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Express Yourself - Crafts in a Garden Room

Express Yourself - Crafts in a Garden Room

By Francesca McGlone on 26th October, 2010

Creative activities are rarely tidy or contained. Materials are usually spread around an artist, increasing in size as a work progresses or becomes a full-scale project. Depending on the type of creative venture, corresponding materials will mark an area in more ways than one, be it through bursting tubes of paints that litter a worktop, together with pallets crowded with colour, placed next to a container of murky water that is always in danger of toppling. No matter what the focus of a creative work is, be it, tapestry or knitting, where wools and silks unravel, to act as a trail of creative activity that is inevitably left, a piece of space, shaped like the sitter will be preserved when they leave the area.

The setting of the home can often clash with creative pursuits, as precious living areas are gradually devoured by art materials splayed out in a disorderly fashion. Light coloured carpets or surfaces almost attract spillages of paint and ink. By having a fully heated and comfortable room away from the main house, creativity and the excess mess it generates can be contained in a space designated for artistic overspill. Decorated Shed offer garden rooms that can be used for this very purpose. Highly efficient insulation means that expressive energy can be fuelled by comfort, while the natural setting of the garden can cohabitate with inspiration. Bespoke studios or offices may be a way of tailoring a garden room around a particular creative focus. However, existing designs, such as the Lantern Lite offer an inviting space in which copious amounts of natural daylight enter and illuminate the workspace to provide a bounty of well-being that compliments the creative process.

Art is not restricted by age; a crafts room can be the perfect place for children and adults to experience a range of crafts together. Participating in art can account for a large proportion of the fond memories formed in childhood, whilst offering learning that is packaged in fun. From finger painting and face painting to paper mache and puppet making; a space where glitter packets can be sprinkled frivolously and glue squeezed in a slap dash manner should be promoted, rather than resentfully tolerated or prohibited within the house environment. With television programmes such as Art Attack and Blue Peter, which have revolutionised an appetite for art experimentation, a garden room dedicated artistic exploration will be relished by children and adults alike.

A garden room’s hard flooring makes it the perfect surface in which spillages can occur, as well as plasticine or chalks which can be become engrained in carpets but scraped or swept up from a hard floor. The décor can even be dedicated to artistry with splashes of outlandish colour that represent the limitlessness of art and expression. A rainbow effect of completed artworks could also be proudly displayed as motivation for the next piece which forms a welcoming space dedicated to expression.

A garden room provides the ease of mind that comes with being able to practise the rewarding activity of art without undoing the hard work that goes into making a home clean and presentable. Nonetheless, creative expression is allowed to flourish, making its mark both on paper and its surroundings.


Category:  Garden Studios

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