Winter to spring.
From death, dormancy and destruction
To rebirth, new blossoms and rebuilding.

It's been awhile. When Heather died, I not only lost my studio companion and muse, I lost my studio. In putting in a much needed new floor, a leak was found. There was dry rot down to the sub floor, through the wall, and even nasty critters crawling and flying all around. My studio had to be dismantled and closed off while a heater dried out the floor and chemicals killed the carpenter ants. Just a note, in case you didn't know this because I didn't, carpenter ants appear wherever there is rotten wood. That's what they eat, so if you see carpenter ants inside your home, as I did last fall, start looking for rotten wood.

After a month, the floor, wall and ceiling were fixed and repainted. The roof leak was sealed and repaired. And the floor was finally installed. Then I cleaned! The dust and dirt covered everything but I was so happy to be in the studio at last putting it back together. Well, I should say, actually, putting it together in a new way. In the month that I was forced out of the studio, I gained a new perspective. As I dusted, vacuumed and washed down furniture, windows, easel, cabinets, counter tops, I saw each element individually. Projects that I'd thought I wasn't finished with, I realized were finished. Pieces that I hadn't liked, now, I liked. Others that had been stationed in one place for years were moved to a new location and I see them now, in a new light. Some needed to be put away for another day, another time. And somethings just needed to go to the recycle bin, like the giant collage that used to hang on the wall above my desk.

Now, I sit here typing on my laptop, staring at a freshly painted blank wall and I am refreshed.
I put up new curtains. I have a new clean, white rug on a new black wood floor. My easel is cleared, dusted and ready for a blank canvas. My writing that had seemed so stuck and impossible in my old space is zipping along. The first day back in my new space, I had a copper mask due that very night. I had been thinking about it and sweating over the deadline but with my studio closed off to me I couldn't work on it at all except for some concept sketches. Sometimes, maybe less time is more than enough because I got the beautiful copper butterfly mask done in one day off to the client to wear to the masquerade ball that night!

Just like the butterfly mask that I created, I, too have gone through a metamorphosis. After Heather's death, I crawled into a cocoon of grief and loneliness. I lost my studio companion and my studio. But with time and hard work and the help of loving friends, all has been transformed. I walk into my studio and see the beautiful space and colors and I feel relieved and released and ready to let my imagination fly.

(I'd love to show you the butterfly mask I created in my new space but blogger won't let me upload any images. I'll get it up as soon as I can.)