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Colour Cottage

~ little house in a field

Colour Cottage

Category Archives: Chit Chat

Hayloft studio

11 Thursday Jul 2019

Posted by Pia in Chit Chat, Painting

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

country life, DIY, studio, summer

Three years since my studio was finished and it’s been a wonderful space, even more so since I had water installed. It’s also very cluttered however, the more I do, the more canvasses are stacked everywhere, done or half done, various supplies getting crammed into to few shelves. What I really need is a dry and dust free storage space and/or weaving room separate from the painting! (my dream is 100m2 heated studio with straight walls including my office/library, but that is a completely different budget, especially the heating cost)

So I’ve been contemplating using the rest of the hayloft as a cold studio/summer messy space, eventually with inner walls to minimize moisture and cat damage. Only it’s taken me this long (20 months since I lost the ponies) to get rid of the 200 strawbales  dusting everything up as well as using the space obviously. I couldn’t even be bothered tidying up there, it was just so hopeless. Basically when I do have the energy to go make something, it needs to be easy access, not 2 days of tidying for half a day of painting.

But I finally got that part done AND I was gifted a window for my birthday, so next week the mason will fix the hole to proper size and I’ll at least have a bit of light without the wind, airflow when it’s too hot and a place to spray paint stuff so that I don’t have to leave the studio until the fumes are gone (as well as accidentally spraying my laptop and other sundries). I hope to build one tall wall to hang stuff to dry (or else cats) at least until it gets too humid in autumn.

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Latergrams

14 Sunday Apr 2019

Posted by Pia in Chit Chat, Latergrams, Photography

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

blogging, flowers, garden, nature, plants, seasons, spring, weather

For a while my blog brain has been really, really silent, so I’m going to treat you to collections of Instagram posts for those of you who don’t use that platform. Who knows, maybe my words will be jumpstarted along the way.

Today, spring flowers! It’s pretty cold out still, and I don’t think my vine and hydrangea can get out of winter storage until next month. But it looks pretty and full of hope.

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Just absolutely wonderful in the #garden today – must enjoy while it lasts. #lilacs #spring

A post shared by Pia Juul (@colourcottage) on Apr 7, 2019 at 7:45am PDT

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More #white#springflowers in #bloom! #blackthorn #sloe #slåen #prunusspinosa #naturephotography #blueskiesforever

A post shared by Pia Juul (@colourcottage) on Apr 10, 2019 at 9:34pm PDT

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#muscari #perlehyacinth #grapehyacinth

A post shared by Pia Juul (@colourcottage) on Apr 7, 2019 at 9:45am PDT

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#ribessanguineum #blodribes #redflowercurrant

A post shared by Pia Juul (@colourcottage) on Apr 7, 2019 at 9:43am PDT

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White blooms everywhere and it looks gorgeous from the inside. (frosty winds all week) #amelanchier #bærmispel #springflowers #seasonschange #naturephotography

A post shared by Pia Juul (@colourcottage) on Apr 10, 2019 at 12:42am PDT

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Yoga poses with a purpose

27 Wednesday Feb 2019

Posted by Pia in Chit Chat

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

crafts, exercise, fitness, intention, link love, wednesday workout

Continue reading →

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My famous exercise regime

13 Wednesday Feb 2019

Posted by Pia in Chit Chat

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

exercise, fitness, life, relax

It’s been 2 years since I began working and reporting on this. By early summer last year I was getting quite a bit stronger, and although I wasn’t losing any additional weight, I got perhaps a little too enthusiastic
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2019

10 Sunday Feb 2019

Posted by Pia in Chit Chat

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

crafts, intention, weather, winter

You don’t know it, but I’ve actually started writing you a number of times, planned photoshoots of what I was up to but then abandoned it all mid-project because I felt it was just more of the usual stuff and so not very exciting? Does it have to be exciting? Continue reading →

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October

25 Thursday Oct 2018

Posted by Pia in Chit Chat, Farm Life, Photography

≈ 18 Comments

Tags

autumn, country life, landscape, seasons, weather

Foggy morning season (warm days, cold nights) is coming to an end and it’s just allround chilly. The woodstove AND sometimes the studio space heater are running most of the day, I’m remembering that summer should have been the season for knitting more woolen socks.

I was gifted completely new flooring for the upstairs, much needed as replacement for dingy old carpets. Problem: I now have to paint the walls first or it wouldn’t make any sense. I can’t believe yet again I put myself in a position of less studio time! I do the work in tiny little bits, but much sitting time is required as a result. Room one nearly done, two to go – with much shuffling of stuff in between since hauling everything downstairs on bendy stairs and then living in the piles for weeks would also be exhausting.

Continue reading →

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Interlude

08 Monday Oct 2018

Posted by Pia in Thoughts

≈ 9 Comments

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Passion and income

06 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by Pia in Chit Chat, Thoughts

≈ 23 Comments

Tags

inner conviction, intention, life

I’m guessing from the usual underwhelming number of poll participants that my readers A: don’t enjoy surveys and B: I still need to find a different way of financing my interests. Duly noted! 😁 😂 🙄

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Lake pigments continued

03 Monday Sep 2018

Posted by Pia in Garden, Painting, Pigment, Plant Dyeing, Show-and-tell

≈ 20 Comments

Tags

closetohome, colour, crafts, DIY, mordant, nature, plants, primitivepaints, scruffyartsupplies

SURVEY at the bottom of this post, please cast your vote! If you are using Firefox on a desktoip computer, you may not see the polls if you have tracking protection enabled under security settings. Click the shield icon in front of the URL and choose disable protection for this site. (if you wish obviously)


Now that I have a small first collection of pigments to play with before new plants can be tested next summer (I do have some old dried things I can try too), there are multiple ways to use them. They need some kind of binder, although I suppose you could just soak them in water. Alcohol? But even watercolours have binders added to add intensity to the colour as well as make it stick to your paper.

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Winding down

30 Thursday Aug 2018

Posted by Pia in Chit Chat, Critters, Farm Life, Garden

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

autumn, nature, seasons, video, weather

Rainy grey day today, a reminder that soon, soon, I’ll want to stay indoors for days on end, playing rotisserie in front of the wood stove, rushing through and not around the outside of the barn to get to my studio upstairs. Thinking in muted tones and drinking buckets of tea, layering up in wool sweaters and socks.

Only a week ago I was in the hammock on a beautiful warm, quiet day with that certain something in the air that is no longer summer – not the least an unusual gathering of birdies doing acrobatics over the garden. It took me a long while to realize that I had brought my phone for a change and that it does in fact make videos (because forget taking a still photo of the little speedsters).

Continue reading →

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Pia

Pia

Knitter, spinner, weaver, painter, photographer with a passion for horses. Addicted to reading and learning.

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