I remember reading in a comic when I was small about a little boy who could draw things and make them come to life.

It makes me laugh when I think about my studio here. There is so much that is painted and looks vaguely real….

It started when I was trying to sell this studio so that I could stay in my little artists house. But it needed a lot of work and no one was interested.

I thought then that maybe it would be easier to sell a house that was ready to live in with nothing needing done.

But how could I move back to my old house without feeling like I was going back and very down market. ( had been known to refer to my poor dear studio as a shed)

I had no money to fix it .

(.At this point someone stepped in and paid for the roof to be repaired. )

That left only cracked and damp plaster walls, dodgy electrics, stained tile floors , draughty doors and various other things.

At that point I decided that it would need to become a colourful work of art with no holds barred. I found €60 of which €40 was spent on special terracotta paint for the floor and the rest on an enormous tin of white paint and some colour mixers.

I have a book of photos of writers houses and I found Virginia Woolf ‘s green room which looked like a good starting point.

Thereafter I went for it. I mixed all my own colours. Painted one wall green and the woodwork dark brown. I started to paint the floor with an undercoat, but it was so damp it wouldn’t dry. So I covered half of it with thin washable rugs like a patchwork and painted the dry part. I painted a big window on a bedsheet and hung it from a wooden spar to hide the worst damp wall. .Then I painted myself a welsh dresser , a tiled table and a vintage cooker. ( I painted the actual.cooker ) I made a painting of a window upstairs and painted the floor white . And on and on……..

Now I have a beautifully patterned tiled floor in the shower room and a wonderfully fake shower room.( can’t spell trompe wotsit.)Not forgetting a gold cistern. And the outside of my house has a lot of very colourful flowers which I always wanted , like a wisteria and hollyhocks.

So as I now only own one house I thought it would be good to upgrade this one a little bit. Hence a new window. I expect to finish it tomorrow. Am planning lots of blue sky , a sea view and net curtains.

I still have some empty walls…….

It’s been a lovely Saturday. Nice clothes drying weather.

I even went up town for no good reason. I can’t remember the last time I did that. Not that the bars are open and it seems pointless buying a coffee and bringing it home. But it’s nice to see people.

Now the church is broadcasting music again. I wonder if that will happen all December . There is some lovely singing sometimes.

I am still watching videos of artists studios and wondering what I will do next. I have a vague idea for my rag rug….and when I get round to tidying my work room I might get some more ideas.

Might put up some Christmas decorations tomorrow .

Wine time now. I have some olives……

🍷🍷