PREOCCUPIED WITH POTENTIAL...

What do you see when you look at this picture? Do you see a semi derelict, broken into garage full of junk and cobwebs, almost completely obscured by brambles? Do you see somewhere fly-tippers have dumped bags of rubble and some broken wardrobes? Somewhere a man with mental health issues has been sheltering and you have to watch your step in case you tread on a needle? (Well, you can't see those parts.)

I see what is eventually going to be my studio. After longer, more complex and more frustrating negotiations than the purchase of my flat, I finally own the garage at the bottom of my garden (It's where the coach houses used to be and faces into a track).

There are a lot of artists in this area and most of the garages have been turned into studios. The open studios weekend each summer is the perfect opportunity to snoop at the amazing spaces people have created - oh and look at their art, I suppose. I was talking to one established local artist, who has an architect designed, slate clad beauty of a space, and was telling her my hopes to buy and convert mine into a studio as well.

She looked at me with slight amusement and said; "And what are you going to do in your studio?"

"Um, I'm going to create, er, stuff and you know, just like, it'll be good to have a place to make a mess and not have to clear it up and um, I can sew but I don't do it much anymore," was my not very polished answer.

I suppose what I should have said was: I'm going to paint it all white and stick things up on the wall and re-finish all the pieces of furniture I never touch because it's too cold/rainy to do it outside. And I'm going to set up my sewing machine and not have to put it away each time I use it; and I'll store all my magazines and fabric and put all my paints and craft supplies in cute jars on shelves where I can see them instead of in a suitcase.

As fate would have it, I received my copy of Lena Corwin's book: Printing By Hand the very same day the sale was completed. It's full of gorgeous projects; so maybe that's what I'm going to get up to in my studio.

About an hour ago, two eastern european guys finished removing a truckload of crap from the garage and the stuff that had been dumped outside (probably by some other eastern european guys who were paid to remove it from somewhere else - eek). So I now have a very heavily cobwebbed, extremely dark empty space, ready for the real work of converting it into something light and inspiring like the space above.

So that's what I've been doing lately instead of paying attention to fashion shows.

{Other images from Blueprint (R.I.P.) Fall 2006 - photo cos my supposedly compatible Mac and my scanner still won't even talk to each other, hence less pics lately - sigh}