Mo'a Romig-Boyles

Studio Magic...Tools

Welcome to the second installment of what may be a very long saga...Studio Magic.

Katrin hung up all the laundry lines in the studio. These were her trusty tools. She guarded them like they were gold.

You have without doubt heart of "Edward Scissor Hands" but, have you ever heard of "Regis Scissor Head" I made this piece at Skidmore in the 80's.  Katrin and I had a running joke about whether I should go out to buy more scissors...seems that most every box we opened, there were scissors hiding there. I explained that one must have scissors for every task...all the ones guarded by Regis Scissor Head are for fabric and are only the tip of the Iceberg.

When we started hanging fabric on the laundry lines, Katrin asked me whether I had any clothespins, I proudly produced the white clothes pins, seen in the photo below, explaining that my daughter-in-law, Mette, and her friend Annette had brought them with them from Denmark this past summer. Then as we got deeper into the project of unearthing lost and forgotten items, we found the basket below containing wooden clothes pins.  We found the red ones, in some boxes of tools that my father had given me.

Along with the boxes of tools, that once belonged to my father, we found this carry all...That now houses antique laces and some of my fathers old tools.

I was shocked to find that I had so many different types of crayons and pens...Then I remembered that most of them had belonged to my son Brian...who is a fabulous artist.  They are sitting on the top of an old lantern from my father.  He collected lanterns of all kind. As we progress in the Magic Studio story, I will be showing you more lanterns that are scattered around the studio. 

One of my fathers many passions was leather tooling. In the photo below are some of his old stamps, hammers and various other tools that belonged to him.  It gives me comfort to have these in my studio.

My mother is also a collector and on one of her trips back to Iceland she brought this wool spindle holder. She was delighted to see it on my work table in the fabric section of the studio.

I hope you have enjoyed today's 'Magic Studio' tour.  It gives me great pleasure to share views of my studio with you.

Studio Magic

Katrin and I have been friends for seventeen years.  We met in 1994 when I had a one woman show in Iceland. 

Katrin is an accomplished artist.  She creates marionettes and their stories, she has created costumes for and acted in children's TV shows and has traveled to far corners of the world with her shows.  She makes masks, theatre, TV and movie costumes and movie, TV and theatre sets. 

Katrin and I have traveled together to learn about and to create art.  In the late 90's we went to Anaheim, CA for a NIADA conference. In 2008 we went to Hawaii to Marilyn Radzat and Gail Lackey's retreat that was held in Marilyn's home and studio.  When we came back we created a shell mirror frame for my guest bathroom.

When she arrived here just before Easter, we talked about what our art project would be on this visit. We went down to my studio and looked around.  In passing I said, "I love laundry lines and would love to hang some of this white cloth on a line in this area".  Katrin said "Let's do it, we need to move this table out of the corner and this table down to here". And so it began.

We started moving furniture. I brought out boxes, of old white pillow cases, hand towels, table cloths, napkins and doilies of all sizes and kind, that I laundered and ironed.  Then came boxes of old laces, ribbons buttons, old dolls and doll clothes, all of which I had inherited from Ken's mother, grandmother and the aunts Elsie and Mabel.

We found hidden in corners some of my early and late art work.  The doll above was done in the 1980's. Out came old tools, boxes and lanterns that my father had given me.  Old suitcases from my teenage travels. More linens, given to me by my mother, which promted more laundering and ironing.

I found that I had baskets of all kinds, that now have been pressed into service...plastic boxes were banished from the studio. 

There were a lot of decisions to make...and "What do you think of this right here?"

We drank copious amounts of tea.  Laughed, sang (Icelandic songs), listened to music and danced.  My husband brought us gifts from nature...he knows that on any walk we ever take, we bring back things from nature.

Now Katrin has left, to create her Magic in Iceland...she is working on costumes for a Children's show. I walk around my studio taking in small details and photographing them, to share with you, on future Thursday Studio Magic posts.

 

The Magic of Spring and A Friendship

The last two weeks have been magical for me.  Spring is here and around every corner is something new to marvel at.  Just two weeks ago this field was full of flowering mustard.

Dandelions bloom nearby as if competing with this burst of yellow.  I have always loved dandelions and remember making dandelion necklaces, crowns and porting bouquets of them as a gift to my Mother.  In Iceland dandelions were a sure sign that summer is not far behind.

In my garden the dogwoods have bloomed the azaleas are having their moment... ...and the rhododendrons are about to give us a full show. Just this morning I got a preview. Starting with a tight bud...

...and a little more open one...

...then one that seemed to be in a bit of a hurry by skipping a stage.

Ahhhhh!!! the magic of Mother Nature.  Speaking of magic, look at the sunset we saw last night.

Now you are wondering.  Where does the friendship part come into this story?  I will tell you, but first take a look where Susanna's Winged Messenger has landed.

Susanna gave it to me quite a while ago and thought it would be fun to have one in Icelandic.  The meaning of this message is "You are Exceptional" which is a message I sent to Susanna some time ago.  Now it has landed in my studio and refers not only to my studio, but also to my friend Katrin who spent the last two weeks with us.  

There is much to tell about my studio and my friend Katrin's part in making it a Magical place.  I could not possibly tell all there is to tell in one post, so over the next few weeks, perhaps months, I will show you photos and tell you about the transformation.  There will be a post every Thursday...hmmmm!!! what will I call it, Studio Thursday...Magical Makeover Thursday...Thursdays in the Studio?...HELP!!! Please :)  See you Thursday.