Hi, Happy New Year and welcome back to the Chrissie Murphy Designs Blog. The beginning of a new year is a time that many of us pause to reflect on our vision for the year ahead. For me, this new year is slightly different in that I am beginning it with a new studio! I know, it’s quite exciting. Let’s get into things further so I can show you around and fill you in on everything that’s happened.
In November we moved house
November of 2024 saw us leave the little community of Tully which we had grown to love over the 23 years we were there. We bought a house north of Tully on the coast of Innisfail. We are still living in the Cassowary Coast, so many of the services, facilities and businesses we’ve come to rely on are still available for us.
It was a swap – the mountain views of Tully for a place where the rainforest meets the beach. Across the road from our house is a National Park which is part of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area rainforest. The bird life that has greeted us has been the biggest surprise and blessing. Including the cassowaries!
Another thing we loved about the house is the new studio it provided.
My studio is now separate from our house
I was very fond of my studio at our previous house in Tully, however it was part of the main house. At times this could be an issue. I often found myself disturbing my family with my art practice or vice versa.
In the new house my studio is separate from the house and I am finding that I need to be intentional about heading out there. I like that this is happening as it’s building a work ethic in me (at home). I believe this will serve me well for the time when I develop my art business further.
But my new studio is not functioning as well as I’d like
The setup of my studio at our previous home in Tully was ideal as it suited the way I function. However, I am finding that I can’t achieve the same kind of functional flow in my new studio. I know the reason why and I am not 100% sure how I can fix it.
Due to the way windows, shelving and doors are located in my new studio, I only have one full wall to house my workstations. In the past, I had a U-Shaped studio and this suited the way I function. Here, I have an L-Shape, and I am finding I have to roll from one end of the studio to the other to achieve any kind of functional flow and it’s just not working.
I am limited in what I can and can’t do to try and resolve things, so I think this will be a time where I just have to learn to adapt to new ways of working. The benefits of having a studio separate to the house far outweigh the teething issues I am having with functional flow.
What’s left to do…
Before Christmas I met with a local blinds and awning company. They came out to quote on installing some blinds in our new home. One of the things left to do in my new studio is to have blinds installed to replace the sheet that is covering a window and to install blinds on the sliding glass doors. Blinds will give me greater control over the natural light in my studio, so I’m looking forward to these being installed.
The other thing that’s left to do in my new studio is some organisation. I want to develop a better way of storing paintings and I have some administrative areas I need to sort. These few things have been building slowly over time and are now starting to become issues. It will be a little win to have these areas organised over the next few months.
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Until my next blog post, “I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received”
Ephesians 4:1.
In peace always
Chrissie xx
