I don’t know how it works for you but at Casa Melly, the studio gets messy as all get out, I can’t stand it anymore, I can’t clean while in the middle of project. Then, just when it is driving me batty, I clean it up, spic and span.
While my studio was clean and approachable, I opened a journal to find gentle little drawings that I did while walking the High Line. I drew this last fall, while I was going through radiation treatment, I had gotten to the cancer care center too early and so took a walk on the High Line. The great thing about New York City is that New Yorkers are not generally, morning people, but I am. So I sat down next to some pretty flowers and drew. I drew in pencil and painted when I got home. I used pen later still. My journal pages are completed over time, not in one sitting or in one place. I don’t think this page is complete even still.
I asked a friend to make me a set of tiny sanding blocks and this is what she came up with. It turns out, when I paint with acrylics on pine board that I love debride, sand and deconstruct the surface of my work. What better way to get in small places than with tiny little sanding blocks? Super cute, right?
Melanie Testa 
Oh, the little sanding blocks are so cute! They look like they would be so comfortable in the hand. I have one that I used as a child helping my Dad, and then again when I refinished all of our furniture. It has molded to my hand or my hand grew to its shape. (An emery file works well for tiny spots.) Your journals, oh my. I cannot say enough about them. Their history makes them even more beautiful. Your drawings/paintings have such a graceful look to them. You are like a ballet drawer, dancing across the page. I think I am more of a clogger – tee-hee! But, I know if I practice, I may play a mouse in the dance. Wishing you a beautiful weekend. xoxo
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You know I’ve been to new york 5 times now and it was only my last visit that I finally walked along the High Line. I’d meant to do so many times but just never got there, but hubby arrived to visit unexpectedly and it was his first visit so we were looking for ways to see the city without spending much, so we walked the High Line and it was sensational. I don’t know why more people don’t do it! Love your drawings Melly! Can’t wait to see more!
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I love the little flower drawings. I really need to do more of that type of thing. It’s on the list.
My studio has been driving me crazy and I’ve straightened it many times but what I really really want to do is reorganize everything. I have been collecting a lot of paints and surface design items and they have just been placed here and there. They need to be truly organized to make me feel better!
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I think you must have been looking over my shoulder over the weekend Melly! I am in the middle of two pieces I have to have finished by the end of March and my sewing room is a complete tip! So this morning I am teaching a class at the patchwork shop where I work and can I find all the tools and gadgets I need, not on your life, they are buried under two feet of scraps, graph paper, organza, thread and all the rest. as soon as I finish the two pieces there is going to be a major tidy up! I love the sanding blocks, hopefully there will be time for some playing with paint and other goodies after the end of this month, phew! Thanks for making us feel we are not the only messy ones and there is hope.xx
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I love the small sanding blocks, Melly. They just make me want to pick them up and sand something! I can’t wait to hold your beautiful new book in my hands.
xoxo
L
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