Yesterday was the first day open at the Wild Ozark Studio & Gallery after being closed since right before Christmas last year. We’ve had some warmer weather and the time felt right. But this morning it was 33*F when I crawled out of bed and went out to feed the horses.

I hoped it would warm up to the forecasted 70 or so degrees quickly. The old stone building is like a refrigerator inside on cold mornings!

At the Studio

After opening the door to get in, the first thing I did was light the heater. Thanks to my other vendors, Coquette Creations and Judi Paints & Creates, we have two propane shop heaters on standby.

Second thing was to put on a pot of coffee. After that, I unloaded my car, bringing the things I’d hauled with me inside: my panel, the pochade box of paints, my brushes, some prints I needed to package, and the packaging supplies (clear bag, backer boards, and the origin story that goes with everything). Oh, and my new business cards to set out on the desk.

By now the Wild Ozark Studio had warmed up to a toasty 50 or so degrees. Still not warm enough to take off my jacket, but it made it up to 65 soon enough. But still not warm enough to take off the jacket, lol. It was a good bit warmer outside. I hung the sign on my studio door. I have a back door that leads directly into the studio part. The front doors open into the gallery part of the building, but it’s all one big room.

Spring Cleaning at the Wild Ozark Studio & Gallery

Judi (one of the artists who paints in acrylic and crochets) had come in earlier during the week to vacuum, and Karen (another of the artists, she makes jewelry and paints in watercolor) had also come in earlier to take her Christmas decorations down and clean up a bit. Other than the floors needing vacuumed, it hadn’t gotten really dirty sitting closed for a few months.

Except the windows. They were filthy. So we got the ladder and squeegees out. Most of the dirt was dust from the road, on the outside. After a washing, it was nice to see how much sunlight made it through the glass.

Painting in my Studio

I love having my Wild Ozark Studio space dedicated to nothing but my artistic endeavors. I got the background painted today for the next of the birds of prey I’ll be doing soon. I’m loving those deep earthy tones. If I were an abstract artist, I’d leave this just like it is and frame it.

Talking to Visitors, Painting

It seemed like everyone was happy for a sunny day and there were lots of folks out visiting the shops on the Old Alpena Pass. One of my old writer friends even stopped by to visit and chat a bit.

I’m hoping that sometimes we’ll have paint-out sessions where other artists come to join me on nice weather days to sit outside with easels and imaginations to paint together. The buildings are historic and interesting and would make good subjects for painting, too. There’s a sidewalk on the side street large enough for us to set up, and a parking lot across the street where we can get a wide-angle view of the fronts.

It’s also on our wish list this year to do some paint-n-sip style events, but I’m not sure what’s involved with having wine parties like that and need to look into the legal issues first. If you have done these before and would share what you know, I’d appreciate it!

The Wild Ozark Studio will Be Open until Near Christmas – Saturdays and Sundays

Unless the weather takes a nasty last-minute turn for ice and snow, we’ll be open now until close to Christmas. I have an update mailing list if you’d like a weekly update on the studio schedule. It’s a segment on my regular monthly Musings newsletter, so if you’re already a subscriber, just update your preferences and check off that box if you want to know on Fridays whether I’ll be there the next day or not.

This segment will also get notices when we have events planned for public participation, though if I know about it far enough in advance it’ll also be mentioned in my monthly news.

Here’s the most recent issue. You can also go here to update (link at the bottom of the page) or sign up (subscribe button at the top) for my newsletter, Wild Ozark Musings: