Category: small space living

Embracing Art: Creating Your Home Gallery

For years now I have dreamed of having a loft studio with white walls that were covered with art hanging all around me. The art was both my own and others, whatever brought me joy. I would look at the studios in warehouses that artists lived in and envied the space and high ceilings and big windows. I followed many artists who live in New York City or Paris and dreamed I would someday have such a place.

A few weeks ago I visited a friend of mine who lives in a condominium in Toronto. She has an extensive art collection and has several gallery walls displaying the artwork in her living room and down the hallways. One of the rooms in her place is dedicated to creating her own art. She can go in there and play to her hearts desire. When she wants to take a break she can walk out of the room, close the “mess” behind her and step back into her quiet and calm living room/art gallery. I am inspired by what she is creating and how she set herself up to honour her love of art. She recently retired so has more time and energy to dedicate to it now.

I live in a small 500 square foot studio apartment — not the big warehouse studio I dreamed of still it is a studio and I love it. The ceilings are quite high and the walls are painted white. I have two chairs, a table and a bed as well as a bookcase and a desk. The galley kitchen is small and serves its purpose. The walls are my gallery. How lucky am I.

A while back I wrote about how I had shifted my furniture around in my studio to create more of a flow for me to do my own art. My first love is collage art. I had done several pieces and boxed them away. When I settled into life in southern Ontario I started exploring and playing with watercolours. That is what I am using now. I worked with acrylics for many years when I lived in Victoria, BC and then gave all my art supplies away and sold or gave away my paintings when I moved back east. I only saved one which is pictured here. Titled “Memory Garden”.

I must confess I have not done any artwork for over two years. In all the confusion and upheaval with moving three times in two years I simply did not have the energy or inspiration. This past month I decided to sign up for a couple of art classes to help kick start my artistic desires. I have taken two classes now and have three to go. I am in the flow of my creative energy once again.

This week I took out a box of artwork that I had done a few years ago. I was surprised to see how much I had created. My friend who lives in Toronto stopped by, saw some of what I had done and said to me “You need to frame these and hang them on your walls”. That is all the encouragement I needed. Another friend had all kinds of frames that she was not using and offered me to come by and take what I needed. What a gift!

So this past weekend I continued to transform my place into the studio/gallery I dreamed of for so long. I framed several pieces of my own art and hung them on the wall or placed them on shelves. The bright colours take me to my happy place. I am inspired and energized now to keep painting and also do my collage work.

I decided to set up a second table that is plastic and use it for my work table along side my dining table. I can leave my materials all set up for as long as I want to. It is after all my artist studio now.

What I have learned in this process is that even when things seem too much to handle finding that creative force within helps to ease the pain. There is so much harsh reality to face in the world today and sometimes it literally makes me sick to my stomach. Then out of nowhere I feel a piece of writing or a painting come to me and I feel the desire if not the need to bring it to the page.

So as we contemplate our place in all the turmoil let’s keep in mind that we can still find beauty in the world. When we are home alone or with others we can also create it. I hope dear reader, that you find your creative endeavours make your heart sing. There is nothing like seeing the fruits of your labour come into focus.

Posted on by Beth 3

Nature’s Lessons: Encounters with ‘Squirrel TV’ from My Living Room

My living room window looks out onto two large trees. They are planted side by side along with some smaller trees. It is interesting to see how these trees reach out and touch each other. The branches interwoven make it easy for the squirrels to run up and down their trunks. They also jump from branch to branch and tree to tree. It is quite entertaining to watch. There is a large nest at the top of one tree. I imagine the squirrels rest there when they are not busy chasing each other.

Sitting in my chair, I look out the window. I take great pleasure in watching the activities of at least two squirrels. One of the trees is a chestnut tree so this time of year the squirrels are busy gathering the nuts. If anyone happens to be standing under the tree, they could be bombarded with a nut or two. The same may happen if anyone is walking on the sidewalk. I have seen it happen. Quite startling to the victim.

Some days I find myself wanting to sit back and relax in my recliner. I take time out to watch “squirrel tv”. One can learn a lot about how to play and exercise from these little creatures. The more I study them and their interactions with each other the more fun I see them having. Maybe it is not fun for squirrels to chase each other. Maybe it is not a game at all. I don’t know that much about the behaviour of squirrels. Right now I just enjoy watching them.

What I know is that outside my window, there is a wonderful example of the interdependence of nature. It is just steps from the building I live in. Birds, animals, trees, sun, rain, wind, and earth all depend on each other. Watching how everything lives together in one small part of the yard provides me with much to consider. Paying close attention to it gives me lots to contemplate.

I don’t have to watch a documentary on regular tv or travel miles outside the city to see it. It is right here in my own front yard visible from the comfort of my recliner chair.

So what am I learning from watching “squirrel tv”?

  1. It is good to live close together. The trees in the yard are growing close enough together so they branch out and touch one another. When it is really windy they bend and sway and support one another. As humans we need to be close enough to prop each other up when the winds of change blow hard.
  2. Find someone to play with. Watching squirrels chase each other up and down the trees. They leap across branches and repeat the process over and over again. This reminds me to get up and move and do it playfully.
  3. Take time to groom yourself. I often seen the squirrels sitting on a branch grooming themselves. They take great care in doing so. The ones who are mangy looking are not doing well. Isn’t that what it is like for all of us. When we feel good we take care of ourselves and when our energy is focused elsewhere we let things go. Still we feel better when we are well groomed.
  4. Have a nest to go home to. High in the tree is a large nest made of broken branches and leaves. It is built upon three branches that grow out from the trunk of the tall evergreen. Isn’t it great how the tree supports the nest? The squirrel has a place to gather food. It also has a place to sleep at night out of sight from predators. We all need a safe place to go to when our day is done.

So dear readers. Those are just a few lessons in life that I have been reminded of by the squirrels outside my window. As the seasons change, the trees will start to let go of their leaves. The view outside my window will evolve. I look ahead to seeing how the squirrels adapt. Stay tuned for more messages from “Squirrel TV”. Till next time……

Posted on by Beth 0

After the Move

When I moved back to Ontario in 2019 from British Columbia I lived with my daughter and her family for a few months while I got myself oriented to the new city I had landed in. I put my name on the waiting list for a seniors residence that was located in a perfect location and was affordably priced to fit with my budget. Unfortunately, when I was ready to move out on my own there was not an opening so I rented a room in a house temporarily until my name came up. Then I had to move again to another location temporarily. Finally in December 2023 an opening came available and I was able to make a more permanent move into the seniors residence. By then my patience for moving was almost exhausted.

Moving can be tediaous and disorienting at the best of times and having to move four times in five years was very disconcerting. Still each time I moved I learned something new and oriented myself to my current location. I created a space which felt like home even for a short time.

I learned some important things.

  • Having a comfortable place to sleep is the number one priority so get it set up first
  • Next set up your bathroom so you know where to find your bare necessities
  • Keep your dishes and kitchenware to a maximum of 4 when you live alone in a small space
  • Linens take up a lot of space so keep only what you use all the time and get rid of the rest
  • Make sure you have things sorted before you move so it is easy to find things at the other end
  • If someone asks you if they can help let them know some prepared meals would be great

When looking at bunch of tulips I have sitting on my table I likened my experience to them. They begin as bulbs in soil, then are cut and transported to a store where they are gathered in bunches and placed in a pail of water waiting for someone to bring them home. Finally I found them, brought them to my home where they were placed in a beautiful container of water and provided a lovely display of colour. Soon their time in the vase will be finished and they will drop their petals. I can gather those petals up and form a shape with them. The tulips are then transformed into something new and just as colourful.

So it is with my new more permanent home. After the initial move there was an aftermath that took some getting used. I had just had cataract surgery and was exhausted so my friends all came to help me unpack. It was wonderful to have so many people show up and offer their time and assistance. It also made getting oriented into my new place a little harder because I did not know where to find things. So I took my time and waited.

Getting Oriented into a New Home

There were boxes still needing to be unpacked and things needing to find a new home that I no longer had use for. I wanted to get organized and settled quickly and at the same time just needed to rest. Moving so many times left me feeling uneasy about whether this was going to be my last move or not. It took me almost three months to finally trust that I was home and could take my time settling in and creating the space I truly wanted my home to be. No matter where my petals fall a beautiful image is being created.

So I followed my own advice:

  • Take your time to live in a place and see how you move about before putting things away
  • Give yourself a few treats like meals out so you can get a fresh perspective when you come home
  • Have a vase on the table ready for a bunch of flowers and bring yourself home some
  • Candles at night help to give a natural glow to a place even when there are boxes all around
  • Make sure you make room to display your most prized possessions because that brings you joy
  • Only keep the clothes you are wearing on a regular basis when you are short on storage space
  • Make sure you have live plants and room by a window to display them

I now live in a 500 square foot studio apartment so it has been a learning experience to find out what works best in living in a small space. I am loving the simplicity of it for one thing. I am also working on how to organize my storage closets while making things easily accessible. It takes time and patience.

What advice do you have for small space living? I would love to hear it.

Posted on by Beth 2