our Lake House Cottage. I am thankful for the brief 1.5 hour trip I have ahead of me today to return to our piece of heaven on hearth. However, I am missing all our dear friends in Cambridge and our parish family there. With all the blessings we have received with this move, the pain of separation is still very fresh in my heart.

My creative verve continues to soar, and I thank God for all the grace and blessings that have been bestowed upon me. My cup runneth over!

All will be well, and all will be well, and with the grace, strength, love, and glory of God in her infinite wisdom, all will be well.