Raven Ambition's Aspergers BLOG

This particular blog is going to be full of images, I hope you enjoy. Here’s a pictorial log of what I’ve been up to. I find my little art room quite empty now that- 

“My paintings have left the building!” 

They’re in Lee Massachusetts #GoodPurposeGallery till Mar. 27, 2017. 

So, I’m busy trolling Pinterest for art studio storage ideas. This photo, which I took from the web, seemed like a good idea:

So I did this; I repurposed a plastic shelf unit with pegboard and laid in dowels. The idea is to place canvases horizontally on the dowels, right? Mine, below, doesn’t look quite like the image above:

Big fail because…

Well, somehow my dowels were flimsier and did not support the weight of canvas laid horizontzal… That’s when I saw this photo online BELOW, NOTE that this is meant for canvas to stand in a vertical manner, and that may have worked for me:

All is not lost. I removed the dowels from my shelves as seen below and I will use them to support tomatoes for the summer garden Al will have (he makes a container garden on the old disability ramp for vegetables he will turn into salsa and sauce). I’ll have to meantime, rethink my shelf design.

Hey I will still get supplies (which turn to clutter easily) off the tables and out of the drawers, by hanging them on the pegboard, and I can still stack canvas on shelves, in between foamboard and/or cardboard. Or I may decide to move the pegboard and do the vertical stacking…

I’ve bought starter trays for all my seedlings, 

and Al has some too, to start the vegetables off. You may know that morning glory are a favorite of mine as 

they are voracious climbers, 

they attract lovely insects, 

and they really love my porch rail. 

I’ve purchased a few succulents to plant on top of my outdoor faerie house (the stones are for the faeries’ yardscape):

I have a wheelbarrow out front with a flat tire, perfect for the faery garden to be arranged in. 

Problems I anticipate? 

I wouldn’t want kids to mess around with it once it’s in place, but I find that my grandchildren are good about things like that. Also I would hope that nothing gets stolen once I lay things out in the wheelbarrow (which is filled with dirt).

 I guess that faery houses are a ‘thing’ now, and if one is to be made in the woods, for faeries and people to discover, it is good practice to use only natural products like fallen bark, sticks, wood, moss, acorns, rocks and etc. 

Things that would harm wild animals or faeries are a no-no…like glue, plastic, you get the idea. If made for the woods, the houses should have the ability to biodegrade naturally into the elements. 

Because mine is for yard use, I used hot glue, resin items, paint… Here is a little concrete house, a splurge that I purchased with a workable door and removable roof. I will plant either the succulents pictured above, on the roof, or I will lay moss upon it:

But not all my stuff was a splurge. I found a resin sculpture for six dollars at a thrift shop. It apparently had seen better days. I forgot to take a picture of it before I started tinkering with it but here are some photos as to what it looks like now (I intend to design a tire swing to hang from the resin tree limb):

I took little pieces of balsa wood and shingled over the boring resin roof, and then I painted the wood grey. 

I also painted the inside of the “well” with faux stones and glued stones around it from my rock box. I also hot-glued the stones all over the well and ‘yard.’ 

Note the sparkly stone steps I laid in by the door. I put in a sea glass path too and repainted the house white. It had been a dirty red/brown color. 

Here is a close-up of the sea-glass path I laid in:

Here is another close-up. I glued wood under each window to serve as window ledges which I may later add tiny flowerboxes onto.

Here are some accents I got online. Fake moss covered stones, 

which I will intersperse with real moss and flowers and plants, and a tiny ladder, some slate pieces I’ve assigned no use for (yet), and a stone path (two styles) that I will embellish with real stones. 

There is a bonsai tree kit here too which my son and his fiance bought me. I was going to plant it in the well but I think it should fare better indoors for the first few years of growth at least. 

The terracotta pots will be broken (at least one of them) to build wee houses and steps. I will then inset the door and stairway you see here, which was also a splurge. I do have more stones (in every cranny of this house! and also wee bricks on hand which I may embellish the stairwell with). 

I’m fully aware much of my project may erode with weather elements taken into account. 

I will consider that a part of the process, and begin anew next year, having learned something. Anyway a certain decrepit look can only add to the charm.

 I don’t drink, never smoked, and my hobbies keep me from idleness. They amuse me, as does this child. We had a mall trip where there is a carousel but that picture is blurry. She was frightened of the horses but enjoyed the train and the seat on the carousel. The entire time the train whizzed around the mall, she shouted top of her voice: READY SET GO!

I should say that Al (pictured here) and I are not so adept anymore, in fact out of practice at juggling pocketbook, diaper bag, stroller and food court tray…

and Al accidentally dropped his tray of Philly grinder and fries on the floor. 

Someone rushed over to clean it up and in a snap, a good deed was done, and in an act of kindness worth mentioning (I can’t remember the name of the restaurant though darn it) a young man motioned Al over to give him a free replacement meal.

So that’s part of what I’ve been up to. I’m also preparing for a workshop I’m doing with students at the end of the month, at #GoodPurpose and figuring out my video software so I can better plan my presentation for the Boston symposium in April.

 I will leave for now, as I’ve much to do today, and I’ll share the conversation this little girl and I had at the mall about mannequins:

“Grandma… can they move around by themselves?”

Me: “Only when we aren’t looking, honey.”