It’s been many years now since my studio was featured on a local news station. Back then it was #shesheds that were all the rage and why a reporter had reached out to me for an interview and a tour.
The funny thing is my studio had been built long before it became a trend. So I guess I was ahead of the curve – though I didn’t know it! LOL
Since the construction of my studio back in 2009, I’ve evolved, as well as, my special space has morphed into supporting more dreams of mine which now all take place under this 10 x 12 roof.
It’s here I still write, though these days that is mostly blog posts and my newsletter. But it’s where I now also create Animal Oracle mixed media art, and facilitate Intuitive Oracle Readings for people and for people and their pets via Zoom.
So after I was sweetly nudged by another artist to share a video of my space, I created this updated video…
And you are cordially invited to come on inside! I hope you will enjoy! And when you are done, you can also check out the studio of the artist who nudged me to do a video…see below…
Here is a tour of Jules Chabeaux – wildlife artist – art studio…
It has been years since I found these sweet little bird houses and painted them orange which adorned the front of my cottage studio.
As you can see by the photo above the color faded over the years. It was time for an update, but alas, procrastination was holding me back. Or was the timing not yet right?
I initially thought I’d just repaint them in the same shade of orange, but then had the idea to paint each one a different color. This was just the inspiration (and kick in the butt!) I needed to tackle this project one recent Saturday morning!
And I am thrilled with the final outcome! Looking at them now affixed to the front of my studio, I had to smile because I had this sense that one special little colorful donkey I found on my travels to Florida this past winter had somehow subconsciously influenced me. So a big hee haw of a thank you to Donkey who is shown in the photo below along with the updated birdhouses.
P.S. If you are new here…there have been many paws that have inspired my journey for the past 25 years who taught me the power of pausing often in my life to reflect and come back to center in order to live a meaningful life.
My writing desk and over-sized chair where I meditate and also like to read.
For about three weeks I kept pushing aside the yearning I had to re-arrange my writing and creative cottage. This 10 x 12 space that sits off the corner of my deck and feels like a giant hug each time I walk through the Victorian screen door.
Earlier this spring I purged what I no longer needed in this space as I believe when we discard what no longer serves us, it allows for new creativity to come into our lives.
But it had been awhile since I re-arranged the furniture. There are only so many ways in which I can position all the pieces, but this feeling of moving things around kept beckoning.
Sunday and in the wee early hours, lying awake in bed there was this voice again, Time to move things around in the cottage. And what followed next I struggled a few hours with (though in reality I’d been giving thought to this for a long time). I heard that it was time for me to also let go of some of my Frankie photos and memorabilia. I felt some resistance, but I promised myself I’d take it into consideration.
Later in the morning after procrastinating for a time, I answered that intuitive call and out to my cottage I went to begin the task of making it anew.
I have a tall free-standing bookshelf, my writing desk, what I call my analog desk (where I do my daily oracle readings for myself and where I create in my art journal), an over-sized wicker chair with matching ottoman, 3-drawer side table, and a chest on wheels. My petite gas stove stays permanently fixed in the northwest corner. It’s quite a few pieces to have contained in this small space, but somehow I manage to make it all work, even though it has its limits on what I can do.
My analog table where I work on art journaling plus each morning after meditation pull an oracle card (or two or three!) and journal.
I moved some pieces onto the deck so I could more easily move other’s around. Then I took down all the photos of Frankie and the memorabilia I had on two of the walls. From there I decided what would stay and what could go, but not before taking a photograph of what I was letting go. Two went into storage downstairs and one I put on the wall in the living room, while five other remain in my writing cottage. This feels right.
Over the years I’ve been making shifts away from my identity solely being about my life and my work I’d done with Frankie and disabled dogs. It hasn’t always been easy, but I remind myself it’s because of Frankie and then Joie, and now Gidget, that I am who I am today.
I have no doubt Frankie and Joie are happy, and blessing me from the other side, that I continue to spread my wings and learn to fly in new ways. As for Gidget, well, she was another pivotal marker in guiding me to this new space of acceptance. That story is yet to come and what I am in the throws of with writing a new book.
Part of my letting go of some of the Frankie items was that over three years ago I set the intention to open to the wisdom of all animals, which I owe to the dogs in my life for all they taught to me. And so one-by-one (unlike two-by-two with Noah’s Ark!) I’ve been bringing other animal totems, photos and images into this place I hold so sacred. Animals that have come into my life via guided meditations, in the wild, through animal readings, and those I just feel drawn to for some reason or another.
Looking around my room as I write this now I realize all the different critters that surround me! There is, dragonfly, wolf, mouse, owl, ladybug, birds, horse, musk ox, butterfly, donkey, dolphin, pig, whale, turtle, salamander, deer, lion, tiger, leopard, flamingo, frog, giraffe, squirrel, snake, cat and dragon. They are now, along with my dog friends present and past, with me as I write and create.
A cozy spot for a guest to sit or a place to collect magazines and books to read.
The past, and those items attached with it, I know, not always easy to let go of physically and emotionally. But when we lovingly and gently let go, while blessing all of it for helping shape us into who we are, not only is that a gift that stays with us always, but it then opens a new channel of opportunity for more gifts to find us.
After everything was neatly in their new places, I burned some sage as a special ritual to clean out of the old energy so new energy can take hold. And I must say, I do feel a refreshing new energy today as I write this post. Ahhhh, yes!
My symbolic corner of courage and strength.
And so this lovely jungle it is in my writing and creative cottage anew, I find myself quite content, and ready to continue to walk this journey that I alone can only walk.
