It’s taken me a year to get the studio shed under control. A couple weeks ago, Tod helped me cut some shelves which I immediately filled with all of my botanical inks and glass labware. I made a lot of inks this autumn and I want to paint with them but the clutter of bottles was covering too many tabletops.

It might not seem like it, but this room is now tidy. It’s extremely satisfying! I can find everything easily. I feel that I better understand my father’s neatly organised workshop spaces. He always encouraged me to clean and put away my tools when I was done with them. Every time I do, I think of him.

What I call this space wavered between the Studio and the Shed, but I finally settled on Studio for Happy Experiment and Discovery (SHED) so that I can call it the studio or the shed interchangeably. Nothing changed, but it has a sign so it’s official.

It was almost Kristen’s U-something R-something Atelier to make KURA, but I couldn’t come up with a good U-R adjectival phrase.

I love being out in the SHED. It contains most of my tools and materials and it’s safe to make a mess out there. The cats often join me. Now I can invite people to join me, too, as I did on November 1st for the Art & Nature Retreat.

Maybe I should get creative with my washing up area: Spotless Instruments Neatly Kept? It might inspire me to try harder and make Dad proud.