One of the reasons I haven’t painted much for the last few months is that I’ve been trying to set up a new studio. The space I’m adapting is from an enclosed verandah that was here when we bought the house. Part of that room was demolished to make way for an extension to the main house and the half that was left is to be my art studio.

I installed a new Gyprock (plasterboard) wall a few weeks ago then painted all the walls in a slightly warmed, very pale grey. The existing walls used to be turquoise – almost the same colour as the door you see in the photo. I always painted in this space and I’m certain that the blue-green surroundings had an impact on the finished results.

The room also had an exposed sheet metal roof which made it very cold in winter and very hot in summer. I installed a suspended ceiling yesterday. Hopefully this will moderate the temperature a little.

It has two decent-sized, south-facing windows. We need south-facing windows in art rooms in the southern hemisphere so this was a bonus.

There’s still quite a bit to do, including painting that hideous door a neutral colour, but at least it’s starting to feel like a studio space now.