We're Moving!


I've moved house a total of 16 times since I was 17.
 I do loathe it.
 I mean I REALLY LOATHE IT.

All that organising and packing and lifting and unpacking.

 Something always goes wrong, like you arrive at the new house two states away to find that the electricity company has failed to connect your supply in time, despite checking and double checking with them for the past three weeks.
Then there's saying goodbye to all that's familiar....

But there are good aspects too.

Like all the new possibilities and new beginnings, new friends, the chance to be creative and do some decorating (very appealing to us arty/crafty types), letting go of the old...old habits, old junk, old attitudes... it's all about moving onward and upward.




The Shop-Front Gallery/studio  & Craft and Clothing Gallery

  It's the same when you relocate your business, well, I'm hoping it is....





The new location.
A shop-front and yard to the side with under cover area.

 
 Yesterday, I signed the lease on a new property. The slightly run-down, unkempt old bakery (circa 1945) at the top-end of Conness St (only a few hundred metres from our current premises.




Some of our Creative Kids at work in the Shop-Front Gallery
In our current venue I can only host very small groups.





Very quickly after opening "MeaghanArt" (October 2008) my arts and crafts  activities  outgrew the available space at the Shop-Front Gallery.

 I took over the small vacant shop-front next door at the end of 2010 and we've since outgrown that space too.

Storage has always been an issue, the available space clashes with public access and presents OH and S issues.





I've managed to overcome most issues (quite well I think), but the constant arranging and rearranging just to keep things organised and accessable, seriously eats into my creative energies.

I do love my little light filled studio, the art gallery and craft shop. I have worked very, very hard over the past four years to provide a comfortable creative space for myself and my visitors.

My current limited  studio storage space.
It will be nice to have a dedicated storage room,  

Sadly, that space now confines the activities that I can do with our growing Creative Kids and Adults workshops.

 It also limits public access to my studio. It would be nice to be able to allow my visitors the oppurtunity to actually see how an artist works.



The new space was a bakery (the original wood ovens are still in tact and I'm told that they still work) and in recent years has been a pizza shop and more recently the local oppurtunity shop.

The space is going to need a lot of work before we move in.

 I'll be painting the interior and putting in a garden for visitors to wander through. Eventually the garden will be home to  a vibrant display of recycled art. 

Along with all this, there will have to be some changes to the way I run my business  day to day. Some will be small, but others will be huge. 

 I think it's also the perfect oppurtunity to do some serious reorganising and refining of my own arts practice.

I'll be treating this whole adventure as if I'm opening a new business (with the added benefit of already having some experience with what works and what doesn't). 

Before I even lift a paint brush to paint a wall or turn a shovel of earth to create a garden, I will start with a new business plan. Now, I'm an artist and maker, not a numbers person, so this is challanging for me. But, I have learned the hard way, that a little forward planning can save A Lot of stomach churning stress and blind panic in the future. 

The new plan will incorporate all my new ideas and expectations, and define how I'm going to finance it all and make it work on a daily basis. I do  have the advantage of already having a basic business plan for my current space and some fairly well defined expectations for the new space. It won't be like starting from absolute zero this time around. I'm hoping this will make life much easier....

I'll be sharing my progress here for those who are interested, so check back in a few days to see where I'm up too...

Have a lovely creative day xxx































Heavenly Lemon...

I try and live as sustainably as possible.

("Try" being the catch cry - I have guilty moments, like when I don't sort the recycling because I'm running late or buy pre-packaged salads with lots of plastic packaging because the cupboard was bare or I was too lazy to pack my own lunch)

Part of  living with love for our environment is using seasonal produce. This weeks produce is LEMONS... lots and lots of them.

My partner's sister recently moved into her new home, complete with over- burdened lemon tree and we were gifted with a large shopping bag full.

Now I'm a huge fan of anything with citrus flavour.  I love a slice of lemon in my tea, and the juice of a lemon in a little hot water first thing in the morning is great to get you going, but by far my favourite lemony treat is tangy sweet lemon pie.

This recipe comes from my Nan's recipe book (best ginger fluff sponge maker in the universe, bless her) and is a family favourite. If you are a fan of citrus or meringue or just desert pies, this is heavenly.
I thought I'd share with you all here:

Pastry Base

155g (5oz) Self-Raising Flour

60g (2oz) Butter (butter, not margarine is best)

60g (2oz) Sugar

1 egg

Pinch Salt

Beat butter & sugar til creamy, add egg and then sifted flour & salt.

This can be hard to roll sometimes and needs plenty of flour sprinkled during rolling to stop it sticking.

Line your pie tin with baking paper or grease with a little melted butter and line with your base.

Alternitavely, you can use shortcrust or sweet pastry from the supermarket.

Lemon Filling

250g (1/2 lb) sugar
60g (2oz) butter
Juice of two big Lemons
Rind of 1 Lemon (shredded finely)
3 eggs

Put the sugar, butter and beaten eggs into a double boiler (or glass or ceramic bowl over a pot of boiling water)  over a moderate heat. Once butter has melted add lemon juice and rind and stir gently until the consistancy of  thick honey (or not-too-runny custard). Leave to cool before pouring into your pie base.

Meringue Topping

Whites of  4 eggs

2 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Teaspoon Cornflour

1/2 Teaspoon White Vinegar

1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence

With an electric mixer or very strong arm and rotary beater or whisk, beat eggwhites until starting to form stiff peaks. Sprinkle in sugar and other ingredients and continue beating until very stiff.
Spread over top of your base and filling.

Pop into a moderate oven until your meringue is golden.
Eat hot or cold (this pie rarely makes it to cold in our house).

Enjoy!